Local rocker Rach Karma set to appear on ‘American Idol’
Connecticut metal band vocalist Rach Lux Karma is rocking the “American Idol” auditions this weekend, appearing on Sunday’s episode of the long-running TV talent show.
The hourlong episode will air locally on Sunday night at 11:30 p.m. on the ABC network following the Academy Awards telecast. “American Idol” is available on Hulu and some other streaming services, with episodes available the day after they aired on ABC.
“I did a virtual audition online on a webcam,” Karma told the Courant Friday. “My guitarist was with me, and we did a song by Paramore, ‘Misery Business.’ It went through five rounds of judges saying yes, yes, yes. Then there’s a lot of waiting. When those auditions ended they told me ‘Look out for an email, we’re not sure where you’ll go yet.’ Turned out to be Las Vegas. That was nice.”
She and the guitarist, Matt Landusky, spent a couple of days in Las Vegas, but “we were filming from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.” so she didn’t get to see much of the city. She says wasn’t able to use “Misery Business” again as her live audition, but couldn’t reveal what song she did do since she is not allowed to discuss details of the episode before it airs.
Karma, who grew up in Newington and now lives in Guilford, was living in Hartford when the online “American Idol” auditions happened.
She is the frontwoman for two local bands: NEVERMØURN, which does their own original material, and the metal cover band Evil Twin. She describes NEVERMØURN as “a theatrical, symphonic Goth metal band” whose latest show is called “Rite of Truth.” NEVERMØURN released its debut single “Release the Demons” in January.
With Evil Twin, she sings songs usually associated with male vocalists, covering AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, Korn, the Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy and others.
A fixture in the Connecticut metal community, Karma hosted the upstairs Lilly’s Pad events at the annual Opus Birthday Bash metal extravaganza at Toad’s Place in New Haven in January. In October, she held a “Macabre Variety Show” for True Colors United and the Human Rights Fund at another New Haven club, The State House.
Upcoming Connecticut shows by Karma’s bands include Evil Twin on April 15 at the Cellar on Treadwell in Hamden and NEVERMØURN on April 22 at Cherry Street Station in Wallingford.
“I’ve been in and out of bands since I was 15 years old,” Karma says. She’s applied to appear on “American Idol” and some other reality competition series before, but this is the first time she’s made it to the next level.
Sunday’s episode is the fourth in the current season of “American Idol,” which usually airs Sundays at 8 p.m. It was filmed in September in Las Vegas and covers the audition process through which the show selects the contestants for the season.
The “American Idol” judges this season are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.