Kara Coen & Ashley Welsh Jones - a funky duo likened to Angus & Julia Stone meets Amy Winehouse. Karas dynamic, power house voice with Ash’s delicious drum beats and sweet harmonies, these two leave the heart pumping with a message of love, empowerment and inclusion.
Kara has been called a modern Aretha, compared to Lana Del Ray, Janis Joplin and Sarah Blasko. The soul singer has performed as a support act with the likes of Tex Perkins, Alex Lloyd and Sam Buckingham and is a local south east favourite.
Ashley has been performing on the far south coast for over 6 years with multiple bands and artists. Her passion for music and drumming started early in high school and has quickly evolved as she is now seen regularly playing with many local artists including Howlin' Mitch, Kara Coen and Richard Cooke.
The two artists came together over their mutual love of music, being musicians living with a disability and a passion for equality. Many of their songs reflect personal experiences of this fight for equality, all threaded with a sense of hope. The two have been playing together in Kara’s band The FireFlies for two years and are currently working on their first EP.
Together they will sweep you away and take you on a soulful journey, original tunes and songs through the eras to pluck at your heart strings. Don’t miss this dynamic duo. www.karacoen.com
BIOS.
KARA COEN - From the quiet southeast Australia, Yuin Nation; comes Kara Coen’s powerhouse, unique voice, setting hearts afire.
Kara has been called a modern Aretha & compared to Amy Winehouse, supporting touring artists like Tex Perkins, Alex Lloyd and Sam Buckingham.
Her intoxicating vocals and compelling lyrics come together to move body and soul with her upbeat, funky soul tunes and dreamy, sensual love songs.
Kara, already a well-loved solo artist, and is now building a name for spectacular band and duo shows after debuting her band; The FireFlies at the Cobargo Folk Festival 2023.
Kara will have you captivated, leaving you on a high with a message of love, empowerment and inclusion.
www.karacoen.com @karacoen
ASHLEY WELSH-JONES - Drums / Vocals Ashley is a trans/non binary 21 year old woman who has been performing on the far south coast for over 6 years with multiple bands and artists. Her passion for music and drumming started early in high school and has quickly evolved as she is now seen regularly playing with many local artists including Sam Fletcher, Howlin' Mitch, Kara Coen and Richard Cooke.
Ashley also lives with a rare disability, "Klippel-Trenauney Syndrome", affecting her dominant, left leg. The symptoms include risk of blood clots, ulceration and infection of the skin, soft tissue and vascular regions and thrombosis among other problems. This syndrome is only found in roughly 90,000 people worldwide. Ashley has found that it can be hard at times to navigate certain events in life that others may take for granted, when living as a young, disabled, queer person. These problems can also be translated into Ashley's music life, as she has experienced pushback and feelings of segregation from audience members at shows, who often misgender and categorize her as another "man" or "guy" in a band. This can cause a lot of mental distress and depression, being part of the FireFlies and working with Kara has been an important support to Ashley’s transition. The band push their inclusive message at every show they play.
@ashleywj_official