Album Review // Anthony Carson // Live in Erie, Nov. 2023

Anthony Carson

4/5 stars

Vagabond? Wayfarer? No, Anthony Carson is more of a modern troubadour – a traveling poet, musician, and artist. With this live release intimately recorded at Erie's own Performing Artists Collective Alliance (PACA) last November, he slows down for a moment to reintroduce himself with a handful of raw, unfiltered songs which are different from the more polished recordings (such as the 2022 EP Annihilation) already held within Carson's repertoire. Tunes are delivered to embrace and lull a listener as much as they are to also shake one by the shoulders with urgency. Carson himself makes fighting conformity seem effortless and natural. These four pieces flutter like tattered flags on smoldering battlefields or like gently billowing sails against a sunset. His guitar playing seems as if he is squeezing a fruit for sweet juice. This paired with Carson's vocals weaves an unexpected complexity throughout the recording. The mysticism of Donovan, the social activism of Pete Seeger, and the bare emotion of Cat Stevens all come to mind while listening. However, the tunes ultimately stand on their own sturdy legs. Anthony Carson clearly has a unique vision, and it's refreshing to look through his richly tinted lens.