Carson Peters performs at a concert for his hometown family and friends.
Fiddlin’ Carson Peters...
An All-American boy with a God-given talent
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Story by Ivan Sanders and Photos Contributed & by Ivan Sanders
t’s Friday night at Citizens Bank Stadium and football fans are gathering to watch the Elizabethton Cyclones. The Cyclone Boys gather in the front row of the students’ section as they do for every home football game, and in their midst is a young man whose talents have taken him from the Grand Ol’ Opry to national television. But on this fall Friday night, Carson Peters is just a member of the Cyclone Boys, here to cheer on his classmates. “I am just a normal high school kid that will paint himself in 30-degree weather and go watch a ballgame,” Peters said. “It’s that type of dumb stuff teenagers do.” But Peters isn’t just a normal teenager. The Elizabethton High senior performs around the region with his band, Iron Mountain. He has appeared on the Grand Ol’ Opry stage with Ricky Skaggs — where he explained the difference between a fiddle and a violin by saying that a fiddle has “strangs” and a violin, “strings.” Peters has shared the stage with Betty White on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. And, most recently the up-andcoming country and bluegrass musician competed in NBC’s “The Voice” competition, showcasing his talents on a national stage. Just getting on the show was a challenge as Peters had to audition virtually and then compete through seven more auditions just to make it on the stage with a hope of getting a chair to turn. The judges for “The Voice” included Blake Shelton, John Legend, Arianna Grande, and Kelly Clarkson. Peters was hoping that just one would turn for him when he initially took
the stage but was staggered when not one, not two, not three, but all four chairs turned after his performance. Ultimately Peters choose Shelton to be his coach. Peters said that although Shelton tries to present a vibe that he doesn’t know as much about music theory as he acts, for Peters’ experience he said Shelton definitely does. “It might not be as technical as the other coaches but he knows what needs to happen in a song. That was good working with Blake because I don’t know those fancy terms either so it was good. That information in a more simple way was good for me. The biggest thing that surprised me about any of the coaches was how hands on Arianna is with her team. The people that were still on the show at Thanksgiving, she had them over to her house with her family. She really did a really good job in her first season with her team,” Peters said. “Those tears that she cries are real. We knew they were real when they were filming it. We would sneak into the wardrobe room where there was a television and every time she would cry for 20 minutes. She was having trouble keeping it together. She is a kind-hearted person and it was hard for her, especially for
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