My love of music, games, and drawing are all coming together in this new project I've been working on - The Troubadeck!
Category: Charlie’s Music
Birthday Update
Wednesday is my 37th birthday! It's been a fun year, and I wanted to share some highlights from year 36...
2020 Cover Album
I challenged my friends to do covers and remixes of my album 2020. Their songs included every style and instrument imaginable: 80s synths, resophonic guitar, Brazilian piano, and Javanese gamelan. It was a refreshing experience to hear my songs in a totally new light.
Stories I Didn’t Know on PBS
Stories I Didn't Know, the documentary I scored last year about the entanglement of Irish immigrants and Native people of Minnesota, will be airing on TPT - Twin Cities PBS.
“No Turning Back” Music Video
Below zero temps in Minnesota are making me pretty jealous of the dancers in my new video for "No Turning Back."
MN Opera Commission: Chim Lạc (Lost Bird)
My good friend Oanh Vu and I were commissioned by MN Opera to write a mini opera, which will be available to stream for free starting February 9th at 1pm. It's part of a month-long series of short operas created by Minnesota artists.
Oanh wrote the story and co-created a beautiful shadow puppet show with Andrew Young, with the help of puppeteers liping vong and Ty Chapman. I composed the music and songs that came to life thanks to the MN Opera orchestra, vocalists Lady Midnight and Monique Bạch Hạc Nguyen, classical guitarist Milena Petkovic, percussionist Eri Isomura, music mixer Andy Thompson, and sound designer Mike Hallenbeck.
“Words Too Wrong” Music Video
Jason P. Schumacher approached me with a wild idea: let's use every single camera we have available to make a music video. Jason rounded up 17 cameras from every era: VHS cameras, Mini DV cameras, DSLRs, GoPros, and a phone.
“2020 Vision” Music Video
My friend Jason P. Schumacher made a beautiful music video for "2020 Vision," the first track on my album 2020.
Crimes of the Centuries Podcast
I've been working with the Crimes of the Centuries podcast to recreate some sweet old songs that don't exist in recorded form. The first song is 1875's "Bring Back Our Darling," about 4-year-old Charley Ross, the first child kidnapped for ransom. My vocal and piano renditions of the song appear in the first few minutes of Episode 9.
2020 Album Released
My album 2020 is out now on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. It was a yearlong project that came to life with the help of 20 musicians recording in their homes, sponsored by many generous Kickstarter backers.