Carter Vail

Vail played in a band in middle and high school^[2] in Wilton, Connecticut.^[3]

He studied audio engineering at the University of Miami.^[1][4][5] He briefly worked at a guitar pedal factory after graduating from university.^[1][5] He quit his job at the factory after two weeks of working there.^[1] Before his factory job, he worked at music studios as a repair person.^[1] He and some friends then decided to open a studio in Nashville, Tennessee.^[5]

Vail first became known after the release of his 2018 debut song "Melatonin".^[6] His debut album Red Eyes was released in 2020.^[6]

He began to post "short comedy songs" to social media because of a lack of people hiring his studio for work.^[5] In April 2024, he released a comedy musical sketch on TikTok entitled "Dirt Man."^[4][5] The Boston Globe described the "roughly 30-second" bossa nova track as being "about a mythical, cowboy-hat-wearing figure who visits men at night and takes them to his mountain lair if they forget to leave some dirt under their pillows."^[2] The track went viral on the Internet, reaching 20 million views on social media by July 2024 and becoming his most popular song.^[2]

His musical inspirations include the bands Vampire Weekend and The National.^[5] He describes his non-comedy music as indie rock.^[1]

He signed to the Detroit-based record label Assemble Sound in December 2022.^[6] His LP 100 Cowboys was released on the label in July 2024.^[5]

As of June 2024, Vail lives in Los Angeles^[2] and is a full-time musician. His roommate is producer and songwriter Noah Tauscher.^[1]