The Other Favorites

The Other Favorites is the longtime duo project of Carson McKee and Josh Turner. Perhaps best known for their performances on YouTube, which have garnered millions of views, The Other Favorites are now based out of Brooklyn, NY. Defined by their tight two-part harmonies, virtuosic acoustic guitar work, and eclectic musical influence, The Other Favorites now perform internationally and have independently released two albums of original music and one live album.

Although still in their twenties, Turner and McKee have been working together for over 14 years. After meeting at their 8th grade talent show, the duo began performing in their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, alongside friend and mandolinist Cole Gage. Turner, McKee, and Gage started recording and posting videos in the early days of YouTube, and their 2007 video of “Wagon Wheel” gained them an online following. They self-released their first album, Novelty, in 2011, and continued to find ways to make music together, even while eventually attending universities in three different states.

In 2015, Turner and McKee’s bluegrass-infused rendition of “Larger Than Life” caught the attention of Backstreet Boys members Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, which earned The Other Favorites an invitation to perform alongside Richardson and Littrell at their induction ceremony into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Turner and McKee moved to Brooklyn in 2016, where they teamed up with singer-songwriter Bob Barrick as the band Kingdom Jasmine. They released the album Armed & Dangerous with Barrick in 2017.

After completing their second full-length album, Naysayer, in 2018, The Other Favorites began touring domestically and internationally alongside fellow YouTube musicians Reina del Cid and Toni Lindgren. Turner and McKee released Live in London in December 2019, which was recorded at a sold-out performance at Bush Hall earlier that year.

In addition to being longtime collaborators, Josh and Carson are best friends who live only a mile apart in Brooklyn. When they’re not writing new music or making YouTube videos together, they enjoy comparing notes on hi-fi systems and swapping LPs.