BAND IN THE USA:
CT has been playing with Sarah Connolly, Chris Volpe and other fantastic musicians - lineup and instrumentation depending on the venue/tour.
IN EUROPE:
Laurent Vander (claviers, piano etc...)
Olivier Perez (batterie etc...)
Influences
Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Charles Baudelaire, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Bob Marley, Serge Gainsbourg, Miles Davis, Prince, John and Yoko, MC Solaar, The Carter Family, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Radiohead, Mozart, Bach, Kings of Convenience, The Gladiators, Eric Dolphy, Eminem, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Gram Parsons, Stevie Wonder, T.S Eliot, Eliott Smith, The Stooges, Raymond Chandler, Howard Hawks, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, James Brown, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jacques Dutronc, NTM, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Dexter Gordon, Alexi Murdoch, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Foggy Mountain Boys, Johnny Thunders, Sufjian Stevens, Big Bill Broonzy, Magnetic Fields, Charles Mingus, Wilco, Eric Dolphy, Sam Cooke, John Mayer, Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Earl Scraggs , New Order, Grant Green, Madonna, Cindy Lauper, A. C. Jobim, Duke Ellington, Paul Simon, The Postal Service,Sonny Sharrock, Nirvana, Ravi Shankar, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, AC/DC, Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Prince Billie/w.o/palace, Non Fiction, Jolli Hollande, Peter Lundgren, Robbie Lee, Ian Thomas, The Bowman Twins, Alex Lowry, Lach, Sir A. F. Toure, Gabriel and Jezebel Francis, Ray, and all the wise kind souls who threw a coin into my cup instead of turning the other way...
Sounds Like
The ingredients are are all organic, and every part of it is about good people, and doing it yourself.
Perhaps that's why it sounds strikingly like Charles Zerner, singing songs that he writes.
People sometimes think that CTZ sounds like: BOB DYLAN JEFF BUCKLEY, BRIGHT EYES, LEONARD COHEN, SERGE GAINSBOURG, LOU REED, TOWNES VAN ZANDT. CTZ can't tell who else he sounds like, and doesn't think it's an important thing for him to think about.
Charles Theodore Zerner grew up in France and the US, graduated with honors from Harvard University, and moved to New York to sing in the subways.
After playing through a 3 month session with the producer of the Clash, touring the east coast, holding residencies in New York, carving his home in the antifolk scene, playing countless shows and cutting a record in France with the producer of Jacques Higelin, CT is finally selling something with his name on it. His first release, A Suitcase Life comes with a 10 page color booklet, and a long life-full of listening pleasure. It is available now at Itunes, CDbaby, Antifolk.net and select retail outlets in the North East.
Keep your eyes open for more east coast tours, new live/studio recordings coming soon, and a possible european tour later this year.
"Charles Zerner is a very well-rounded young man. Combining intimate folk rock ramblings, choruses that wouldn't sound out of place on Top 40 radio, Spanish inspired guitar fills and noticeably rhythmic bass and drum sections, his songwriting draws from a multitude of influences. Fortunately, this diversity sounds neither gimmicky nor gratuitously eclectic, and he succeeds in this ambitious endeavor because of his genuine, consistent honesty.
Jetlagged longing, lost loves and moments of displaced loneliness are revisited track by track, memorable and every bit as fresh as they once must have felt. Still, Zerner never compromises his upfront lyrics for rhythm, catchy bittersweet melodies and an intricately arranged acoustic pop-rock sound; the album is a sincere and well-thought-out commentary on a twenty-something's life, not a sentimental confessional about what went wrong.
Zerner's songs range from straightforward guitar-based pieces to more complex and layered arrangements complete with soaring, playful synthesizers and perfectly timed bass lines. His voice is strongest when stripped bare, as heard on "Broke St Lullaby" and "You Were Right the First Time"; more layered vocal sections lose their sweetness and verge on generic, especially when he speaks/raps rather than sings. The production on the instruments, however, is irreproachably poppy - unusual for such an upfront record so strongly influenced by bare-bones folk rock. This smoothness works well more often than not and accentuates the care with which the songs were written: there isn't a sloppy moment on the whole record.
[…]
Weathered cynicism atop a lingering innocence characterizes the mood of the record - jaded, but still young and unwilling to give up on hope. A genuine sincerity ties the songs together, though never at the detriment of professionalism, originality, and technical skill. Combined with a talent to comment on, rather than fall into, cliché, and a heart-wrenching set of melodies that stick long after the songs end, Zerner has made a thoroughly meaningful and sensitive record."
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Charles Thodore est ne pres de Boston de deux historiens de l'art. Brinquebale des son plus jeune age, entre la Cote est et la Cote ouest, entre les deux rives de l'Atlantique (la province angevine, detour un peu plus inattendu), son apprentissage est d emble place sous le signe de l art, de la route, de l echange. Malgre un parcours universitaire flatteur (diplome avec Honors de Harvard University en 2002) que certains imaginaient deboucher sur une carriere en costume- cravate, il repousse les appels du pied de Wall Street pour le metro new-yorkais ou il se devoue a la chanson. Souvenirs : "it's the only way to really do it." Cest dans le Lower East Side, Manhattan, que Charles develope son style. Apres avoir etabli sa presence dans les clubs new-yorkais (Piano's, The Sidewalk Cafe, The Living Room, Galapagos, Cbgb's etc.), dans la scene anti-folk, et avoir tourne sur la Cote est, il rencontre un producteur suedois, habitant Paris, qui lui propose denregistrer un album en France.
Tres vite, les seances ne se revlent pas a la hauteur de ses esperances. Il casse tout. Au regard de ses autres expriences en studio aux cotes de Joe Blaney (producteur des Clash, de Keith Richards etc.), il juge ces collaborations musicales denues d affinites et d'emotions et leurs resultats, mediocres.
Cest alors quil fait la connaissance de Francis Lassus, batteur et producteur (Joe Zawinul, Jacques Higelin, Claude Nougaro etc.). Direction Pau, au studio de Francis et deuxime rencontre : Laurent Vander (fils du grand pianiste Maurice Vander). Entre les trois, l'entente est immediate : La musique, c'est toute de meme un peu de l'alchimie. Comme l'amour, il faut que la chance et le temps saccordent."
Apres un travail intense, la pre-production fait preuve d'honnetete et de complicite musicale prometteuses. Et le mariage culturel qui a toujours guidé ses pas prend enfin tout son sens. Explications : Je crois que c'est une musique franco-americaine dans l'ame... Peut-etre que je pourrais vivre ici....
Caught your music at Eatz Sidewalk venue, last day of Bristol Reunion. Enjoyed your music and got a few good pics. I love "The American Way" and its currently my profile song! I was going to purchase your cd after the show but got distracted by some journalists who wanted to interview us about the sidewalk venue. Let me know if your interest in the pics and I will send. -R-
Hey, I hope you're doing well! I was really hoping to make it to Rhythm and Roots (especially for you and Chris), but it looks like that's not happening. Please let me know next time you're in Asheville or close by. I'd really love to come see you again!
salut, un petit message pour te remercier de m'avoir permis de faire mon premier live sur Paris (beaux souvenirs du franc Pinot...) et te proposer de venir écouter mes nouveaux titres sur ma page. A quand le retour sur Paris? bye -hotel-
My Mysace page is entirely in DUTCH! Gr. I've been here too long. Will you get yourself to Paris before the end of next week, please? I want to see you.
Salam Charles! Je ne sais pas ou tu es en ce moment, j espere juste que tout va bien! Saches que les segréens se reunissent en campagne segreenne le weekend du 10 aout....t es le bienvenu! passe le message à Rachel. Bise, Prends soin de toi, Celine (bientot maman d un petit franco berbere!)
Hope you're well up North. I've got a new tune up called 'Madonna Of The Evening Rose'. I remember in Nashville you did a tune as a kind of rap thing. Let me know the next time you're down South. I should be back to NYC in the fall.
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