Interview with Karen Goldberg
A Baltimore native, singer and songwriter Karen Goldberg has quite a unique musical style. Over the years this extremely entertaining singer has had six nationally distributed releases on Corbett Records, six international tours (Austria, Australia, Wales, England, Denmark, Norway), and hundreds of US college and concert performances. Some of her releases include Treading Water, Slipping Thru the Cracks, and Reflections: A Retrospective. Here, you can see some of Karen's work And to think that this artist may never even have given singing a try. It was serendipity that got Karen into singing when she was in college. On night on a dare, she got up on a downtown nightclub stage during the band's break and sang a tune. The owner hired her on the spot – and that was the beginning of her successful career.
The Interview
I got Moka from a classified golden retriever puppies listing in the Annapolis area. She was 8 weeks old and absolutely the sweetest and smartest little puppy. I remember the first day I had her, I got her to sit in a field and I said, 'stay.' I walked about 10 steps away and she just sat there looking at me for the longest time. Then I said, 'come here Moka" and she came bounding over. I got Romeo from a breeder in Randallstown, MD. My vet had suggested this breeder because I'd had some health problems with my last two goldens (Moka-14yrs and Mercedes-12yrs,) and this breeder had a long history of very healthy goldens. Romeo was the biggest, fluffiest puppy, who wouldn't stop kissing anyone who held him. I'd wanted a female, but when I saw him, I changed my mind. He is also an English golden - boxier head, wide body, short legs.
I ALWAYS took Moka with me on tour in the US. She was the perfect road dog - I never used a leash and she would walk right next to me, though the parking lots and into the lobby of the hotel. She was extremely well behaved, which is amazing because I never tried to train her; she just sort of understood me. She would come with me to many of my shows and lay at my feet on the stage, or visit with folks in the audience. When I'd arrive for set up, the first question I was usually asked is, 'Did you bring Moka?' She was more popular than me! Of course I have plenty of road warrior stories too - like the times I had to leave Moka in hotel rooms and she'd rip up the bed spreads. I had to buy more than one ugly flower-print spread (you know - the kind in Days Inns - ugh.)
Romeo came into my life after I stopped touring. He is no where close to as obedient as Moka was, and doesn't like riding in the car. But I teach guitar out of my house now and he keeps every kid, their siblings, and parents company before, during, and after the lessons. Some kids come earlier just to play with him.
Romeo is my baby (all 90 lbs of him...) I'm single, live alone, and work out of my house. So I'm home all the time and we are constant companions. He sleeps in my bed and follows me around the house. I live adjacent to a farm and have a large fenced in yard where you have a clear view of horses and goats, which he talks to all the time. He sheds like a madman. I've gone through three vacuum cleaners.
I wrote a song called Sovereignty, inspired by my first golden, Mercedes, and then my tune, Sneakin which I mentioned earlier. I also write songs about a variety of animal rights issues. 'Strings of Wings' is an anti hunting song, ' 'In the Name of Progress' is an anti animal experiments song, and my most popular song is called, 'What if a Cow ate you?' about a variety of animal issues.
There's nothing in particular - i just love being with him.
He loves people. And other dogs. He can be very playful, yet has this wonderful ability to be really calm and still. 
When a student arrives, they know they're going to get this joyous greeting from him. If you sit on the couch he'll lay on your feet, or if you invite him up, he'll lay across your lap and lick your face until you tell him to stop. He seems to sense who needs him to be calm and who likes him to be playful.But one of the most endearing characteristics is his respect of boundaries. I could put a piece of string across a doorway and he won't go past. I could put a sock on the bed and he won't go up. He also will wait to be offered food. I can leave a plate of food well w/in reach and he won't touch it, unless I say, 'It's OK, go ahead!" Not sure why he does this. I never taught him to do this stuff. I love all kinds of animals, but there's something special for me about Golden Retrievers. We seem to 'get' each other in a more profound way.
Romeo knows the phrase, "where's my newspaper?" I never taught it to him, but somehow, he got that the newspaper is this rolled up item in a plastic bag. I didn't know he knew the phrase until one morning, when I couldn't find it. I said outloud to myself, 'where's my newspaper?" and darn if he didn't find it and bring it into the kitchen and drop it on the floor at my feet! Now,I can hide it anywhere in the house and say, "where's my newspaper?" and he'll disappear for a few minutes and come back w/ it in his mouth. Always knocks me out when he does that.
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. She has appeared with 10,000 Maniacs, the B52's, Randy Newman, Carrot Top, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton just to mention a few.
Or the times I had to sneak her into hotels that didn't permit pets. I actually wrote a song called 'Sneakin' on my 6th CD, TREADING WATER, describing one of those episodes.
