Carson Lueders, Nine Year Old Musical Marvel

Today I’m excited to introduce for the first time on this site nine year old Carson Lueders who will amaze you with his natural talent both vocally and instrumentally.

Carson began singing shortly after he started playing guitar, just after his 5^th birthday. He realized that it made the song more fun to play if he sang along, and it also made his performances much more enjoyable to listen to. He was one of the only kids at his First Christmas recital to sing along while playing. His parents were pleasantly surprised to see he had good vocal pitch and tone as well as advanced guitar skills for a boy his age.  Others have described his voice as low for his age with a unique raspy sound.

What makes his talent even more amazing is that Carson seems to be the only family member with good vocal skills. His family gets the privilege of hearing him sing all day [in the house, in the car, in the stores, and even in the shower]. While you may think that his family would be annoyed, they tell me that they love his singing and are all quite envious of Carson’s musical ability. Mom stated;

“If at anytime we want to get Carson to practice playing or singing one of us just has to start and he just can’t handle hearing how horrible we are so he takes over!”

Carson’s vocal range is expanding and growing daily. In fact big differences have been noticed in just the last 6 months. Mom exclaimed;

“It’s amazing that Carson was even able to sing well after having a big metal orthodontic expander bar put in the roof of his mouth. He recorded his last 4 videos with this in!” (The ortho bar has now been removed and Carson’s smile is even bigger and better!)

When Carson was only 4 he took an interest in guitar. He would strum on this cheap, out of tune Toys R Us guitar, showing signs of good rhythm.  His parents purchased Carson a nice three quarter guitar for his fifth birthday.

His Dad had taught him a few cords beforehand on his guitar which he purchased hoping to learn how to play and then teach Carson. However not wanting to teach wrong/bad habits, his parents signed him up for private lessons. Within 3 months Carson passed his Dad’s guitar skills and in turn started teaching Dad how to play.

Carson is very musically oriented and will just pick up other instruments and start playing around on them. He took a few months of drums lessons and a little piano and picked both up very quickly. Because the lessons were very time consuming, he chose to keep his focus on guitar for now. Carson also plays around on his ukulele and uses the keyboard to do vocal exercises.

Carson has had a number of guitar teachers. Each teacher has brought something new to Carson and he has benefited from them all. Currently Carson takes lessons at the CDA Rock School. His teacher, Kent Nelson is an amazing guitarist and they work on all types of music and on both acoustic and electric guitars. He also takes some occasional vocal lessons but realizing the importance of them, plans to start taking them on a regular basis soon. He hopes to play and perform more with bands in the CDA Rock School this summer. Although Carson prefers to play solo he knows it’s good to learn to play with others in a band. His brother Jackson, age 11, plays drums in his band. Carson’s teacher is very impressed with Carson’s guitar skills for his age. When Carson says “it’s too hard”, Kent pushes him knowing he will get it with a little time and practice. Carson can learn a new song within a few days and perfect it within a few weeks.

Carson started performing at church and school at age 5. He was the only kindergarten student asked to participate in the school talent shows. (Usually 1^st Grade and up) He dressed as Elvis playing Hound Dog at both and was a big hit. People still talk about it today (4 yrs later)! And he still receives many hits on his YouTube video.

Playing in front of his church family was somewhat comforting but playing in front of his pier group at school was a little more intimidating. Carson is the kind of person who would rather play for 300 people at a distance than 3 up close. He continues to do the annual church and school talent shows and will perform at both places throughout the year for other special occasions. i.e. Father’s Day, at church, and Fundraiser events for his school.

His favorite performance was opening for Sammy Eubanks at the Spokane Knitting Factory Oct. 2010. It is one of the biggest concert stages in Spokane and Sammy is an established country music singer that has opened for many Nashville stars, including Kenny Chesney. Sammy invited Carson to sing after he heard his original song “Big Mouth Bass” played on KIXZ96.1. Very few kids take that stage and everyone was very impressed.

His most memorable time playing was for the America’s Got Talent tryouts in Portland last year. He made it through to see the producers, got an official “in the running” paper, and then got a phone interview.  Unfortunately he wasn’t selected but the producers loved Carson and saw great potential in him! Carson said he wasn’t nervous and that it was a REAL FUN experience. He tried out again this year and made it through the second callback but did not advance any further.

A very small percent of people even make the second callback so Carson feels honored that TV producers recognize his talent as being rare for a child his age. (“Don’t stop trying Carson, as JB says, Never say Never!”)

Carson won the 2010 August Colgate Country Showdown songwriting contest. Hundreds of artists entered original songs and fans voted for their favorite.  Carson also won the local round of the Colgate Country singing competitions in 2009 and 2010. He was the only kid competing among adults and was chosen to move on to the state level. (2009 state in Idaho and 2010 in Washington) The Colgate Country Showdown is one of the largest country music talent search contests in the U.S. LeAnn Rimes won the this contest years ago. It is now called the Texaco Country Showdown.

Carson was invited to play on two local news stations this past summer recognizing his original songs and the Colgate Country Showdown songwriting contest. He felt very comfortable during the interview and playing live.

One of Carson’s teachers told him they were going to work on songwriting; Carson was 6 at the time. With very little guidance, Carson went home and wrote the lyrics and music to his first original “My Dog Buddy.” Local newspaper heard about this and wrote an article about him and his song. Carson writes about his loves and experiences which include his dog, fishing and racing motocross.  Carson was invited to take a college songwriting class when he was 8 yrs. old. He worked on “Big Mouth Bass” during the class. His latest song, “Motocross High” was inspired from his long history of racing motorcycles. He hopes to write more songs with positive messages in them since he feels so many songs currently are filled with inappropriate topics and bad language. (“Good for you Carson”)

Carson would like to write some pop songs but he’s not sure he’s ready to write love songs just yet. He definitely likes girls and the girls LOVE Carson! Over 50% of his YouTube viewers are young girls from all over the world. His golden blond hair and charming looks coupled with his excellent vocal abilities makes him a sure candidate for fame following in the shoes of young Aaron Carter who captured the attention of so many at this same young age.

Carson was invited to play on Spokane’s KIXZ96.1 country radio when he was only 6 years old. He has since been on the radio at age 7, age 8 and age 9. Last time on the air he played for  the Children’s Miracle Network charity to raise money for local hospitals. DJ Coyote loves Carson and has an open door for him to come back and play anytime.

In addition he continues to be invited to perform at various venues and charity events and is now beginning to be hired for some girl’s birthday parties. ************************‘Woohoo’!!!!

When Carson was 4 years old he would stand in front of the TV and watch Keith Urban on the CMA awards. He said, “Mom, when I grow up I’m going to learn how to jam on my guitar like Keith Urban!” He was excited to learn some of Urban’s songs and now plays them in singing competitions and on the radio. He’s gotten 2 guitars signed by Urban and had the privilege of meeting him in 2009! One guitar has a personal note that reads,

“To my man Carson, this rocket will take you places you’ve never dreamed, God Bless Keith Urban”

Carson’s Music Influences

Other country favorites are Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley and Little Big Town.

Carson’s favorite Pop Artists include: Justin Bieber, Usher, Rhianna, Jason Mraz, Train and Daughtry.

His favorite Rock Artists are: Tom Petty, Steve Miller, and Elvis.

Christian Artist favorites include: Matt Maher and Casting Crowns

Carson is leaning more towards pop music than other types these days. He listens to what his sister/brother/friends do. He likes the upbeat music of teen pop stars Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance because the songs have catchy lyrics that fit his vocal range.  He also likes some rap. He’d like some of his future songs/videos to include some rap and dancing. When you get him out from behind the guitar, Carson definitely has some swagger!!  Here’s Carson’s cover of a Greyson Chance song “Waiting Outside the Lines”

“God gave me a gift and what I choose to do with it is my gift back to God.”

Carson believes his talent is a Gift From God. He wants his music to bring joy to others. He isn’t wrapped up in becoming famous but says it would be nice to make some money. His mom would like to see his generation of music positively influence people and make a difference in the world. She feels Carson could be a lighthouse and positive role model. Carson says if the music career doesn’t work out he wants to become a doctor like his Dad. Or both, doctor by day…..rock star by night!!

Carson is so grateful for the music opportunities that have come his way so far. He knows there are a lot of equally talented kids out there and feels blessed that he is recognized for his talent. Carson is still young and isn’t trying to rush into things. His parents are firm believers that God will give him what he needs at the right time. He hopes to get into the recording studio this next couple of months and put out some interesting videos.

Outside of music Carson enjoys:

• Fishing, motocross, biking, razor scooters, RC cars, skiing, snowboarding, jet skis and other watersports, gymnastics, trampoline, football, Xbox (catching big AIR jumping or flipping!!)
• Favorite Movies: Karate Kid, Soul Surfer
• Favorite Books: Bible
• Family – Sister Olivia (14) brother Jackson (11) 3 dogs (Buddy and Liah yellow labs and Moje the Chihuahua)
• He has a passion for special needs kids and wants to go on mission trips to visit orphans.

Upcoming events:

Blessings Under the Bridge – charity event for the homeless

Washougal Motocross track event– Carson to perform his original song “Motocross High”

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To read more about Carson:

• Carson Lueders Fan Page
• Carson YouTube Channel
• Carson on Urban Country Blog
• Carson’s Music Site
• Carson on Texaco Country Showdown
• Carson on Stars2come.com