Biography

Kip Carmen started his career as a musician and songwriter in the mid 1960s. A Native American with ancestry from the Shinnecock Indian Nation, Kip's family introduced him to the ways of the reservation Indian as a child in an effort to preserve the rich culture and traditions of their people. For 5 years, Kip worked as a dancer with the shows held at the Shinnecock Indian Reservation on Long Island. Although he was only 7 years old at the time, he was not too young to realize his love was entertaining people. 

At the age of 14, Kip felt ready to take some of what he had learned and apply it to his own brand of music. He put together a group of young musicians and within a few years attained local success in his hometown of Huntington, Long Island with his band The Chessmen. His musical talent did not go unnoticed and upon High School graduation, Kip was asked to audition for a position as a section leader in the United States Military Academy Band at West Point. He was one of over 300 young men anxious for the opportunity to work with such an outstanding orchestra. Kip got the position and for 3 years worked with one of the finest bands in the world. It was here that he developed the poise and self-assurance necessary for success in the entertainment industry.

In the early 1970s Kip was signed by Hi Records in Memphis, where he cut a single that was released on Hi Records subsidiary Mach Records. Many years of road touring followed. During those hectic years he came into contact with some of the finest musicians in the country, including Cornell Dupree and Jimmy Allen Smith from the band Stuff, with whom Kip collaborated on his own albums including “Just For Tonight,” an LP released on Kip’s own label Long Island Sounds Records, and “This Island Is Our Is Our Home,” a single originally released on Reveille Records. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kip opened for acts such as Neil Diamond, Maxine Brown, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tanya Tucker, the James Cotton Blues Band, the Brecker Brothers, Anne Murray, and the Fabulous Platters. 

In the 1980s and 1990s Kip found a solid place for himself as a musician, working for some of the top orchestras on Long Island and in New York City, and leading his own very fine orchestra as well. During the 1980's Kip opened for acts such as James Cotton, Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows, and the Stink Band featuring Peter Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Donald “Duck” Dunn.  A true high point in Kip's career was when he opened for Albert King in at U.S. Blues in Roslyn, N.Y. in 1984.