Charlie Faye

On January 1st, 2010, Charlie Faye pulled out of her hometown of Austin, Texas, to embark on a modern bohemian adventure. In 10 months, Charlie made her home in 10 different towns; Tucson, AZ, Los Angeles, CA, Portland, OR, Boulder, CO, Shreveport, LA, Burlington, VT, Milwaukee, WI, Nashville, TN, Asheville, NC, and New York, NY.
When asked why she would chose to tour in this unusual way, Charlie answers: "Ask any musician, on returning from a tour, 'How was Seattle? What was Chicago like? - and they'll tell you: "I don't know, man, we just loaded out of the van and played. and then got back in the van and kept driving."
But Charlie didn't want to just skim the surface. Instead of landing in a city, playing a show, and taking off the next day, Charlie spent a month actually getting to know the people and personality of each place she made her home.
Traveling alone, Charlie put together a new band in each town. Playing and hanging out with musicians in each town gave Charlie a really unique perspective on our national music culture. Looking back at the year, Charlie says, "If this isn't Americana music, I don't know what is."
Charlie also wrote and recorded a new song with local musicians each month. Her 10-Town-made Travels with Charlie record includes members of Calexico, the Eagles, and Navarro, as well as Tony Gilkyson, Paul Bryan, Ian Moore, Chris Scruggs, Kenny Vaughn, Buddy Spicher, and Malcolm Burn. Each song, when recorded, was allowed to take the form of what naturally happened in that place and time. The result is a record that represents a real cross-section of our national roots-based, Americana music scene.
Somehow, in addition to all her travels, Charlie has become one of Austin's most recognized music community organizers. A front-page story in the Austin American Statesman outlined Charlie's efforts to save a musicians' enclave of cottages in South Austin. Charlie's history also includes touring as a sideman with Dan Zanes and Greg Garing, as well as playing alongside many others, including Natalie Merchant, Bettysoo, and Will Sexton.