Kendel Carson has roots in the Alberta plains, but she looks right at home in New York City.
Photo: Shore Fire Media

by John Oseid

Canadian singer and fiddler Kendel Carson is petite and squeaky-clean gorgeous, but she likes big trucks and dirty boys. Fine by me. The Alberta native announced her preferences recently at the Lower East Side hipster haven Living Room before launching into her jaunty bar tune "I Like Trucks" (the video has a fun homemade look). For all her moxie, the 24-year-old with the prairie-honed string skills is an enormously mature artist.

And she's in good hands with veteran songwriter/producer Chip Taylor, who backed her up on guitar to promote her new album Alright Dynamite. "I Don't Wanna Be Your Mother," with the wilting refrain "Brass ones, you don't got 'em," was a crowd pleaser, as was "Belt Buckle."  Taylor and Carson also performed "I like Trucks" and the slow ballad "Ribbons and Bows" off Carson's 2007 debut album, Rearview Mirror Tears. As they wrapped up the night, Carson had her fiddle screaming on Taylor's classic hits "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing." Yes, that one, as in--"I think I looove you." (Bonus points if you can name Taylor's famous Hollywood brother.)

More music:
* For this year's edition of Zurich's popular Live at Sunset festival (July 8 to 19), the stately Dolder Grand hotel has package deals that include show tickets. Go here for details and dates to relive the eighties with Simply Red, UB40, and Simple Minds. French jazz/cabaret star Patricia Kaas and the Japanese drum ensemble KODO are also on the lineup.
* Boom Box: An unabashed gusto for music of the world.