Listen Live Friday featuring Cara Louise

Listen Live Friday featuring a live performance in the Stage by Cara Louise.

From Cara Louise:

Cara Louise, born Cara Louise Wegener, is a singer songwriter from St. Louis, MO. Her backing band includes Adam Donald (guitar, steel), Simon Chervitz (bass), and Scotti Iman (drums). Louise's sound combines twangy, soulful vibrato with creative melodies and honest storytelling. Major influences include Carole King, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks. She has opened for Margo Price, Nikki Lane, Hayes Carll, and many others.

From an early age, Cara Louise began singing and performing; from the living room to local talent shows and amateur musical theatre productions. The Monkees, Carole King and Judy Garland were among her first few musical influences. While finishing a creative writing degree at Webster University, she taught herself guitar as a means for songwriting and cut her teeth playing open mic nights around St. Louis city.

In July 2013, she formed Cara Louise Band and self-released To Be Dead Is To Be Known recorded at Sherpa Studios. The six-song EP, inspired by 1960s Nashville, includes a Patsy Cline-esque ballad, a political satire, and a progressive title track about artistry and death. After briefly touring the Midwest, Cara Louise Band released their debut LP, Fire’s Out, through Gaslight Records in 2016.

Fire’s Out is an eclectic mix of tracks highlighting the singer’s ability to bend genre. From Past My Prime, a song refuting societal pressure to Aimless Lee, a classic cowboy tale, this LP covers everything from folklore to hard-hitting existential anxieties.

Louise spent 2018/2019 working with producer David Beeman at Native Sound in St. Louis, MO. The outcome is her debut EP as Cara Louise titled Fragile Heart. The 5-song collection separates Louise from her past work with Cara Louise Band as she navigates a 1960s yé-yé-inspired production by introducing synthesizers, drum triggers and ethereal vocal effects to her otherwise alt-country sound.

Fragile Heart opens with the title track and first single; a dance worthy pop tune that gracefully resists genre and era precincts much like the rest of the EP. The album’s second single, Turn Tears Into Rain, slows down time in a rhythmic trance as Louise’s vocals sail over inspired strings arrangements and delicate steel guitar. Imagine if Neil Young wrote the music score for an Audrey Hepburn film. Her acute lyrics call for compassion from every direction as she leans into her unassuming vocal talent.

Listen Live

Listen Live at KDHX combines KDHX's unique multi-platform capabilities to highlight local and national musicians both on the airwaves and through live performance. This program is both an extension of and a combination of our live in-studio performances and our live concerts.

Listen Live at KDHX is an important program both for musicians and for St. Louis. By elevating the visibility of independent voices, Listen Live will celebrate the art of discovery, bolster community wellness through inclusive access to cultural enrichment, and reflect human and musical diversity.

Listen Live at KDHX features one local artist and one national artist each month. Each Listen Live event is free for all to attend and will be broadcast live on 88.1 FM.