Charlie Robison

Charlie Robison

Charlie Robison in Austin, Texas
Background information
Birth name Charles Fitzgerald Robison
Born (1964-09-01) September 1, 1964
Houston, Texas, United States
Origin Bandera, Texas, United States
Genres Country
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1996present
Labels Viero
Lucky Dog
Columbia
Dualtone
Associated acts Jack Ingram
Bruce Robison
Emily Robison
Website Official website

Charles Fitzgerald "Charlie" Robison (born September 1, 1964) is an American country music singer/songwriter. 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, Texas in the late 1980s and had stints in the bands Chaparral, Millionaire Playboys, and Two Hoots and a Holler.[1] 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.[2]

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" (JJ Cale), "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), Zeke Benenate (bass) J.C. Burt (steel guitar) and Chris Valdez (road manager/additional guitar). Prior to Beautiful Day, his band was known as The Enablers and included Keith Robinson (drums), Scott Esbeck (bass) and Travis Woodard (drums). Other notable members have included Kim Deschamps (pedal & lap steel, mandolin & guitar from 2000–2009), Kevin Carroll (guitar), Chris Grady (bass), Louis Landry (keyboards/accordion), 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 (duet on "The Wedding Song" and harmony vocals on "El Cerrito Place").

In the fall of 2014, Charlie Robison opened Alamo Icehouse in San Antonio, Texas with former MLB player Brooks Kieschnick. [3]

Personal life

Robison married Emily Erwin of The Dixie Chicks at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in May 1999.[4] They have three children together: Charles Augustus, called "Gus", born November 11, 2002[5] and twins Julianna Tex and Henry Benjamin, born on April 14, 2005.[6] Charlie and Emily divorced on August 6, 2008 after nine years of marriage.[7]

Discography

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart
positions
US Country US
Heat
Bandera
  • Release date: August 6, 1996
  • Label: Viero Records
Life of the Party
  • Release date: September 8, 1998
  • Label: Lucky Dog
71
Unleashed Live
(with Jack Ingram and Bruce Robison)
  • Release date: September 26, 2000
  • Label: Lucky Dog
Step Right Up 27 23
Live
  • Release date: May 6, 2003
  • Label: Columbia Records
51
Good Times 52
Beautiful Day
  • Release date: June 23, 2009
  • Label: Dualtone Records
33 25
Live at Billy Bob's Texas
  • Release date: June 4, 2013
  • Label: Smith Music Group
63 33
High Life
  • Release date: October 1, 2013
  • Label: Jetwell Records
48 25
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
US Country
1999 "Barlight" 60 Life of the Party
2000 "My Hometown" 65
"Poor Man's Son" 67
2001 "I Want You Bad" 35 Step Right Up
"Right Man for the Job"
2003 "Walter" 58 Live
2004 "El Cerrito Place" Good Times
2005 "Photograph"
2006 "Wild Man from Borneo" Why the Hell Not:
The Songs of Kinky Friedman
2009 "Reconsider" Beautiful Day
"Down Again"
2010 "Feelin' Good"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year Video Director
1998 "Barlight" Adrian Pasdar
1999 "My Hometown"
2000 "Poor Man's Son" Adam Little
2001 "I Want You Bad" Trey Fanjoy
"Right Man for the Job"
2004 "El Cerrito Place" Adrian Pasdar
2005 "Photograph"

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.

See also

References

  1. http://blog.mysanantonio.com/food/2014/09/downtown-ice-house-bbq-joint-opens/
  2. "Dixie Chicks member weds in West Texas". The Kerrville Times. Kerrville, Texas. p. 16. Retrieved February 16, 2016 via Newspapers.com. (registration required (help)). Emily Erwin of the Texas-born group married fellow Texan and musician Charlie Robison on Saturday at Cibolo Creek Ranch in the Big Bend.
  3. Dixie Chicks in divorce court

External links

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