Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Harrison.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I have been writing songs for as I can remember and playing in bands since I was 13. I love the creative outlet of writing and making music, and I love the joy of playing music with my friends. When I was young, I was a rock and roll kid but around high school, I found out about all the Texas guys who sang stories with Rock and Roll attitude, and I decided I wanted to do that too.
I have worked on different projects over the years, but I found Charlie and the Regrets (my current) when I moved back home to Houston about 5 years ago. I had left a band I loved when I moved, and I was eager to be a part of a band again. It took a little while, but I was lucky enough to convince some of the best players in town to drive all over Texas with me to sing my songs. Now I am incredibly fortunate to play with Isaias Gill, John Shelton, Willy T, Mark Riddell, and some nights with Chris Ardoin and Paul Beebe.
We go out and play something between Country, rock, and blues and have a fantastic time doing it.
Please tell us about your art.
I write songs. I have since I was little. There is some part of my brain that thinks in lyrics. If I sit around without listening to anything, I hear songs, typically about whatever I am excited, depressed, anxious, mad or joyful about. Most of these brain songs are terrible, but they are there. Some tidy up alright after a little work.
I try to write with a sense of humor. Everybody in my songs is guilty of something. If there is any sort of message in there, it is “no body is perfect so let’s cut each a little slack and find some fellowship in all our flaws and shortcomings.”
The other side of my art is performance. I am not as comfortable performing as I am writing but on the good nights, performing is as close to magic as just about anything. If you have never done it, take my word, when you are playing with the band, and everything is locked in, nothing else matters. You see the forest and the trees. You are a tree. You are a forest. You are winning the big game with your best friends while watching the Rolling Stones jam with Muddy Waters at the Checkerboard Lounge.
When you listen to me and the regrets, I hope you feel a little of that joy.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
If you are a musician looking to meet other musicians, go to an open mic. Then go back two more times. Go to others. Be humble and kind and listen to other people play and stick around after your set. Whether you are already great or getting started, you will find people there who want to make things and love music as much as you do. With a little luck, some of them will become your best friends. There are a bunch of great open mics in town. Ask me if you want some hints.
Go see other local bands. Go to the shows of the people you met at the open mic.
Before I had kids, I had a rule for myself, one open mic and one local show a week. It was a good rule. I wish I didn’t break it so much now.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can support us by coming out to see us! I play a gig somewhere around Houston either as a solo act or with the band at least once a week. If you come to a show, please say hello. If you want to support us more, tell your friends about us, buy a shirt, host a house concert for us to play. One of the fun parts of playing music is getting to meet other music lovers.
When you can’t make it out to a show, you can find our songs everywhere you listen to songs. I am very grateful to 90.1 KPFT and KTRU for playing our music, and you can even catch our songs in a couple TV shows and a movie.
More generally, I encourage everyone to get out and listen to live local music. You will probably hear some stuff that isn’t for you, but your life will be infinitely more interesting than if you stayed home with a pizza and a movie. When you do find that band that you love, nothing is more fun than being in on a secret before the rest of the world finds out. I hope we are some people’s secret.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CharlieandTheRegrets.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/charlieandtheregrets
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharlieandTheRegrets/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/andtheregrets
Image Credit:
Jimmy Moreland
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