Karen Bove, a Neptune City singer and songwriter, performs in the shore area.
By DENISE HERSCHEL
Neptune City resident Karen Bove-Quick has been a singer, songwriter and musician her entire life. She penned her first song as a nine-year-old while in the fourth grade and that same year it was playing on local radio stations with the YMCA also asking her to write a jingle for their commercials.
Her impressive musical talent was also on display at the young age of five when she started taking piano lessons and eventually at the age of eight when she learned guitar. Classically trained on both, she began giving guitar lessons while she was in high school. So it was only a natural progression that Bove-Quick began singing in bands in the 1980’s and hasn’t stopped since, giving audiences what they want as she is a regular on the Jersey Shore music scene.
“Now I show up for solo gigs with my equipment in the back of my Mercedes sedan and load in myself with a little help from my friends!” she said. “I play mostly classic rock with influences of Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young and even an occasional Pink Floyd, Motley Crew or Led Zeppelin. I throw in originals too! I often have a lot of surprise professional musicians who join me at my gigs so you never know what’s gonna happen when I play. I also stand in with various Jersey Shore bands from time to time. I stood in one night with Les Paul at the Iridium in New York City. He signed my Les Paul Gibson Guitar which I have not played since.”
Bove-Quick grew up in Andover, N.J., living in Hackensack for over 30 years and eventually moving to the Jersey Shore in 2015.
“I vacationed for over 40 years in Ocean Grove several weeks each summer. I even published a CD album of all original music called ‘Woman Clothed with the SUN’ and the cover photo was shot on the Ocean Grove beach,” she added.
Bove-Quick, who is a realtor with Coldwell Banker in Spring Lake, also currently teaches guitar, piano and voice lessons to all ages at her home. She fondly recalled her days on the road and said she toured with a band called Hurricane throughout the Jersey Shore and New York City.
“That was back in the day when equipment and speakers were huge. They were delivered in a tractor trailer and set up by six roadies and a management crew,” she said. “We were managed by Sammy Boyd, who also managed Yasgurs Farm, Crystal Ship and Twisted Sister. I opened a few times at the long gone Fountain Casino for Joan Jett. Most of those big Jersey Shore clubs are closed now but were thriving back when the drinking age was 18 in New York and New Jersey. It’s a much quieter scene now but I love the intimacy of knowing my fans who follow me. I am so grateful to have a following that lets me compete in this very talented and competitive Jersey Shore scene.”
Bove-Quick’s next gig is Wed., July 27 at Sunsets Riverfront Bar and Restaurant on the Shark River in Neptune. She will also be at Salty’s Beach Bar in Lake Como on Tues., Aug. 9 and back at Sunsets on Wed., Aug.10. You can follow her upcoming gigs on Facebook or listen to her original music on her YouTube channel.
