Carson McHone - Still Life LP

Austin's Carson McHone has caught the ears of many already with her buzzing country-rock balladry. The songs on her Merge debut, Still Life, were written in quiet moments between tours and recorded away from Texas in Ontario with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Romano. Together in a home studio they cut almost the entire record themselves, calling on two friends, the versatile Mark Lalama on accordion, piano, and organ, and David Nardi (Daniel Romano's Outfit) with some savvy saxophone, to round it out. The end result is a sharp pastiche of modern & classic Americana sounds indebted to the graceful twangs of artists like Emmylou Harris or Magnolia Electric Company, with similar 21st century sensibilities of folks like Margo Price or Lydia Loveless.