"I believe I was put here to share music with people." Carley Wolf says this with great confidence, not just because "it’s what comes most naturally and brings the most joy" in her life (and, we might add, in the lives of those around her). True, Carley started singing about the time she started talking, began piano lessons at age 7 and guitar at age 8, started her own band, "The Clabber Girls," at age 12 (with original songs, no less) and another band during her high school years in Houston. True, she is a sound recording engineer who also studied classical guitar with Mark Cruz, jazz on upright bass with Dr. James Polk, and mandolin with no less than David Grisman – and has traveled through Europe and much of the USA playing music.

But Carley had an itch to learn more about her musical heritage, so she hopped on a bus and traveled across Mexico to interview close and distant family members for a documentary film, "Music Through the Bloodline." What she found was that "the love of sharing music, singing, composing, performing, and playing instruments goes generations back as far as I could find – it is in my family’s blood, and has been passed to me with love."

And it is that love – as much as the music itself – that propels Carley into the world to sing and play and write and, yes, record her own as well as other people’s music, too. Cellist Najeeb Sabour says that, "Carley is an extraordinary pioneer of today’s music.... Songs of life, spirit, travels, pressing issues and pure joy are just some of the elements Ms. Wolf expresses through her unique lyrics and original songwriting." Drummer Jon Konya (from the Belleville Outfit) says of Carley, "She is a performer of the highest caliber, with the voice of an angel on high. Her songs touch to the depths of human emotion, and I would marry her over the phone without ever having met her."

Carley’s debut CD, "Set Sail," was recorded at Steve Collins’ Troubadour Studio in Lockhart and features Carley on vocals, guitars, double bass, mandolin, keyboards, banjo and pump organ. Konya and Collins (Deadman) add a variety of sounds; Daniel "Deemo" Moss (The Blue Hit) plays cello and Katy Rose Cox (Shotgun Party) violin. The result is an eclectic mix of ten songs that showcase the range of Carley’s songwriting and performing talent. Steve comments, "Carley Wolf is a rare talent with a gift for creating intrigue and a natural story teller. Her music is spell-binding both in the studio and on the stage."

Carley’s music is very Kerrville, very backyard Austin (and environs) – as gentle as Winter (the friendliest wolf you ever petted), as pure as snow, as honest as Abe himself. This tiny woman with the little girl talking voice and womanly singing voice is always surprising – one day in native dress, the next in high fashion formals – and always disarming, bringing peace and joy wherever she goes.

"Set Sail" opens with a song about Carley’s own "Gypsy Soul Blues" – this is a woman whose chief frustration is not getting her songs and her spirit out to a broader audience, yet! "To Bee" may sound lighthearted, but Carley has spent countless hours working with beehives to save the vital critters so they can keep pollinating our flowers and food. Every song tells a story – but the best way to experience Carley’s music is up close and in person. She WILL sing in your backyard – and mend your fences while she’s changing strings, or instruments.