Biography
Kendel Carson entered the music scene as a 22-year-old fiddler, singer, and songwriter when she delivered her debut record in 2007 via Chip Taylor’s Train Wreck imprint. David J. Cantor observed at Sound Stage that Rearview Mirror Tears signaled the arrival of a substantial new voice within the expansive country-rock landscape. Far from an isolated event, the project extended a devotion to music that had begun decades earlier. Carson, born in Canada, took up the fiddle and appeared with the Victoria Symphony at age three; she later joined the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and, at nine, performed with the BC Fiddle Orchestra, preparation that proved useful once she joined the Paperboys, Outlaw Social, and Kid Carson, the last of these fronted by her brother.
Chip Taylor, the veteran singer and songwriter who had recently supported artists such as Carrie Rodriguez, first noticed Carson’s abilities in 2004. Their paths crossed at the Canmore Festival during a fiddle workshop she shared with Rodriguez. Although Taylor initially asked her to New York to compose songs and cut demos, the pair entered the studio after only a few days together. Those sessions, marked by strong rapport and fresh ideas, produced the core of a roots-oriented album built chiefly around Carson’s vocals and Taylor’s compositions. Jerome Clark later remarked in Rambles that Carson managed Taylor’s songs with skill, her voice youthful yet full-bodied, able to summon melancholy or wit, hardship or optimism, according to each song’s demand.
The 2007 release of Rearview Mirror Tears lifted Carson’s standing to a fresh level. Wade Tatangelo wrote in Creative Loafing that she conveyed the heart of every track with a voice shifting from angelic to sassy, conveying vulnerability, assurance, and ample enigma, rendering the album one of the year’s strongest first efforts. Rodriguez and Taylor supplied additional vocal parts, while guitarist John Platania and drummer Dan Rieser furnished the instrumental foundation. Throughout spring and summer 2007 the album climbed the Americana radio chart, entering at 39 and reaching number ten by July. Carson and Taylor also performed that summer in Sweden and Norway, including a stop at the Down on the Farm Festival, and she prepared the video for her song “I Like Trucks.” Her cited influences encompass Lucinda Williams, the Band, Emmylou Harris, and Ryan Adams.
Chip Taylor, the veteran singer and songwriter who had recently supported artists such as Carrie Rodriguez, first noticed Carson’s abilities in 2004. Their paths crossed at the Canmore Festival during a fiddle workshop she shared with Rodriguez. Although Taylor initially asked her to New York to compose songs and cut demos, the pair entered the studio after only a few days together. Those sessions, marked by strong rapport and fresh ideas, produced the core of a roots-oriented album built chiefly around Carson’s vocals and Taylor’s compositions. Jerome Clark later remarked in Rambles that Carson managed Taylor’s songs with skill, her voice youthful yet full-bodied, able to summon melancholy or wit, hardship or optimism, according to each song’s demand.
The 2007 release of Rearview Mirror Tears lifted Carson’s standing to a fresh level. Wade Tatangelo wrote in Creative Loafing that she conveyed the heart of every track with a voice shifting from angelic to sassy, conveying vulnerability, assurance, and ample enigma, rendering the album one of the year’s strongest first efforts. Rodriguez and Taylor supplied additional vocal parts, while guitarist John Platania and drummer Dan Rieser furnished the instrumental foundation. Throughout spring and summer 2007 the album climbed the Americana radio chart, entering at 39 and reaching number ten by July. Carson and Taylor also performed that summer in Sweden and Norway, including a stop at the Down on the Farm Festival, and she prepared the video for her song “I Like Trucks.” Her cited influences encompass Lucinda Williams, the Band, Emmylou Harris, and Ryan Adams.
Albums
