Lori Carson

All Music Guide:

Although Lori Carson's name may not automatically come to mind when discussing the best singer-songwriters of the late '90s, it doesn't mean that she isn't deserving of such accolades. Although she has received much critical acclaim and acquired many fans along the way, her talents have unfortunately gone unrecognized (hopefully this will soon change in the Lilith Fair-friendly late '90s). Beginning with her debut in 1990, Shelter, Carson was predicted to be a major recording force by the likes of Time and Rolling Stone. But instead of following the path laid down by her debut, which she wasn't entirely happy with, she put her solo career on hold and joined friend Anton Fier in the Golden Palominos. Appearing on two of their albums, 1993's This Is How It Feels and 1994's Pure, Lori turned out to be an important addition and integral member of the band.

Returning to solo work in 1995, she released her gentle sophomore effort, Where It Goes, on Restless Records, with Fier handling production chores. Again she received praise from Rolling Stone, as well as Entertainment Weekly, Details, and other publications. It was also during 1995 that Lori began getting involved in composing for movies, as she co-wrote "Fall In the Light" for the motion picture Strange Days with writer Graeme Revell, and contributed "You Won't Fall" (from Where It Goes) to the movie Stealing Beauty. Her most stripped-down album yet, Everything I Touch Runs Wild, was released in 1997, again to rave reviews, as Carson spent the rest of the year touring the world. Stars followed in 1999 and In 2001 she released House In The Weeds. Stolen Beauty appeared in 2003 ad received glowing reviews. The Finest Thing was relewased in mid 2004; it showcases a change in direction as Carson, for all her gifts as a songwriter, chose to use them in order create not a series of songs, but, as she terms them, "meditations." The entire recordng, is, in a sense, a guided meditation.

Wikipedia:

Lori Carson (born 1958) is a singer/songwriter whose albums include: Shelter (DGC-Geffen, 1990), Where it Goes, Everything I Touch Runs Wild (Restless Records, 1995, 1997) and Another Year (Blue Kitchen/United for Opportunity, 2012). A former member of the seminal band The Golden Palominos, she has contributed to the soundtracks of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty, Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days, Keith Gordon’s Waking the Dead, and others.

Her debut novel, The Original 1982, will be published by William Morrow/Harper Collins in the summer of 2013.

Career History

Lori began performing in the mid-nineteen eighties at Folk City, The Bitter End, and other clubs on, or around, Bleecker Street. She was signed to a development deal with Manhattan Records in 1987 and, the following year, to a recording contract with Geffen Records.

Shelter produced by Hal Willner was released in 1990 to excellent reviews. It featured a duet with Greg Allman. In support of the record, Lori toured with a trio (Rachelle Garnier on accordion, and Paul Pimsler on guitar) opening for Joe Jackson in Canada and the U.S. In 1991, she was dropped from the label.

Playing a show in New York City, later that year, she was approached by drummer/producer Anton Fier, to collaborate on a new project that became 1992’s This is How it Feels by The Golden Palominos. Pure, by the Palominos, was released the following year, and featured Lori’s song 'Little Suicides'. For a time it was hard to find a hipper band than the Golden Palominos.

Carson signed to Restless records in 1994, and Where it Goes (produced by Fier) came out in 1995. She toured extensively in support of the record, often accompanied by Paul Pimsler, and cellist Jane Scarpantoni. Solo, she opened for the Counting Crows, facing their hit-hungry audiences with only an acoustic guitar. On tour in Asia, she learned that Bernardo Bertolucci would license 'You Won’t Fall', for his film Stealing Beauty. Also, came an offer to co-write a song for Katherine Bigelow’s Strange Days with composer Graeme Revell.

Everything I Touch Runs Wild came out in 1997. Recorded in her New York City apartment, the record got great press. It made many top ten lists nationally, and was named Record of the Year, by the Long Island Village Voice.

In 1998, Lori moved from New York City to Seattle, and recorded Stars with Layng Martine III, and Joe Ferla, co-producing. Released in 1999, it was her last record for Restless.

House in the Weeds, a lo-fi, limited edition, of only two thousand copies, was made available in 2001. Also, Rykodisc released Stolen Beauty, a compilation of Carson’s film and TV contributions that year.

In 2002, Janet Rienstra, of Meta Records, asked Lori to compose a song-cycle that would work in the context of yoga or meditation. The Finest Thing was the result. Released by Meta in 2004, it was featured by NPR that summer on Echoes. One Little Indian picked it up, for release in Europe in 2005.

Lori’s most recent record is Another Year (Blue Kitchen Music/ United for Opportunity, 2012).

In the summer of 2013, her debut novel, The Original 1982, will be published by William Morrow/Harper Collins.

Personal life

Lori was born March 2, 1958, at Queens Hospital, in New York, and grew up in Bethpage, Long Island the oldest of three siblings. She has a brother and sister. Her mother Edith was a teacher. Her late father Marvin was an engineer who went to work on Wall Street. Carson graduated from Plainedge High School in North Massapequa, was a Fine Arts major at FIT in New York City, in the late seventies, and attended Hunter College, for creative writing and poetry.

Romantically, Lori was linked to musician, politician, and actor, Ruben Blades, in the eighties, and appeared with him, as an actor, in the film Crossover Dreams. She had a relationship with producer, Anton Fier, during the time they worked together, and from 1997 – 2002, lived with musician Layng Martine III.

Carson lived in an old farmhouse, in Mattituck, on the East End of Long Island from 1999 – 2009. She spent two years, prior, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Otherwise, she has lived in New York City.

Film and TV Credits

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, Party of Five, Melrose Place, Baywatch, CSI: Miami, and Roswell.