About George Carver

George Carver is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Austin, Texas. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, inspired equally by futurist R. Buckminster Fuller and bluesman Muddy Waters. While a child, during the dictatorship of Salazar, Carver and his family began to travel to Portugal. He fell in love with grimy Lisbon of the 1960's and 70's, and its music called Fado.

Through the renowned Lisbon musician Gustavo Roriz, George Carver was introduced to Beau Bledsoe of Ensemble Iberica, who among his many fretted instrument skills plays the Guitarra Portuguesa. With bassist Lindsay Green they have recorded the 2026 release "Fados de Tejas," an album of Carver's songs in a fado style. The band, Fados Americanos came together almost by chance at the 2024 Folk Alliance Conference. Carver, and Bledsoe along with Turkish cellist, Dr. Ezgi Karakus performed a showcase impromptu with no rehearsal. It was an instant revelation.

As members of Ensemble Iberica, Beau and Ezgi have embraced a wide swath of the world's music. Carver's fados are a perfect fit. Together they perform a blend of Portuguese fado with American styles and stories. The group has now performed in the US, Canada and Portugal and will continue to tour in the years to come.

Carver left Buffalo at 17. After a stint in college and a few rootless years of hitchhiking, songwriting and playing, he took up residence in New York City. He sold guitars to the stars on the famous block of shops along 48th street. As an engineer he worked with a long list of artists including Whitney Houston, Joe Cocker, Duran Duran, Aerosmith, PIL, and Bob Dylan, as they rehearsed, cut demos or played label showcases.

He composed and made music for film and TV out of studios on Times Square, also producing and recording diverse artists like modern improviser Cooper-Moore, shakuhachi master Nyoraku, and drummer Babatunde Olatunji. Moving to Austin in 1991 he took up the eight string (non-pedal) steel guitar and became immersed in Texas Swing, using the energetic, feel-good sound as a counterpoint to the more darkly humorous music he writes and performs.

Carver has written and played with a long list of Austin luminaries including Gurf Morlix, Ponty Bone, Cornell Hurd, Papa Mali, Mark Rubin, RC Banks, Pat Byrne and Silas Lowe. In addition to performing regularly around Kansas City with Fados Americanos he leads a trio Wednesdays in South Austin at Sam's Town Point.