Fin Person is new the kid on the block for UK country. Having picked up a guitar for the first time just two years ago, he is already making a name for himself across the live music scene. This was Pearson’s second Live in the Living Room, and he sat down to chat with me – a stolen ten minutes in between performing, jamming in the green room and making new friends – about his journey, his inspirations and his favourite flavour of capri sun…
On Sunday 7th July, country artists and singer songwriters gathered from all over the UK for Live in the Living Room Gives Back to raise money for Dementia UK. The day was organised into eight Nashville style writer’s rounds, where each artist showcased three of their songs and detailed the stories behind them. Pearson was part of the fourth set of the day, sharing the stage with The Lost Notes and Southbound. Pearson says, “it’s a great opportunity for story tellers and song writers to pour it all out and show what they’ve really got”.
“It’s always a unique experience and I love getting different responses from everyone listening,” Pearson says about the crowd during his set, “everyone goes really quiet and listens to the words which I love.” Pearson’s round was halfway through the day, with audience members spilling up into the rafters as the sold-out day filled up to its capacity. “I do a bit of storytelling and a bit of lyric play,” Pearson says about his music, “so when people clock that because they’ve been listening, and they come and tell me – I love it. Best feeling ever.” He claps a hand to his chest as he expresses his sincere gratitude for the attentiveness of his audience.
Pearson picked up a guitar for the first time two years ago but wasn’t really taken by it, “I gave it to my uncle, then a week later I went, ‘oh I wish I had a guitar’ and he’d moved to Wales by then”. Not too long after, he purchased his second guitar and taught himself to play. Since then, he’s been putting the hours in practising his playing and writing, singing in front of his friends for the first time less than a year ago. “It’s more nerve wracking than strangers,” he says about playing in front of friends, “strangers don’t know you personally so they can’t mock you as hard as your mates do.” Pearson takes the classic self-deprecating narrative of a new artist as he talks about his journey so far, “I have a few friends who probably hyped me up a bit too much and now I’ve ended up doing this,” he says with an edge of disbelief to his voice, “the more I do it the more I love it but yeah, definitely new to the scene and still finding my way. It’s quite evident when you watch my stuff, I’m not perfect”.
But writer’s rounds aren’t about perfection, they’re an opportunity to share the stories, inspirations and challenges that laid the foundations for a song. It’s a chance to hear the stripped back, raw and sometimes unrefined side to an artist and their music.
During his round, Pearson introduced his song, ‘Devils for Witches’. I, along with most, hadn’t heard that phrase before so I wanted to know more about it. “I heard a saying somewhere a while ago which was ‘trading devils for witches,” he says about the song, “it means bad for bad – imagine an old grandma in Texas and her granddaughter has just got rid of a bad boyfriend but got another bad boyfriend, she’ll be like, ‘oh you know she’s trading devils for witches’.” He gives me his best southern American drawl while he does his grandma impression. “The song to me just means if you don’t try, you’re not going to get anything – what you put in is what you get out…kind of about growing up and getting old and doing your own thing and figuring out you’ve got to go for it in life and you won’t just get handed stuff.” Pearson wrote the song a while ago and didn’t think it was that good, he just like the phrase and wanted to incorporate it in a song somehow. To his surprise, the song received a lot of praise and encouragement from those close to him and now, fast forward a few months, the song is produced and ready to go.
Pearson describes his sound as ‘the finger picky stuff’ and imagines himself as an old boy, ‘sitting on a front porch, picking strings’. When I asked if he’d be sat with a beer or whiskey, he threw me a surprise secret third option, “neither - a capri sun”. We both agree that actually, if given the choice, a capri sun is always going to taste better than a whiskey. I’ve always wanted to be a whiskey drinker – mostly for the country girl aesthetic – but, as Pearson agrees, it’s not hugely palatable. His go-to flavour is Jungle Drink, just in case you were wondering. Pearson has big golden retriever energy about him – he spent most of the day making new friends and jamming with them in the green room, inviting as many people to join in as he could. Picturing him sat on a front porch with a guitar and a capri sun makes him even more endearing.
If you ask anyone who’s even just a little bit into country music what they’re listening to at the moment, you could wager good money that they’d say either, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs or Lainey Wilson. There’s bound to be at least one of those big names in their answer. Pearson hit all three when I asked him, but he also gave me an insight into the smaller artists he’s looking up to. “Gabe Lee is one of my top inspirations,” he says about the Honky Tonk Hell singer, “He’s awesome. I met him a couple of times – first time I introduced myself, second time, after the set, I met him again and I was all crying and stuff and he was like, ‘hey Fin!’ and I was like, ‘he knows my name!’” His excitement spills over and fills the tiny space we’re in, “he’s one of those guys that’s just got it – voice, song writing…I’m jealous of that guy”. Pearson also shares his appreciation for other artists such as Joshua Ray Walker and Cat Clyde, both of which shared the line up with Lee at the Long Road Festival in 2023.
Pearson has a few festivals and gigs lined up this year which he says he’s really excited for, but he says he’s not looking too far into the future. “Just writing and meeting new people is always fun…that’s the number one thing I love about it is how fun the journey is - every moment - I’m loving it,” he says about his career so far, “there’s no big answer or small answer, I’m just looking forward to all of it”. His parting words of wisdom are to ‘study the laws of the universe’ and he recommends the book, ‘The Master Key System’.
Fin Pearson radiates a playful energy – he was the ringleader in the green room jam, encouraging anyone who came into the room to sing along. By the time I tried to steal him away, he’d got three members of Wood Burnt Red, Guy Surtees, Southbound and Andy Hewitt playing and singing to various well-known country songs: Wagon Wheel, Tennessee Whiskey and Pickup Man. The atmosphere was great – artists from all over the country sharing in their passion and having fun. He’s instantly likeable and so easy to talk to but is still able to serve talent as good as the rest of them on the stage. He’s young, he’s new and he’s learning, but he makes no business in hiding that from anyone. Watch out for his new music, ‘Devils for Witches’ and ‘I can Do’ that will be released later this year.
You can catch Fin Pearson at Buckle and Boots and Camden Live this year and his latest track, Reno Willow, is available to stream now. Check his LinkTree here for his social media and to keep up to date with everything he's got going on.
This interview was conducted in collaboration with Live in the Living Room
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