Carson McHone

Carson McHone is a Texas-born artist whose musical roots are in country and the Lone Star State's rich singer/songwriter tradition, though she doesn't let those boundaries confine her. McHone crafts simple, evocative melodies that pair well with her lyrics, which are emotionally honest in their depiction of love and other forms of human interaction. As a performer, she lets her songs dictate the sound of her work. While her debut album, 2015's Goodluck Man, was very much a honky tonk session, 2018's Carousel was more stylistically diverse, with elements of pop, indie rock, and roots rock adding new colors to her tunes. 2022's Still Life, produced by Daniel Romano, added new layers as her passion for '70s rock made itself heard. Unlike many singer/songwriters based in Austin, Carson McHone was born there in 1992, and grew up absorbing the influences of the city's diverse musical community firsthand. She was writing songs and playing them in public by her mid-teens; her father, who worked for a local beer distributor and owned a couple of taverns in the area, knew Austin's club scene well, and with his help, she was holding down residencies at bars at the tender age of 16. McHone earned a loyal audience as she became a presence on the Austin music scene through steady gigging and a self-released EP in 2013. She was praised by outlaw songwriting legend Ray Wylie Hubbard, who invited her to sing on "Chick Singer, Badass Rockin'," a cut from his 2015 album The Ruffian's Misfortune, and local heroes Shinyribs brought her in to contribute vocals to their 2015 release Okra Candy. 2015 also saw McHone issue her first full-length album, Goodluck Man, on the local Good Horse label. McHone's touring schedule expanded after Goodluck Man won favorable reviews in the music press, and she was playing regularly in Nashville as well as throughout the Southwest. In 2018, the independent Nine Mile Records released her second LP, Carousel, which was produced by Mike McCarthy, best known for his work with Spoon. Carousel was hailed by critics and picked up by Loose Records in the United Kingdom and Europe, making it her first international release. By this time, she was frequently sharing stages with acts such as Shakey Graves, Gary Clark, Jr., Charlie Mars, and Ryan Bingham. More live work followed, and in 2020 she toured Scandinavia as the opening act for the Felice Brothers, followed by a string of solo dates in Spain. However, most of her Spanish shows were canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down venues across Europe. McHone made her way back to Texas, but didn't stay there long. She had been in a relationship with Canadian roots rocker Daniel Romano, and in September 2020 they married, with McHone relocating to Romano's hometown of Toronto. Like many musicians whose touring plans were upended by the pandemic, McHone kept herself busy by writing new songs, and since Romano had a studio in their home, they were able to safely record as they waited out the lockdown. With McHone on vocals and guitars, Mark Lalama on keyboards, David Nardi on saxophone, and Romano on guitar, bass, drums, and percussion (as well as producing the sessions), Still Life was completed entirely in their living room, and was released by Merge Records in February 2022.
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