Carson McHone: “I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face”

Song of the Day

No matter how much success a young artist finds down the line, there’ll always be opportunities to pay respects to their predecessors and contemporaries. Whether it’s an early choice (Nick Cave & The Bad Seed’s Kicking Against the Pricks), a mid-career reset (Souxsie and the Banshees’ Through the Looking Glass), a later vocation salute (Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome), or the final chapter of a band’s studio discography (RATM’s Renegades), a collection of covers can make for a real triumph within a musician’s catalogue.

Among the Austinites with bright futures, bygone muses, and a legitimate respect for their musical elders? Our October 2016 KUTX Artist of the Month, Carson McHone ranks high. A decade removed from her debut Goodluck Man, collective millions of streams accrued for her originals, and current headquarters in Southern Ontario, Carson’s certainly manifested a fast track to international recognition. But despite that familiarity in the Folk-Americana-Country forum, McHone will still take prudent humility over precocious hubris any day, as made clear on her upcoming EP ODES, out July 19th.

Just like the title implies, ODES holds a handful of homages to some of McHone’s biggest influences from the ’60s and ’70s – including Conway Twitty, MC5, and Margo Guryan. And the EP announcement arrived this morning alongside the third of ODES‘ four covers and the EP’s lead single – Carson’s take on a Arthur Russell posthumous fan favorite with an already-rich history of cover versions from the likes of Glen Hansard and The Avett Brothers, and inherently feminine renditions on behalf of Jessie Baylin and Elizabeth Moen. But where Baylin approached “I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face” entrenched in folkadelia and Moen with eggshell delicacy, Carson’s evokes her trademark warmth and Southern confidence by swapping out the original organ for a pretty straightforward acoustic-electric-guitar-and-piano pairing, all while maintaining the original’s tasteful breakdowns and painful farewells. And after watching the accompanying music video, we just can’t wait to watch Carson McHone perform this one in person…honestly with a little eye contact and face time preferred.

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