Karen Dahlstrom spent her formative years singing in jazz groups and combos before her affinity for the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Gillian Welch inspired her to grab a guitar in her early 30s. Through her contacts in Brooklyn’s old-time/bluegrass circuit, she later joined the harmony-rich folk act Bobtown for a critically acclaimed four-album run that ended just before the pandemic.
“I’ve spent the last couple of decades steeped in folk and Americana,” says Dahlstrom, who has family roots in Idaho. “But I’ve found myself recently thumbing through my well-worn fake book of jazz standards, revisiting classics of the Great American Songbook.”
The torch songs of Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker and Julie London have long resonated with Dahlstrom. She wrote the title track from her forthcoming debut LP as an exercise to reconnect with that side of her voice.
“The phrasing, the emotion, the space to breathe appeals to me,” she says. “Lyrically, the song speaks to my confusion about dating as I get older. But I think everyone has had a moment where they wanted to find love but are unsure of how things work—especially in our current age of apps, icks and acronyms.”
We’re proud to premiere Karen Dahlstrom’s “Love These Days.” Look for her self-released debut on March 27.
—Hobart Rowland
See Karen Dahlstrom live.
