Carson Hill
Nashville-based artist Carson Hill has just released her latest single “Best Years”.
Timeless and captivating, the country record is about navigating the dissonance between the tumultuousness of your mid-20s and everyone telling you these are the best years of your life.
Produced by Keith Harris, the self-written single offers an empowering and emotional storytelling along with a big instrumentation. “Best Years” is a massive record. Definitely one of the best country records I’ve heard lately.
The new single is off her upcoming EP also titled Best Years, to be released soon.
Go stream “Best Years” now !
Photo credit: Matt Andrews
Hi Carson, how are you? What's your artist story?
I'm doing great! Excited to be talking with you today. A little bit about me, I was born and raised in North Carolina and moved to Nashville, Tennessee at eighteen to pursue music professionally. Music was always a part of my life because my mom was a singer and part time piano teacher. When I was eleven I taught myself how to play guitar using youtube then I started writing songs and performing anywhere I could. Now I've been living in Nashville for the last nine years and traveling with my music!
When did you start feeling connected to music? What did you grow up listening to?
My mom would sing me to sleep a lot when I was younger so my connection with music started early. Classics like "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison or "I've Got Sand In My Shoes" by The Drifters. I had always loved songs that told a good story or captured a mood perfectly. My mom was a school teacher and we had a long car ride in the mornings and afternoons so we would listen to music and she'd teach me and my sister to harmonize. My dad loved country music so I listened to a lot of Garth Brooks and Toby Keith growing up, but my mom was really into music like Steve Miller Band, Jimmy Buffet, and Billy Joel. Fleetwood Mac was another band that I was raised on. We were an all over the place genre family (laughs).
Could you give a list of some of the records that influenced the music you are making today?
Absolutely! Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" was a big influence in the beginning stages of working on new tunes alongside Kacey Musgraves' first few albums. "The Balladeer" by Lori McKenna had a lot of elements I brought to my producer to try on a few of my new songs.
"Best Years" is your new single - what's the inspiration/story behind this song?
Being in my twenties can feel so overwhelming and hard sometimes and yet everyone was telling me to enjoy these years because they were going to be some of the best of my life. I was just so sick of feeling like I was drowning in the "best years" that I started writing about what I was experiencing that didn't feel so great. I didn't have anything on the horizon and I was trying to navigate a season of life where so many of my friends were in different life stages. I feel like at every age you're learning how to deal with change and sometimes it's wonderful and sometimes it's a dark place to be. I was in a dark place, but trying to cling to the hope that my best years were still yet to come despite what everyone was telling me. It's some of the most confessional songwriting I've ever done.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? When did you start working on it?
I wrote Best Years sitting at my kitchen table early one fall morning in 2022 before I had to get ready to go to my day job. Just me and my guitar. I remember it took me maybe twenty minutes to write, which is very rare. The actual writing part is a bit of a blur, but when I took it to my producer, Ketih Harris, he loved it. We were working on a batch of songs and initially thought it would be a good acoustic bonus track. Spring of 2023 we got in the studio and started adding a few instruments. We realized this song could be an anthem not just a reflective acoustic track. Keith added very cinematic keys to the demo and we both looked at each other realizing we needed to add more musicians. Steve Brewster plays some amazing drums and Gideon Boley nailed the guitars. Kristin Weber added some fiddle and by the time I cut my vocals it felt like the song you hear in a movie when the character finally sees things looking up.
What did you feel when recording this song?
I felt very emotional recording "Best Years" because it's just so personal to me. It's my story and I'm honestly still living in the midst of the hard stuff I talk about in the song. I feel like even if no one else listens to it, I wrote and recorded it for me. I needed to hear it. I still need to hear it most days to remind myself hope is just around the corner and things really can only go up from here. The day we recorded it, Keith made me a demo for my drive home and I cried at how powerful the song made me feel after so long feeling powerless.
What message do you want to deliver through this song? What do you want people to feel when listening to it?
This song is really meant for anyone at any age who feels like the stage of life they're in is overwhelming or disappointing. My hope is that someone can listen to it when they're in the midst of whatever their "best years" are supposed to be and have an anthem to remind them to keep going. I want them to know that even if this season of life doesn't feel good and you feel like it's all a mess or you're falling behind, the best truly is yet to come.
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP Best Years?
There's six songs total on the EP, each one representing a facet of living your best years. We have a couple love songs, the title track, a fun drinking tune about beer, an ode to modern dating culture, and the whole record ends on an introspective ballad urging the listener to keep living. I'm so proud of the EP as a whole and I can honestly say it represents who I am as an artist. My friend and producer, Keith Harris, did a phenomenal job.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the beginning of your career?
That's an amazing question. The first one would probably be you have to truly love music to pursue it. If there was anything else in the world I could see myself doing I would do that instead, but my heart has always been stuck on being a singer/songwriter and I've never had a plan B. Another lesson I was taught a long time ago by a music teacher is one I quote often. "Never be moved by their cheers or their jeers." Say thank you when someone compliments your craft and let it roll off your back if they don't, but don't let it make or break you either way.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The hardest part for me has been the rollercoaster of emotions that this journey of music puts you on. I've performed at some amazing venues and played shows that left me on top of the world and then the next day felt so extremely low because I didn't have anything else on my calendar. The highs are amazing, but the lows are soul crushing.
The best part will forever be the feeling I get after I finish writing a song or being on stage. It's the moments when you have zero doubt you are doing exactly what you were made for.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I have a love/hate relationship with today's music industry. On one hand we have so much music at the tips of our fingers, but on the other there's so much out there that a lot of really good stuff gets buried. It's so easy to hop on trends and I think a lot of artists feel pressured to follow what's selling or popular instead of just making something they love. I sometimes wish we could go back to how it was before the internet and cell phones. So much good music was made because everyone was unplugged and present.
What are your thoughts on today's social media? How does it impact your music career?
I used to really dislike social media just because I would be comparing my music journey to friends of mine in the business, but lately I've been embracing it. I love posting new songs on my socials and getting people's opinions. It's just another form of having an audience willing to listen. I try not to let it become my sole focus or take away from time writing. To me, it's really important to use it as a tool without making it the main thing in my career. Music will always be first.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I feel like the Beatles said it best, all you need is love.
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