Education
Hendrix College.
Hendrix College.
A native of the Woodlands, Texas, his style of roots-oriented songwriting has been noted for its plainspoken poetry and sarcastic humor. After releasing his debut album, Flowers & Liquor (2002), Carll was voted the Best New Acting of 2002 by the Houston Press. Since then he"s been compared to other Texas songwriters, including Townes Van Zandt, who he said "ruined me and saved me at the same time,") and Jerry Jeff Walker.
His 2008 album Trouble in Mind (2008) was ranked #60 by The Village Voice, and the single "She Left Maine for Jesus" was the #36 "Top Singles of 2008" for The Village Voice and the Americana Music Association Song of the Year 2008.
Four songs by Carll appeared in the 2010 film Country Strong, three of which also appeared on the film"s second soundtrack album, Country Strong: More Music from the Motion Picture. His biggest commercial and artistic success to date is his fourth album, KMAG YOYO & Other American Stories (2011).
(The acronym in the title is military slang for "Kiss my ass, guys, you"re on your own") The Americana Music Association voted it the best album of 2011, and Spin voted it #3 in the category of "Best Country/Americana". American Songwriter voted the song "Another Like You" the #1 song of 2011, and the album #6.
In 2015 he went into the studio with producer Joe Henry and emerged with a new album entitled Lovers and Leavers, which is scheduled for an April 2016 release.