Tuesday 13 November 2018

Alt-Country artist Carson McHone releases new album CAROUSEL

Carson McHone’s Dark, Driving And Evocative Carousel Is The Confident Work Of A Modern Alt-Country Storyteller




















Dark, driving and evocative, Carson McHone’s new album Carousel captures a period of remarkable growth for the young singer and songwriter. The album, out October 26th (Nine Mile Records), shines a light not only on McHone's honky-tonk roots, but also on her development as a modern, alt-country storyteller. It features newly written songs and updated versions of tracks that first appeared on her 2015 album Goodluck Man, pushing traditional sounds and themes into a modern context.

CAROUSEL is a latter-day record unconcerned with flying the flag of old-school country, inspired by diverse sources like Dylan, the Velvet Underground, and American novelist Thomas Wolfe. It wears its eclecticism proudly, with McHone singing each song in a voice that is worldly-wise and woozily gorgeous.


US Release Date: October 26, 2018 US iTunes | Artist Website
Label: Nine Mile Records

UK Release Date: 25 Jan. 2019
Label: LOOSE (Available on CD via Proper Music)
Copyright: Carson McHone Music
Total Length: 43:00
Genres: Country / Alt-Country & Americana / Folk


Carousel kicks off with "Sad," a song about the fraught relationship one develops with darkness, but it’s a fast-moving, high-energy song driven forward by fiddle, electric guitar, and pedal steel. This track sets the stage for an album that tackles edgy subjects without losing its bright melodies.


McHone creates her own rule book, switching between tempos on "Lucky", offsetting the acoustic guitar of "Spider Song" with the medieval swell of a harmonium, and fills the piano ballad, "How 'Bout It," with a mix of torch-song twang and late-night, jazz-club melancholia.  Originally recorded back in 2015 as a deep-cutting, slow-moving waltz, “Gentle” reappears on Carousel as an anthemic tribute to a love gone cold, with McHone exploring the tension between what we know and what we feel, then honoring a relationship’s fleeting existence rather than despairing it’s demise.

The lyrics are confessional and intensely autobiographical. On “Dram Shop Gal” - one of several Goodluck Man tracks to receive a modern makeover – McHone takes a hard look at the ways in which her worldview has been shaped (for better and for worse) by her many hours in a barroom.

"Life is a battlefield of emotions for even the most Stoic and well-adjusted among us....It’s not just the words, but the music of Carson McHone’s Carousel that help create an audio illustration of this emotional battlefield that it’s haunting at times in how well it mirrors our own experiences." Trigger (Review 1 3/4 Guns Up (7.5/10) Saving Country Music

"McHone's unflinching observations are on brilliant display on her new album” - Bobbie Jean Sawyer Wide Open Country

Which makes “Spider Song” with its droning harmonium probably my favorite cut on this album, followed closely by “Dram Shop Girl” which comes off tender, but with a touch of darkness reminiscent of Townes Van Zandt. Both of these tunes have an innocence to them rather than naïveté that makes them work, as well as being forward thinking in their arrangements. “Drugs” with its plaintive repeating chorus: “Drugs, I need drugs, I need drugs,” is catchy and strong, and I find myself coming back to listen to it again and again, and “Gentle” is whispery and resolute in its emotional impact. These songs definitely are worth listening to over and over, as Carousel definitely gets better with each spin. –
Review by Roy Peak Rocking Magpie

There is a level of progress in Carson McHone’s work evident on the album, but she hasn’t moved as far away from tradition as the self-declarations that come along with this album would suggest. In time, perhaps more challenging material will grace our decks, but in the meantime, this is one – a good one – for those that like their alt-country a little lighter on the alt- side.  – Phil Grant (7/10 Review) Americana-uk.com

 “Got real talent” – Marie Crichton BBC Radio Shropshire BBC Playlist


“There was a time when I wanted to champion traditional country,” says McHone, “mostly because I wasn’t hearing it in what was being called ‘country’.  I think a lot of roots influenced artists feel the need to defend tradition in this way.  Today though, I want to do more with the form, push myself past where I understand it to be.”

Playing an instrumental role in the process was Mike McCarthy, the now Nashville based, award-winning producer behind albums for Spoon, Patty Griffin, and Heartless Bastards.  McCarthy is well versed in country music but his work is definitely not defined by the genre, which made him the perfect candidate for McHone’s new record. 

Years before Rolling Stone was praising Carson McHone's rule-breaking roots music, naming her a “New Country Artist You Need To Know” last summer, the Austin, Texas native played weeknights in local bars like The White Horse, keeping dancers dancing and drinkers drinking. With her 21st birthday still in the distance (she got her first residency at 16), McHone entertained late-night crowds bearing witness to the good times and bad decisions that fill a busy bar. It was a rare, raw education.

Published on Mar 31, 2014 watch Carson McHone’s “Goodluck Man


She pumped her music full of details from an early adulthood spent in the company of the heartbroken and high-toleranced. In 2015, McHone released Goodluck Man, which earned her a cover story in The Austin Chronicle as well as the support of local icons like Ray Wylie Hubbard, who said she "writes songs like her life depends on it." Then she hit the road, touring the U.S. (and beyond) with acts like Shakey Graves, Gary Clark, Jr., and Joe Pug. Her writing style widened and her music evolved, which led her to stretch out on Carousel

TUE NOV 13, 2018 - Skinny Dennis, Brooklyn, New York with Zephaniah OHora
WED NOV 14, 2018 - Hill Country BBQ, New York City
THURS NOV 15, 2018 - Hill Country BBQ, Washington Dc
FRI NOV 16, 2018 - Halfway House Concerts, Chattanooga, Tennessee
SAT NOV 17, 2018 - The Basement, Leo Rondeau, Nashville, Tennessee with Lillie Mae
SUN NOV 18, 2018 – Railgarten, Memphis, TN, United States
SUN NOV 18, 2018 - By The Tracks House Concert, Germantown, TN
FRI NOV 23, 2018 - Gruene Hall, New Bruanfels, Texas with Charley Crockett

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