EXCLUSIVE COVER STORY: Carson Lueders

“Follow your dreams, put yourself out there, & don’t be afraid of what people think”

At just five years old, Carson Lueders started learning how to play guitar. But before that, he practiced on – wait for it: a broom. “My family was watching the CMT Awards and Keith Urban was performing,” he says. “My sister had this toy broom and I started playing with it like it was a guitar. I said, ‘Mom, I want to grow up and jam on a guitar like Keith Urban.’”

A few years later, Carson would end up jamming not like Keith Urban, but with him. “I covered his song and he put it on his Facebook page,” says Carson. But it was about to get even better: Producers from The View invited Carson to fly to New York and sit in the audience when Keith was a guest on the daytime talk show. Carson had no idea that he would be invited onstage to perform alongside the music icon on live television. And he totally killed it.

For the past three years, Carson’s been splitting his time between Los Angeles, California and his hometown of Spokane, Washington. “When I first started out, it was more of a hobby,” he says. “But now we’re really pursuing it and I’m excited for what’s to come.”

His favorite part about being in the music industry isn’t meeting celebrities or having his picture taken on the red carpet; it’s going on tour and meeting his fans. “It’s definitely the thing I look forward to the most,” he says. “There have been a couple girls who started bawling in front of me, and I’m like ‘It’s okay!’ But I obsess and fan over basketball players, so I’ve been in their shoes. I can relate!”

And everyone can relate to Carson’s important message. “I just want to encourage people to put themselves out there,” he says. “Because everybody here in this world has a talent. Don’t be afraid of what people think, follow your dreams, and do what you love to do.”

Don’t miss Carson on the Boys of Summer tour, which kicks off July 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! Click here to find out if he’ll be coming to your city!

Photos by: Joe Magnani

Styling: Robiat Balogun