Charlie Robison

All Music Guide:

Texas singer/songwriter Charlie Robison was born in Houston and raised on his family's ranch in the town of Bandera; absorbing the music he heard on the local honky tonk scene, he and brother Bruce -- later an acclaimed performer in his own right -- were also brought up on artists ranging from Black Sabbath to Gram Parsons to Bruce Springsteen. After discovering the thriving music scene in nearby Austin at age 15, Robison began writing his own material, drawing equal influence from rock and country; stints in the bands Chaparral and Two Hoots & a Holler followed, and he also joined the Millionaire Playboys, an all-star Austin ensemble. After contributing to albums from Alejandro Escovedo and Kelly Willis, Robison made his solo debut in 1995 with Bandera; Life of the Party followed three years later. Teaming up with his younger brother, Bruce, and fellow Texan Jack Ingram, in 2000 the trio released the appropriately named Unleashed Live. A second studio effort, Step Right Up, was issued in spring 2001.

Wikipedia:

Charles Fitzgerald "Charlie" Robison (born September 1, 1964 in Houston, Texas) is an Texas Country singer/songwriter, who was raised in Bandera, Texas. His brother, Bruce Robison, and his sister, Robyn Ludwick, are also singer/songwriters.

Career

After an injury in college ended a potential football career, Charlie Robison came to Austin, TX in the late 80's and had stints in the bands Chaparral, Millionaire Playboys, and Two Hoots and a Holler. He went solo with his album "Bandera" in 1996. He subsequently signed with Sony and released "Life of the Party" on Sony's subsidiary Lucky Dog Records. The album gave him three of his biggest hits including "My Hometown." His next release was a live disc called "Unleashed Live," which is credited to Charlie, brother Bruce, and Jack Ingram. He then signed with Columbia Records for "Step Right Up" and another live album.

In 2003, Robison was a judge on the first season of the TV singing competition Nashville Star.

Unhappy with the expectations & limitations of being a Nashville country artist, he moved to a smaller independent label, Dualtone, for "Good Times" in 2004, followed by extensive touring and newfound control over his career. Accordingly, his sound began to evolve away from mainstream/Nashville country and toward more Southern & hard rock influences.

Five years after the release of Good Times, Robison released Beautiful Day on June 23, 2009 on Dualtone. This is the first CD he has self-produced. Both albums feature several songs written by Nashville singer/songwriter Keith Gattis.

His song "Good Times" was featured in the credits of HBO's original series True Blood in the first season's third episode.

In 2009 he embarked on an East Coast tour with stops in Little Rock, Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Memphis to promote "Beautiful Day." Since then he has played primarily in Texas, with occasional shows in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.

He is known for playing classic rock covers during his live shows. Some of these include: "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Highway to Hell" (AC/DC), "Call me the Breeze" (Lynyrd Skynyrd), "Rocket Man" (Elton John), and several Rolling Stones songs, including "Dead Flowers" and "Honky Tonk Women." He also plays several songs associated with Willie Nelson, including "Whiskey River" and "Stay all Night."

His live band includes: Mark Tokach (lead guitar), Abe Combest (drums), Louis Landry (keyboards/accordion), and Chris Grady (bass). Most of his recordings feature The Enablers: Keith Robinson (drums) and Scott Esbeck (bass). Other notable ex-band members include Kim Deschamps (pedal steel, lep steel, mandolin, guitar from 2000–2009), Kevin Carroll (guitar), Jens Pinkernell (guitar), and Kris Brown (bass). His recordings have also featured special guests Lloyd Maines (who produced Step Right Up and Good Times), Rich Brotherton, Charlie Sexton, and Natalie Maines (harmony vocals on El Cerrito Place).

Family

He married Emily Erwin of The Dixie Chicks in 1999. They have three children together: Charles Augustus, called "Gus", born November 11, 2002 and twins Julianna Tex (9:19 pm, 6 lb 10 oz) and Henry Benjamin (9:29 pm, 6 lb 14 oz), born on April 14, 2005. Charlie and Emily divorced on August 6, 2008 after nine years of marriage.

Tributes

He appeared on Kindred Spirits: A tribute to Johnny Cash, singing "Don't Take Your Guns to Town".

In 2006, Charlie Robison performed "Wildman from Borneo" on the Kinky Friedman tribute "Why the hell not..." The songs of Kinky Friedman.