Dee Carstensen

Carstensen was born on February 18, 1956 in Maryland and later moved with her parents and four siblings to Rochester. She started her musical interest by playing piano when she was 5 years old, and later took up stringed instruments when she was 8.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1g0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22dee+carstensen%22&pg=PA97|title=Something NARM-ed his way comes; Two labels turn 10|author=Chris Morris|magazine=Billboard|date=September 9, 1995|volume=107|issue=36|page=97}} Part of her studies in the stringed instrument family included the harp, which was done with a harpist from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Carstensen described her relationship with stringed instruments as "love-hate", while she said her upbringing was "classical training" she was also listening to Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, James Taylor, and Jimi Hendrix. Carstensen is married to vibist Mike Mainieri, who she says is the "single most important influence on her musical career."{{cite news|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/living-with-music-a-playlist-by-meghan-daum/|title= Living With Music: A Playlist by Meghan Daum|last=Garner|first=Dwight|work=The New York Times|date=February 6, 2008|accessdate=January 21, 2018}} She cites this by mentioning 2 separate instances where she would "throw out ideas" and Mainieri offered his constructive criticism for her.

Carstensen's debut came in 1993 with her album Beloved One, which was largely produced by Bob Marlette and included guitar work by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Her second album called Regarding the Soul came out in 1995, and was produced by Neil Dorfsman. In this album Dee integrated her singing, songwriting and harp-playing after "fooling around" with the instrument for a bit. Regarding the Soul was initially released under a subsidiary imprint called "Exit Nine Records" by Mainieri, and was later re-released in 1998 under Blue Thumb.{{cite web|url=https://nycrecords.com/deecarstensen/project/regarding-the-soul/|title=Regarding the Soul|work=NYC Records|accessdate=June 4, 2024}} Dee's third album called The Map also came out during this year which was released under a joint-venture agreement between GRP and Mainieri's NYC Records.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22dee+carstensen%22&pg=PA12|title=Show Them The Way|magazine=Billboard|date=August 15, 1998|volume=110|issue=33|page=12}} However, the Gavin Reports release schedule for the Summer of 1998 mentions Blue Thumb instead.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Gavin-Report/90/98/Gavin-Report-1998-06-05.pdf|title=Summer Releases|author=Jon Fojtik and Keith Zimmerman|magazine=Gavin Report|date=June 5, 1998|issue=2209|page=40}}

Dee also recorded a children's album, Can You Hear Lullaby (2001), which featured guest vocals Everett Bradley, Curtis King and Julie Dansky and instrumental work by her husband.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Dee went back into the studio and recorded a solo album, Patch of Blue, which was released in 2005. Unlike previous work, all eight songs were originals, except Fly Away whose music was co-written with her husband, who played vibraphone on the album.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Patch of Blue did not include any guitar work.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Instead, it featured Dee's harp and vocals, with backing from the Tosca String Quartet and several woodwind players.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Carstensen has been described as using her harp "like a guitar" in her folk/pop compositions.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8KvAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22dee+carstensen%22&pg=PA429|title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 2|author=John Shepherd, Dave Laing, Peter Wicke, Paul Oliver, David Horn|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2003|page=429|isbn=9781847144720}}

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{{Reflist|colwidth=50em}}

• {{Official website|1=https://nycrecords.com/deecarstensen/bio/}}
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000815425}}
• {{IMDb name|3224816}}

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Category:1956 births

Category:Living people

Category:American folk musicians

Category:American women folk musicians

Category:American new-age musicians

Category:Musicians from New York (state)

Category:American women harpists