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Name: Caryn Fox
Member Since: July 2001
DMH Roles: Vocalist, songwriter, budding mandolinist, resident tightwad, banker, part of the booking triad.
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Childhood Pet: Patches, my basset hound, and Catfish, a white mouse.
My Favorite Self-Penned Original and Why I Wrote It: "Until the End of Time," which I wrote for my dog Bailey.
Key Musical Influences: MANY! Carole King, James Taylor, Carley Simon, Peter Gabriel, The Clash, The Roches, Kasey Chambers, Darryl Scott, Dolly Parton, David Grisman.
Dream Cover: Any Andrews Sisters' tune
Musician I'd Like to Trade Places With for a Day: Dolly Parton
Favorite Gig Memory: Backstage at the Strathmore tribute to The Band, we were surrounded by Washington's finest musicians...and being among them—Wow!
Favorite Quote: "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well."—Diane Ackerman
Top 10 Desert Island CDs:
Simon and Garfunkle, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme"
James Taylor, "Greatest Hits"
Genesis, "Trick of the Tale"
Meat Loaf, "Bat out of Hell"
Alanis Morisette, "Jagged Little Pill"
Dixie Chicks, "Home"
Kasey Chambers, "Barricades and Brick Walls"
Wailin' Jennys, "Firecracker"
A soundtrack toss-up between Rocky Horror Picture Show, Oklahoma, A Chorus Line, and Phantom of the Opera.
Mark Kozelek's rendition of "Up to My Neck in You" (written by AC/DC's Bon Scott), from What's Next to the Moon. This song stands on its own in depth of meaning and sentiment and therefore gets its own spot on the list.
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 Caryn was bitten by the performance bug at birth. As a three-year-old, Caryn would regularly be found atop the living room coffee table, singing for whoever would stop to listen. In high-school, musicals were her love as she often performed in several shows a year, including standards such as Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Pajama Game, Finnian's Rainbow, and The Sound of Music, as well as many original plays with original scores.
After college, Caryn began taking voice lessons—training as a classical soprano on the upper west side of Manhattan. Yet Broadway still called. Caryn soon landed the part of Lucy in an off-off Broadway production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".
Paying the rent, however, took precedence. Caryn took 15 years off to establish a career as a journalist and start a family, during which time she discovered an appreciation for (gasp!) country music, and its roots. It was ultimately the voice of her Grandma Rose—"So, Caryn, how's the singing going?"—that drove Caryn to admit to her work friend Belinda that she, too, enjoyed singing.
Today, Caryn does not sing soprano—on the contrary, she almost always takes the lowest of the ladies' three-part harmonies. And Caryn now writes her own songs: some funny, some serious, yet all reflecting the realities of life. Caryn is grateful to have found her second family that is Dead Men's Hollow. She is thrilled and honored to be writing, performing, and experiencing profound joy with such a warm, loving, and talented group of musicians.
The photographs on this page were taken by Brett Davis in the chapel and on the grounds of Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.
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