Lyrics, Melody & Music written by Caren Lyn Manuel
Guitar: Amon Copeland Bass: Charlie Milo Drums: Reggie Thompson Vocals: Caren Lyn Tackett
ABOUT
Hi. My Name is Caren Lyn Manuel.
I cultivate music, movement and community - because it is in my blood and keeps my heart healthy.
In 1916, my family formed one of America's first and longest running multiracial dance bands; The Manuel's Black & White Orchestra.
The uniqueness of their blend, sound and original songs made them local legends for generations.
To this day I am confronted by people who fondly remember them playing at their school dances, weddings or town celebrations.
The M, B & W shared the bill with many greats of their time, including Duke Ellington, the Dorsey's & more.
Growing up, every family gathering on the Manuel side was immersed in music, and everyone had to take part.
I credit my family for instilling in me the need to write and perform music..to create and move...to see things differently and to celebrate those differences, no matter what stage of life I'm in.
Writing songs, scripts and creating performances helped me through some of the more traumatic aspects of my childhood. Mental health struggles on both sides of my family would send me off to the woods or to the basement, where I'd spend hours writing, singing and moving through my feelings until I felt better...until the breeze moving the trees rustling the leaves sounded like appreciative applause for a worthy artistic offering.
My love for the arts combined with a dire need to people-please evolved into a musical theater career on Broadway and World tours starting in 1995 with the role of Eponine in the musical "Les Miserables." I do enjoy performing theatrically, but my primary passion was always creating and sharing my own music and productions. What an incredible pool of talent I had to work within this network! I spent the better part of two decades using my Broadway connections to produce performances of my own material. Whether I was in "RENT," "Hair", "BKLYN." "High Fidelity," "Evita," "Grease," "Fame" or another show written by someone else - when that curtain came down at 10:45pm, I'd get out of my costume, put on another and head to a downtown club to perform my set, usually with musicians and performers from the current show I was in.
Half of my 20's were spent living in L.A. pursuing a record deal while writing and collaborating with some truly legendary musicians and producers including Thai Long Ly (Post Modern Jukebox), Al McKay (Earth, Wind & Fire), Adam Marcello (Pink, Katy Perry), Kenneth Crouch (Lenny Kravitz) and Jason Scheff (Chicago). A joke of a production deal-turned-me-too-movement nightmare promptly ushered me out of L.A. and back on the road with musical theatre, where eventually I settled in NYC to join the Broadway company of "Rent" in 2002.
While pounding pavement to stay working at that level, I took on a side-career in voice over work included brief roles in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Pokemon Chronicles," and four seasons of "Winx Club," originating the characters Stella, Darcy, Chatta and Mirta.
In 2004, I wrote a musical called "Womyn In 3; an existential rock and soul musical" which premiered at the NYC International Fringe Festival to sold out shows and rave reviews. Subsequent productions have continued to be staged since its premiere, the latest in 2023 in my Massachusetts hometown and funded by a Boxford Cultural Council grant.
In the belly of Hell's Kitchen, I met and married Jeremy Tackett in 2005. When our daughter Ravyn Sioux was born in 2007, we maintained a nomadic lifestyle working theatrical tours with NYC as our home base for several years, until we settled in Colorado 2012 to awaken our agricultural roots and create new dreams. The best part about being a Creatrix is that you take the muse with you wherever you go.
In Colorado, we expanded our growth in many directions, rather epically. From co-founding a Waldorf charter school and teaching there, to heading up the theatre department at a local Conservatory, to starting a production company, to becoming a licensed falconer, to producing music and healing arts festivals and playing in several bands...my personal and creative growth in Colorado was vast, which is why I will always call it my second home. Colorado is where I found the freedom and space to confront, absorb, transform, and release generations of mental health issues within myself and my family history by birthing and presenting various music and art collaborations, including "Slide; a kaleidoscopic quest for mental health" and "Bleeding Purple."
When my father had a serious stroke in 2018, Jeremy, Ravyn Sioux and I moved back to rural MA in 2108 to be closer and help with his care. Surrounded by community support (which includes the woods who helped raise me) we cofounded The Weird Arts & Ag House, which focuses on creating unique original arts events of varying disciplines for the community and with the community. With our new businesses planted firmly in familiar soil, we continue cultivating our dreams, rich with chaos, challenges, triumphs, challenges, love, blood, sweat & tears!
It's been a long and glorious road back to the beginning.
These days, when asked to describe my creative style, my answer reflects my lifestyle as well as my roots: mixed.