Karen Wolfe

Karen Wolfe began her professional musical career as a member of the gospel group Soul Unlimited, but she made her name as a Southern blues-soul singer through a series of albums in the 2000s and 2010s. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on August 14, 1959, Karen grew up singing gospel music. Initially, she pursued religious music as a professional career, singing in Soul Unlimited and recording her first record, Stop by Here, with the Harmonettes, a quartet who would later rename themselves Direction. In 1992, Karen transitioned from gospel to blues after marrying Gary Wolfe, the brother-in-law of celebrated soul-blues singer Denise LaSalle. The couple relocated to Jackson, Tennessee in 1997, after which Karen was hired as Denise's backing singer. After spending several years touring with LaSalle, Wolfe signed with B&J Records to record her debut album, First Time Out, in 2006. Three years later, she released A Woman Needs a Strong Man, which featured the single "Man Enough." Wolfe switched to Coday Records for 2012's Telling It Like It Is. The same label released No Regrets in 2015. In the summer of 2017, Wolfe released "That Bitch Ain't Me" (the clean edit was called "That Chick Ain't Me"), the first single from her fifth album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine