Carson McHone from Austin Texas wants it to be known that she's going places. While she respects honky tonk music, she's not about to let this genre limit how she plays or what she sings about.
'Carousel' was recorded in Nashville by Mike McCarthy and of the record she says "It carries a lot of baggage, lots of stories". Not all of these are new. Over half of the eleven tracks have been revamped and modernized from the more traditional sounding versions that appeared on her debut 2015 full length release 'Goodluck Man'.
Re-recording these with more dynamic, harder driving rhythms suggests that she has taken stock and knows better how to combine the old with the new. "Today I want to do more with the form, push myself past where I understand it to be" she says.
One of the brand new songs is Drugs which is about getting a high from other people rather than advocating illicit substances although it's surely no accident that the arrangement brings to mind Velvet Underground's 'Heroine'.
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Dram Shop Girl draws upon her experience serving in bars with customers who include those with "sticky hands and too much time".
A kinship with the #Metoo movement is also implicit in Good Time Daddy Blues about a man who "comes round when he wants and leaves when he likes"
For all the sassy attitude she displays,the slower, more introspective songs like How 'Bout It and Spider Song show both a maturity and vulnerability. It's this range that makes the album a statement of intent and singles McHone out as a young artist beginning to find her true voice.
Carson McHone's website
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