For anyone discovering you for the first time, how would you describe your music?
At a show in Portland, Oregon last month I “got”: Big Star, Sheryl Crow, and Sandy Denny - not sure if that’s more of a reflection on my music or on the audience in Portland, but really those are high compliments all, in combination. But how would I describe the music I make..? I love Lucinda Williams, I love the Velvet Underground - I appreciate beauty and grit and the spectrum there. Drawing the ethereal in the dirt… I hope the songs I play feel something like that.
What was the inspiration behind your latest album, Pentimento?
The album embodies this idea of holding multiple truths at once, of acknowledging the layers, the shadows, the process of being/becoming. The word “pentimento” comes from the Italian for “repentance”, and it is a visual art term for the presence of earlier strokes beneath the “finished” painting - so it implies this shift in intention while holding it as a true part in the whole.
You started out playing in bars in Austin, Texas, and now reside in Ontario. How has moving around changed the way you make music?
I’m learning to layer - my clothing, but also probably it comes out in my approach to music? Maybe that’s what Pentimento is actually about - the jean jacket and the Cowichan sweater, two pairs of socks.. long underwear?
What’s currently inspiring you outside of music?
Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy - it’s awful and alarming and… beautiful? Also The Ballad and the Folk by David Buchan - I’m making my way slowly through this - if anyone has recommendations in this vein, please let me know ~
We’re super excited for your debut show at The Shacklewell Arms! Is there anything you’re particularly excited to see or do while you’re on tour in the UK?
Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls. Also, Birds Flying Backwards, the band who will kick off the show at Shacklewell Arms with us - we met when they came out to a small gig I played a few years ago - in fact Max (who will be in my band this tour) was also on that gig - they were so lovely and I’m so glad it’s working out to do a show together - I really look forward to seeing the band play live - they’ve been releasing some wonderful songs!
What can we expect from Carson McHone in 2026?
A new ear piercing? It’s becoming a tradition every time I visit London… But the show at Shacklewell will be the first show of this run and I’ll be playing music with an entirely new crew (Max Kinghorn-Mills and Leo Clarke of Hollow Hand, Chris Boot, and Fliss Horrocks!) - so I’m really excited to feel how the songs (and I!) shift and evolve with these new folks, and you can hear it first at Shacklewell Arms on August 25, 2026!