Singer-songwriter Karen Elson is a revelation. As she herself noted, she’s a byword in the fashion industry but not so much in music. Yet, she’s been singing and songwriting since her teen years in her native England. But in her Café Carlyle debut, should anyone wonder further, Elson displayed prime musical chops. This fact was evident in her opener, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (Burt Bacharach, Hal David). With a breathy, sometimes vibrato-inflected vocal tone, Elson performed her own material and some covers with confidence and a sense of delight, which instantly translated to uplift for a welcoming audience. If her stage persona is anything to go by, Elson has come a long way from her roots. Her 2020 autobiography, The Red Flame, details her childhood eating disorder, her courage to stand up to harassers and much more about her life’s journey. What she presents is positivity, sensitivity and a great deal of humor and charm. She opened with a riff on her name, “Karen,” and the negative light it’s taken on as the standard for a white woman of very immoderate values! Dotted throughout the evening were her views on her life and her life’s philosophy. Elson was much affected by the covid pandemic and lockdown, which now informs her core philosophy: “be kind,” brief but mighty advice.  Her “Wishing Well” was written during the height of the pandemic to offer hope. 

Elson, who has no problem admitting to 43 years (she does look fabulous), still models. She’s been referred to as a super-model. As a nod to this part of her life she sang “Candy Says” (Lou Reed), written about Candy Darling’s desire to escape her birth gender. Elson’s music career has been concurrent to her singing; in fact, she moved to Nashville in 2006 to pursue it.