Karen Impola
Studio One HostKaren Impola is the host of Iowa Public Radio's The Folk Tree. Karen began working at KUNI in 1990. Over the years, she has hosted both folk and classical music programs, as well as the precursor to Studio One Tracks. Before moving to Iowa, she hosted folk and progressive music shows at WXPN in Philadelphia, and was a production assistant at NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
Karen spent much of her childhood and adolescence holed up in her room with a record player. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology & Anthropology from Swarthmore College, where she also did her first radio show, at 6:00 a.m. on a ten-watt station, to an audience which numbered in the single digits. Her hobbies include singing, folkdancing, and gardening.
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Harmonious Wail paid a visit to The Folk Tree on Sunday, December 4th. This Madison, Wisconsin-based trio has traveled the world sharing their…
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During the 4:00 hour of The Folk Tree on Sunday, April 17, Iris DeMent talks with IPR's Karen Impola about her roots in the Arkansas Delta, her emergence…
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Katie Dahl’s music combines a love for her rural midwestern roots, a droll wit, and a clear-eyed appraisal of modern life, all served up in a voice as…
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The Folk Tree got into the Christmas spirit on Dec. 20 with a live music extravaganza featuring three different acts. Cedar Valley band The Enablers sang…
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Based out of Seattle, Washington, The Blackberry Bushes Stringband mix equal parts tradition and innovation, with the twang and instrumental chops of…
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Finnders and Youngberg is a great Colorado-based bluegrass band with an Iowa connection. Guitarist and principal songwriter Mike Finnders hails from our…
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It was a good year for chamber music, orchestras, fusion and harmonies. That's according to two of IPR's music hosts who shared their favorite recordings…
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When it comes to compiling a Halloween playlist, there are the staples like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and “The Monster Mash” sung by the theatrical…
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The band Scythian (pronounced SITH-ee-unn - they’re named after a nomadic Eurasian tribe) has an unlikely combination of influences. Three of the members…
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Lily Henley’s “Words Like Yours” is the latest CD to arrive in my mailbox, seemingly out of nowhere, and knock my socks off. It actually arrived from New…