Ed Dempsey
Keyboards, vocals

UNIQUE KEYBOARD PLAYER - loves the feel of music amplified by the energy of the stage. A puppet to the beat, you never see him standing still - always moving. He adds strong high harmonies to the intense vocal sound of Hot Karma's exciting style of music.

Ed's keyboard style tells of the influences of Alan Price, Jimmy Smith, Greg Rollie, and Mark Naftalin. His fingers, like his feet, are in a constant state of motion - keys or not. The powerful and moving music which emanates from the instruments captures your attention immediately.

Though based in Sonoma County, Ed has played music in clubs all over the country, as have the other Hot Karma musicians. He was the Musical Director of Dee Wils and the City, and has also played in the bands Harvest, Jetstream, Riki and the Click, the Bill Harris Band, and Pulse.

Ed started his musical career as a drummer for his first few bands, but switched to keyboards after a few years. Up until just recently - his first instrument of choice was his Hammond B3 and known to his many friends who helped move it as "the Beast". (The friends could not be here today because they are all suffering from hernias and bad backs.) But nothing sounded sweeter than the sound of the Beast. This was actually the second B3 Ed owned - he lost his first in a practice-studio fire which literally burned all-the-way to the ground.