Local Music Spotlight: There is something for everyone at a Carter Hudson show

In the past year, Carter Hudson has made himself into a central figure in the Spokane music scene. A fixture of live performances all across town, he brings tracks new and old and original and cover to audience members in a variety of venues.

Though best-known for his engaging live sets, Hudson is an all-around local musician. From performing to recording, and even teaching, music is not just what Hudson does, but who he is. “I got started when I was young, playing guitar,” Hudson said. “At 8 or 10, self-taught for a long time.”

All of his experience has made him into a broadly talented player capable of working across and within huge ranges of music. He described the set list for a regular night’s show as “acoustic guitar, some Americana – laid-back stuff – and then the rest of the night is a blend of blues, soul, rock and R&B.”

In cultivating those set lists, which include both covers and original works, he draws on classics and contemporary hits to spin a dynamic and entertaining set. In short, there’s something for everyone in a Carter Hudson show.

But if he had to pinpoint his sound, what he prefers to draw out of his music, he would say “nostalgic,” an especially apt description of the three songs he has released on streaming platforms.

“Desire,” for example, a release from last summer, is built on slow, nodding guitar line. From the guitar flows a stuttering drum and Hudson’s nostalgic vocals. “I don’t need you / but I want you / all the same,” he opens the song.

On these careful, contemplative records, Hudson wears emotion on his voice like a heart on his sleeve. As his voice comes down to the end of each phrase of “Desire,” he seems to withdraw into himself a bit, then re-emerge for the next line. It’s a vivid enactment of the isolation the song seems to be about.

With the folk and Americana sounds well-established, Hudson’s next record will be turning to his more rocking, bluesy side: “I identify more as an electric guitar player,” he said, than the acoustic music he has published might indicate. He’s looking to step back into his own element going forward, with music more groove-based, “driving rock, but not in-your-face rock.”

As excited as he is to pursue recording, it’s the live music that keeps him coming back. “A little over 100 years ago, that was the only kind of music there was. There wasn’t recorded music,” at least not in a broadly available way.

“I love the recording process, that’s a beautiful art form. But performing live to me is everything. That’s where the energy is. That’s where the feeling is. You cannot replicate that in any other way.”

From his vast array of covers (each a special, Carter Hudson take on the original) and an increasing repertoire of original pieces, Hudson is well-positioned to seize on, and exponentially increase, that live music energy.

And it’s a good thing, too, since continuing to perform and make music is Hudson’s ideal life. “The goal is to do to do music as full time as possible with as wide of a reach as possible.”

To stay up to date on Hudson’s music and performances, follow him on Instagram @carter.hudson.music. Check out his music on major streaming platforms. Hudson will be performing at LeftBank Wine Bar from 7-10 p.m. Saturday and March 18.

Julien A. Luebbers can be reached at julien.luebbers@gmail.com.