About Carl
Like many young boys at the time, Carl was inspired by seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Carl started playing guitar when he was in junior high school. He was influenced by some of the biggest bands at the time, with some of the greatest Rock guitarists. He was very much into the English Sound with bands like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Mott the Hoople, Yes, King Crimson, and many others.
Soon after, at the age of 17, Carl became the guitarist of the very popular, Maine based, seven-piece brass band, Rush. They were very popular in New England and especially at the summer resort town of Old Orchard Beach. It was there that an up-and-coming group named Oak enlisted him to join their ranks. Oak captured the interest of many national record labels. During this time, Carl became recognized as one of the best guitarists on the New England scene.
With his growing reputation, Carl got a phone call from Boston agent Skip Tosi to audition for the band Image, another very popular band in the Boston scene. Carl says, “I’ll never forget my audition. It was basically four songs, including Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Talk about pressure on the spot. I had never played any of those songs professionally. I was handed a note with the key it was in, and it was off to the races.” As the years went by, there were other successful groups including Network, and more recently, Carl was in North Carolina and performed with Ragdoll, where the addition of Carl, made the band one of the most popular in Wilmington.
Carl has now made the move to SWFL and is performing solo, bringing his powerful voice, tasteful guitar playing, and broad repertoire, to the people of the west coast. Carl Crosen is a name to remember. Be sure to catch one of his impressive performances.