Tyler loves
music. His most important goal in teaching is to pass on that
same appreciation to his students. While a large part of that
process is a matter of having fun, he does believe in hard work!
He has a long background in both the classical and folk genres.
This allows him to offer proven classical technique that doesn't
hinder the fiddler's style.
You can contact him at
carsonmusic@shaw.ca.
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The following is an interview with Canadian
Celtic Music Artist Spotlight, 2002.
Tyler Carson, as
one half of the brother-sister team "The Carsons" has been thrilled
audiences worldwide, since he was a teen.
You sound like
you've been performing your whole life. What got you started playing
the fiddle?
Well we were too young for boot camp so...just kidding. Our Mom put
us into music lessons when I was 5 and Kendel was 3. Our hands were
too small for piano, the instrument she originally planned for us to
play, so we took up fiddle because they scale it down in size.
For someone
who is new to your music, how would you describe it?
Well, I suppose you could say our fiddling is something like Ashley
MacIsaac meets Charlie Daniels, and our vocals are something like
Spirit of the West meets The Wilkinsons.
Do you have
any other musicians in your family? Are your parents musical?
Well, our Dad likes to sing in the shower...does that count!?
Actually, both our parents enjoy music very much and play it for
recreation, but when people ask that question to them, they usually
like to say that they USED to have lots of talent but that they gave
it all to us. ;)
Do you play
any other instruments besides the fiddle?
We are both vocalists as well as fiddle players and we are writing
our own material as you can hear on our new disc called ".CA" People
often ask us why we called it that and our answer is pretty simple -
marketing.
You've traveled to
the Cayman Islands & Asia, performing your Canadian music. How have
you been received there? How did those trips come about?
Hey this is Kendel here now to answer the rest (it's time to take
over from that brother of mine - make sure things stay on the
straight and narrow!) Anyhow, we've been really lucky to be able to
see some far off places in the world, just by playing music. To
begin with, we were seen "busking" on the inner-harbor in Victoria
when a lady took our business card and called us for a gig in
Vancouver. When we played over there, the head of Tourism Canada saw
us, and asked us if we were interested in performing overseas. Of
course we said yes- and we ended up being hired to go to Japan and
to Thailand. It was an incredible experience (we were also fairly
young at the time- 12 and 13 I think.) More recently we got the
treat to go to the Cayman Islands. It was at the end of grade 10 for
me - and it was by far the nicest trip I've ever taken. The music
was received very well. Many of the shows were for the locals of the
Caymans (and of course, lots for the thousands of tourists that come
in by cruise ship everyday!) so we got to meet some very cool
people!
I hear you've
also performed on the Jerry Lewis Telethon in California. That must
have been quite the experience!
That was a very cool show to do. We got to stay in the Beverly Hills
Hilton, and meet some people that we never would have thought we
would ever meet (Jason Alexander - George Kostanza from Seinfeld,
among others.) We got to be backed up by a live, huge 18 piece band
- and introduced by Ed McMahon. It was a trip that we won't forget!!
Having played
the fiddle while going to school, what have your classmates thought
of your playing? Were you asked to perform at school events?
We were lucky, when we started to play for shows at school, it was
around the same time that Ashley MacIsaac came out and made the
fiddle really cool. It was seen as a really 'hip' talent to have-
and I'm not sure the kids would have taken it the same way without
Ashley's influence. We've done too many school events to count, and
they were all fun. It's cool to play talent shows or showcases and
whatnot when it's other students performing along with you. Our
friends have always supported our music styles, too (with only a few
jokes here and there...)
Who are your
favourite singers/instrumentalists?
Geez - how am I supposed to pick favorites??? You should see my CD
collection. Right now, some of the top picks would be Kenny Chesney,
Garth Brooks (of course - always a fave), Tim McGraw, LeAnn Womack
(that new duet with Willie Nelson is hot!,) ummm....Dixie Chicks of
course, Eileen Ivers, Nickelback, Britney Spears (new CD is
incredibly produced!), Faith Hill, there...I think that's enough. I
could just name my entire CD collection, but I won't!
If you could
perform with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
I would love to do the fiddle part (and some vocals) on stage with
Garth Brooks to 'Callin' Baton Rouge' because that would be a dream
come true. His shows are so huge and so fun...he's the best
entertainer! Once again- I could name you a million people, but
we'll leave it at Garth. And Tyler just yelled that he'd prefer
Britney...go figure!
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