Kevin Carson Music

Funny fact about my song “Living On 30A”.   So I knew there was a bass vocal part that I was going to call a friend with a baritone voice to sing. Then the funny thing happened. Right before I called my friend I woke up with a bad cold and thought to myself, “wow I think I can sing that part now! So if there was ever a good time to catch a cold, I guess this was it. So in the song when you hear the lyrics, “white white sands and the girls in their tans”, yes that’s really me with a cold singing the bass part. 🤪

Living On 30A / KEVIN CARSON "Living On 30A" is the title cut to Carson's 2020 CD!30A is the beautiful scenic beach road that runs between Destin & Panama City Beach Florida.

Road Story!
As I sit in my bed this morning awaiting the time and drive to the ski slopes of Tahoe this came to mind.
I hadn’t been playing solo gigs very long at this point and my confidence was fairly low. I had been booked to play a one hour set at some little festival. As I drive to the small town still knowing there is no great singer with me I know I must move forward. As I drive through the gates in my two seater convertible I see a big poster of myself (well that’s something that doesn’t happen every day). As soon as I open the door, a couple of young black kids are asking me to sign things, yes, autographs. I have arrived and the music manager of the festival greets me and treats me like a king! As I look around it doesn’t take long to notice, I am the only white guy. Normally not a big deal because I had my band of Brothers with me who always knew plenty of the right music for everyone. Harken back to the 90s when my pop band pulled into Butte Montana and lo and behold we were playing the heavy metal club. They were expecting some Pantera or Ozzie but by the end of the night we had everyone in the palm of our hands, (that’s a very exciting feeling).
However now, Flash forward,I am back to my solo gig and have figured out they thought they had booked someone from American Idol. Oh well, the show must go on. I had played for black audiences hundreds of times but never at a festival solo. I’m getting all of my R&B, Temptations, Al Green together in my mind. A little sound check in front of the whole crowd. Oh my God I hope I make it through this alive! Here we go: 10, 9, 8, 7 seconds, Bang, no not a gunshot, It starts to rain! It’s pouring down. I shove my guitar back into its case, receive half pay for the rain out jump in my car and head towards Memphis. I had survived. Was relieved to be heading home but to this day, I still wonder, would I have won the crowd over that night?