At the end of a year in which she became an American Idol, Indio native Abi Carter has been voted Best Local Musician by readers of Coachella Valley Independent.
Through her journey of being crowned the latest champion of the singing competition, Carter has not forgotten about the desert—and the desert certainly hasn’t forgotten about her. From her pre-Hollywood send-off after her audition video went viral, to her Idol hometown visit complete with a parade and a performance, and then a headlining show at Acrisure Arena, the Coachella Valley has fully supported our local star.
During a recent Zoom interview, Carter said recognition from locals, like this Best of Coachella Valley nod, has meant more than other accolades.
“It’s probably the craziest achievement that I have gotten so far,” Carter said. “I had been a musician in the valley for so long, and I had been just entering local singing competitions, and I had been singing at the street fair, and it’s insane to me that now the people of the valley actually know me and know my name. Despite me having been there for so long, it’s gotten to the point where I finally reached them, and it gives me a lot of hope for my other goals, for trying to reach an even bigger audience. I never thought that I would even be able to reach my own valley, my own hometown, and now I have, and it just gives me that drive and that hope that I can do it on an even larger scale.”
Carter cut her teeth by performing at Palm Springs VillageFest while trying her hand at local singing competitions, such as the McCallum Theatre’s Open Call Talent Project. These opportunities helped Carter prepare for bigger stages.
“I don’t know if I would have had the guts to go on American Idol if I hadn’t spent so many years doing smaller shows,” Carter said. “When I was 5 years old, I tried out for my school’s talent show, and I didn’t get in. The next year, I tried again, and I did get in, and then from there, I decided to enter the Riverside County Date Festival’s vocal competition for the age group 8 to 12, or something like that. From there, I wanted to do Open Call, and that was really scary to me, because the peak of what I thought I could ever do is perform in front of the McCallum’s 1,100 seats. That is so much to be performing in front of, and it taught me how to handle stage fright, and how to just be yourself in front of a crowd and not freeze up. From there, I just started busking, and that taught me how to play the piano a lot better than I had ever known myself to be able to play, because I was doing it for four hours straight. It built me up to be something that I didn’t know I could be. It was so much practice, and it helped me to be able to do it on a larger scale.”
In July, Carter played her biggest concert yet—a headlining performance at Acrisure Arena. The venue, filled with family, friends and fans both local and national, erupted in applause for Carter’s intense live band, multiple costume changes, powerhouse vocal deliveries and the debut of her original songs. For a while, Carter said in interviews that these events “don’t feel real,” but a few months removed from Idol and Acrisure, the singer said she’s learning more about being a working musician.
“Things are always still building, and I’m learning how to work—and work hard—in this sort of an industry, and how to be prepared for things like that,” Carter said. “I felt like I walked into Acrisure so unprepared. I had no clue how to do anything. I didn’t know how to put on a show … especially singing a bunch of my own songs, and now I’m working on the stage-presence aspect of everything. I feel like I just need to be told what to do, and then I’ll do it, but it’s hard for me to go out there and figure it out myself. I’m learning so many things, and I’m really excited for what’s coming forward.”
On Nov. 15, Carter performed at Little Street Music Hall to celebrate the release of her debut album, ghosts in the backyard.
“I’ve been worried about over-saturating the desert … so I’ve been trying to not overwhelm (locals), but it’s just such a special place in my heart,” Carter said. “Right now, I really do want to support my community, and Little Street Music Hall was the very first place I ever did any sort of a show where people showed up for me, and it just made sense to go back to it and do a little, intimate album-release party there, and have the people who supported me first come there.”
The album ghosts in the backyard showcases the jaw-dropping voice that captivated America, while introducing Carter’s intense songwriting talents. The album navigates heartbreak, yearning, hatred and more through moments of serenading piano (“The Lampost”), hazy electronic pop (“i wish i was a farmer”), wallowing acoustic sways (“die in the hills”) and a pulsating pop-folk mix (“ghosts in the backyard”).
“I never thought that I would even be able to reach my own valley, my own hometown, and now I have, and it just gives me that drive and that hope that I can do it on an even larger scale.”
Abi Carter
“The very first song I wrote for this album was actually the title track, ‘ghosts in the backyard,’” Carter said. “I was on American Idol, and I was very new to the whole world of recording and songwriting in general. This one was my second writing session, and it just set the whole precedent for what I wanted to start writing as an artist, and who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to say, how I wanted to speak and sing. I’ve just been going to home studios and writing with these very down-to-earth, very talented artists and producers. I’ve been making friends, and I’ve been doing things I never thought I’d ever do in that sort of process. I wrote a good chunk of this album with this songwriter-producer duo, Michael Edwards and Holden Miller, and they are just so cool; they’re so fun, and I love them so much. They really helped set the vibe for this whole album.”
Abi Carter has her sights set on an even bigger 2025—including a performance at Stagecoach.
“I didn’t really think that it was going to happen, and then I felt like I really found out when they posted my name on the poster,” she said. “I was in an airport flying to New York at the time, and my mom called me crying. That’s a life that I never thought I’d be able to live. It’s always one that I wanted, but I never really thought that it was going to be a possibility.
“Growing up with these festivals going on, I wasn’t oblivious to them. The biggest thing that you could do as an artist, to me, was play at Coachella or Stagecoach, and to be able to do that is just overwhelming and incredible.”