Meet Sharon Klein

Sharon Klein, a veteran of the Greenwich Village music scene of the 80s and 90s has had lush and varied musical life. She first picked up the guitar at age 8. Her first guitar teacher was the renowned jazz guitar player Joe Monk a NYC legend who recognized her talent for the guitar at that young age. She went on to have a lifelong love affair with the guitar, that morphed into songwriting, singing and music production. Her early influences were the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.

Klein grew up in Queens in the days when New York City was the hub for all things songs and pop music. She attended almost every Broadway show that was produced with her mother who loved musical theater, which was always on their home. The sounds of Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein and Burt Bachrach permeated the house and from those early years of listening, Sharon learned how to write songs. Eventually, this landed her a publishing deal with Knollwood Music, Burt Bachrach’s publishing company, who eventually placed a song with Chubby Checker, which was a hit in South Africa! 

Klein moved to Greenwich Village and went on to front two bands featuring her music. She shared stages with Madonna, Richie Havens, Patti Smith, Mary Travers, Grace Jones, Dave Van Ronk, and may other luminaries of the time as she developed her songwriting and playing style. “Being able to play iconic venues like The Bottom Line, Danceteria, Gerde’s Folk City, the Bitter End, CBGSs and the Gaslight was an amazing experience for a young singer/songwriter, rocker with stars in her eyes. Being in NY during those days was a life-changing experience.” 

Klein’s fascination with “world music” and musical systems from other cultures brought her to study raga singing with world renown raga master Pandit Pran Nath at his SOHO loft. Her world travels brought her to the Middle East, where she studied the oud and Arabic music, playing in an Iraqi Jewish music ensemble in Israel. She eventually went on to form a music production company, which she operated out of her recording studio in midtown Manhattan, and then out of her Greenwich Village apartment, much to the chagrin of her neighbors. Her studio produced local dance music artists who she found by combing the inner city streets of 80s Brooklyn. Her composed and produced “Signed and Sealed” by Shana, made the top 40 Billboard dance music charts.

2010 brought Sharon Klein’s first CD of her own music; self-produced The Way Back Home. It features many of the instruments and vibes of her world travels and musical adventures. Also in 2010, Sharon Klein met Baker Rorick, producer and director of the Woodstock Invitational Luthier Showcase. Baker asked Klein to join the team, where she was tapped to curate the world class guitar talent who came to showcase the artistry of the array of international luthiers who came to the show annually to exhibit their handmade guitars and other stringed instruments. She also performed regularly at the Showcase. 

Klein has visited and toured in almost 40 countries, and now makes her home in the beautiful Hudson Valley. She is a regular, in-demand performer on the Hudson Valley Folk music circuit, having returned to her musical roots of deeply personal story songs, played masterfully on finger style guitar are reminiscent of such artists as John Prine, Mary Gautier, and Melissa Etheridge. Deeply personal, edgy and often funny, Klein’s songs and finely crafted guitar playing hits the right notes in many different musical genres.