Rock & Roll Underdogs

Karl Sharicz is a writer, abstract painter, musician, and seasoned professional consultant whose creative life has been shaped as much by music and color as strategy and insight. As the author of Rock & Roll Underdogs: Hidden Gems Within the Shadows of Stardom, Karl draws upon a lifetime spent discovering, performing, writing about, and preserving music and its history, shining a spotlight on the brilliant artists whose influence and artistry far exceeded the recognition they ultimately received.Professionally, Karl leads training and advisory work in the field of Customer Experience (CX), helping organizations and rising professionals create more human-centered experiences. He's the author and editor of the CX-PRO book series and the creator of a widely respected CX-PRO(TM) training and certification program.But at heart, Karl has always been drawn to the creative fringe. He plays multiple instruments, paints expressive abstracts (often naming them after 1960s song titles), and maintains an ongoing fascination with the unsung heroes of rock history. Through the Rock & Roll Underdogs series, he has interviewed numerous musicians, producers, and industry insiders, helping preserve stories that might otherwise be lost to time. Karl is also a contributing writer for the Music Museum of New England (MMONE), where he documents the stories of artists, venues, and moments that helped shape New England's musical heritage.He splits his time between two places that nourish his creativity in different ways-along the North Shore of Massachusetts, where the ocean's edge offers constant renewal, and in the lakes region of Maine, in a peaceful retreat that provides space for reflection, music, and art. Whether he's behind a drum kit, a canvas, a guitar, or a keyboard, Karl is always in search of the next story worth telling.