Me?...........Well I have to be honest.  My REAL name isn't "Karl Withakay".  Well the first name is legit at least.  Every time someone would ask me my name, I would reply, "Karl.  Karl Withakay".  Well one evening I was attending an open mic jam night at an upstate, NY pub.  The man hosting was named "Will Hoppey".  When It came time for me to perform, Will leaned down to me and asked, "What's yer name man?".  I replied, (as usual) "Karl.  Karl Withakay".  Will then introduced me to the crowd as "Karl Withakay" and after that night, every Thursday evening when I would attend that open mic night at that pub, everyone called me "Karl Withakay".  That's how my stage name came about.

Now about me.  I'm a forty one year old man.  I was born and raised 37 miles East of Binghampton, NY in Hancock, NY.  I'm a guitarist, singer, and songwriter.  I've been playing guitar since the age of 12 and performing since the age of 14.  I learned from an early age to have an appreciation for all types of music.  I grew up listening to old time country music and 70s and 80s country  from my father, hard rock and heavy metal from my older brother, and and the latest pop and top 40  from my older sister.  Dad plays guitar as well in a Bluegrass band and it was he who first put one in my hands at the age of 12.  My influences go across the board.  Some of my main influences I would say are (in no particular order) Cat Stevens, John Denver, Jim Croce, and James Taylor.  I would have to say though that my main influence is my father.  Regardless of what type of music I am playing, I can always here HIS style in what I'm playing.  The most accurate description of "my sound" I ever heard was, "Karl's sound is like Jim Croce meets Nick Lowe.  President of Southern Utah Songwriters Assoication describes me as, "The man with a thousand songs"   I've been away from the "band life" for a few years now and currently, I do a one man acoustic performance show and currently perform in and around Las Vegas, Nevada mostly 3 to 4 nights a week on average.  Doing a one man acoustic show is different from most of the things I've done in the past but I'm enjoying it a great deal.