High Horse joined Meredith Carson for KGNU’s Morning Sound Alternative in the Cabaret Studio for a live session and interview. The band features Carson McKinney (fiddle), Carl Henry (cello), Noah Harrington (bass), and G Rockwell (guitar and banjo).
They performed a mix of songs, including covers of Tim O’Brien and Townes Van Zandt, along with original instrumental and vocal pieces. The group also shared that a new EP is currently in the final stages of production.
High Horse will be playing several shows in Colorado, including dates in Boulder, Golden, Alamosa, Greeley, and Fort Collins. More information is available at their website and social media pages. (Air Date 2/13/26)
Listen to the studio session here:
Transcript:
Meredith Carson:
And we have with us live in our Cabaret Studios, High Horse. They’ve come to visit us and just gave me their fabulous new CD with killer illustrations. I haven’t even gotten to the inside yet. Would you go around and introduce yourselves and tell us your role in the band? Maybe there’s not a band leader—you’re the violinist, I notice a cello strapped across your chest. I’m interested in that. Let’s start here on my left, your right.
High Horse:
Hey, so lovely to be here. I’m Carson McKinney. I play fiddle in High Horse. I’m also responsible for a lot of those weird illustrations on the CD, so come to one of our shows and pick that up. I live in Lyons, Colorado, so it’s lovely to be here.
Hi, I’m Carl Henry. I’m the cellist with the guitar strap attaching the cello to myself. In this band, I’m also a co-parent. We don’t do band leaders—we have parents. Carson and I are the co-parents of the band.
Meredith Carson:
But everyone can agree Carl is the one who wears the strap in the relationship.
High Horse:
Well done there, Noah. Moving on—the guy who chimed in is Noah Harrington.
I’m just holding down the bottom end in a band with one and a half bassists. I’m a bass player. Carl is also a tremendous bass player, so it’s fun to be in a band with double the bottom.
My name is Noah Harrington. I’m from Boston, Massachusetts, and it’s very good to live here. We’re all still alive, and we thank God for that every day.
Speaking of G—the first and only letter of this young man’s name—this is our guitarist.
Meredith Carson:
Hi, I’m G Rockwell. That’s right, just the letter G. That’s my first name—no more, no less. I also come from Boston, Massachusetts, like our cellist and bass player. It’s an honor to be playing guitar with High Horse, and I sometimes pick up the banjo on a couple songs.
Meredith Carson:
Fabulous. So everybody is from Boston-ish?
High Horse:
Yes, except for Carson, who lives in Lyons. We’re all kind of centered around Boston, but from all over. I’m from Boston. G comes from Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Carl is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Meredith Carson:
That’s a ways from Boston.
High Horse:
It’s a long walk.
Meredith Carson:
This has been a lot of talking.
High Horse:
We’re primarily a talking band.
Meredith Carson:
Now we understand where you came from. How about jumping in and playing a couple?
High Horse:
Great.
[Song performance: “Walk Beside Me”]
Meredith Carson:
High Horse live in KGNU’s Cabaret Studio. Roll on with another one.
High Horse:
Thank you. Just a little tuning—an important part of being in a band.
The band that tunes together stays together.
This next one is a Townes Van Zandt number. It’ll be on a new EP coming soon.
[Song performance: “Two Girls”]
Meredith Carson:
I love both of those. Are they on this beautifully illustrated CD?
High Horse:
No, they are not. We’ve been one of the most prolific and least recorded bands. Since that recording, we’ve developed a lot of new material. Both songs were covers—the first by Tim O’Brien, “Walk Beside Me,” and the second by Townes Van Zandt. We love exploring the Americana tradition.
That EP we mentioned is in the final mixing stages, with mastering lined up in Boulder with David Glasser. “Two Girls” will be on that upcoming EP.
If it’s okay, we’d like to play something from the record we gave you—an instrumental piece written by Carson McKinney. We came together as a band around a suite of fiddle music on that record.
We’ll play “Stardust.”
[Instrumental performance: “Stardust”]
Meredith Carson:
High Horse live on KGNU, blasting open the boundaries of Americana. I hear a lot of string quartet in there.
High Horse:
Don’t tell anyone.
Meredith Carson:
Do you have gigs coming up?
High Horse:
Yes—we’re here to promote a show next Wednesday at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder. We’ll be sharing the bill with Joy Adams of Big Richard and Gus Triche. The show starts at 8:00.
We’re also playing tomorrow at the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival—two sets at 10:45 AM and 5:45 PM. After the Boulder show, we’ll be in Golden at New Terrain Brewing Company, then in Alamosa at Society Hall, a house concert in Greeley at Cottonwood Cottage, and in Fort Collins at Avogadro’s.
That Fort Collins show will feature Silas Herman on mandolin and Sam Zickerfuss Armstrong.
Meredith Carson:
That’s a lot of information. Is there a website?
High Horse:
Yes—highhorseband.com, and on Instagram at highhorse.band.
Meredith Carson:
Can we get one more?
High Horse:
Absolutely. You’ve heard covers and instrumentals—here’s an original that will be on the upcoming EP.
[Song performance: original]
Meredith Carson:
High Horse live on KGNU, straight from the Cabaret Studios. Thanks to George Figs for making everything sound so great. Thank you for coming by. Find their gigs at highhorseband.com or on Instagram.
Anything else you want to say?
High Horse:
We love Colorado. We love being here. We love you, George and Meredith.
Meredith Carson:
Thank you—and happy Valentine’s Eve.
High Horse:
We should call our partners.
Meredith Carson:
They definitely want to hear from you—and see the flowers tomorrow.
High Horse:
We’ll see what we can find.
Meredith Carson:
High Horse on KGNU. Thanks, guys.
High Horse:
Thank you.
