About John

An award-winning singer/songwriter, John lives in Holly Springs, North Carolina. As a child, he grew up in the deep woods of northern Minnesota listening to his father’s three piece band rehearse in the kitchen. John remembers that, ‘the house was filled with all types of music. From Country, Blues and Rock and Roll to Western swing and Scandinavian folk songs.’ As John learned chords, his dad would let him sit in if he could, “Find a part”. His mother was a literary writer of poetry and short stories and published nationally her first time out – a rare accomplishment. At an early age, John began to combine the influences of his father’s music and his mother’s love of words.

True to his upbringing, musically, John William Carlson roams a lot of ranges from Americana, Folk, Country and Gospel to gritty slide blues. In a recent interview, John stated, ‘All music is good music to me.’ When pressed about writing original music, John said, ‘It just depends on the song. Ultimately, the song picks what it wants and needs to be and you just go with it’.

Acclaimed Singer/Songwriter, Pierce Pettis, who wrote Garth Brooks’ hit ‘You Move Me’, says of Carlson’s writing, ‘John Carlson writes songs with warmth and intelligence…a rare combination these days’.

John was awarded 1st Place in the American Songwriter Magazine and Gibson USA lyric competition and was featured in the January/February 2014 edition ‘Legends’ issue of American Songwriter Magazine.

Continually honing his craft, John is a veteran of multiple Mercyland Songwriting Workshops in Nashville and North Carolina hosted by Grammy winning songwriter Phil Madeira (Emmy Lou Harris, Alison Krauss, Toby Keith, Civil Wars)

Grammy nominated, Nashville songwriter, Steve Hindalong (co-writer of God of Wonders) featured John’s song, ‘Runaway Jimmie’ in his celebrated songwriting seminar, ‘Drop a Feather In The River’.

As an accomplished songwriter and guitarist, John has also proven his merit as a Producer. Carlson produced the lullaby album, ‘What A Busy Day’ for UNC/Rex Healthcare and wrote the title track – learn more about this project.

Currently, John is writing and demoing new material with friends across the country for his upcoming album.