Carolyn Biography
Carolyn Fortowsky
My musical career began when I was 15. Having written a large body of poetry, I began putting poems to music in 1995. My first performance, however, did not occur until a year later, when I started my first band with Emily Booth, Hanna Matthijsse, Bonnie Henderson and Aaron Spratt. "Meiden" featured four vocalists, mandolin, violin, accordion, acoustic guitar, drums and bass, giving me a very eclectic arena to bring my songs into. After Meiden parted ways in 1999, I briefly played bass with redse7en before joining Painting Daisies in July of that year. Since joining the Daisies, I have focused mainly on playing the bass -- and have grown greatly as a player. I look forward to delving deeper into the world of music and considers myself fortunate to have toured throughout Canada, the US, Iceland and Holland with Painting Daisies. Other notable highlights of my career include playing various bars in Beijing with Maje -- a memorable occasion brought about by providence after a teaching job in Shanghai failed to materialize for me. I have been inspired by many people over my career... particularly my bandmates (Kim, Daisy and Rachelle), Dave Brubeck, Nina Simone, Jaco Pastorius, Charles Mingus, Nancy King and most recently Blue Rodeo.