.....In the Hometown.....
Charlie Austin has hosted or has been hosted with:
Robbin Thompson
Rock Star Parking
Skip Hancock
Karl Werne
Lewis McGehee
Walt Redmond
Mike Aiken
Amy Ferebee
Grant Austin Taylor
Don Bunch
Val Little
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A Night With the "Musically Precocious" Grant Austin Taylor... ...way talented beyond years...
Grant Austin Taylor and his band at HK on the Bay in Va Beach, featuring Charlie Austin on the fiddle Jimmy Wiseman on bass Ralph Copley on drums
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To discover more music in The Coastal Area Of Va. and beyond, please visit:
You can also submit your band gig dates via this website. Steven Sloop is a great lover of music and has provided this website as a courtesy free of charge in support of the bands and the venues who keep the music alive.
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Welcome and Thank you for visiting Charlie Austin Fiddle Music!
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Charlie Austin is endorsed by Skyinbow Violins
http://www.skyinbow.com/
Skyinbow Ltd
The Workshop
Vidlin
Shetland Isle
ZE2 9QB
Scotland
From Skyinbow's "Endorsed Artists" Page:
Charlie Austin – Regular performer at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1980’s with Jack Green, Jean Shepherd and Johnny Russell. He later became resident fiddle player with Boxcar Willie at his theatre in Branson, Missouri. He has also performed with stars such as Larry Gatlin, Charlie Pride, David Allen Coe, Randy Travis and Ricky Van Shelton to name a few.
If you've ever heard Charlie Austin play his "Skyinbow Blue Violin" (pronounced skin-bow, Celtic word for "jam session"), you've quickly discovered that Charlie Austin is one of those rare and refined talents who is truly a master of his craft. With that Blue Fiddle/Violin in hand you've witnessed one of the most well seasoned musicians possessing an extraordinary talent. His musical horizons have crossed and blended every genre of music imaginable. He can easily stretch musically from Jazz to Celtic and into Rock, Blues, or Country, and of course Bluegrass and even classical and he does so with great ease.
But a little background info will serve you well to know a little more about about this native son and blue blood Virginian. Charlie Austin comes from coastal Virginia and was born in Norfolk. He comes from a musical family background where his mother not only played but taught piano. Music was very much embedded in the the fabric of his family upbringing. His musical interests reach back to the tender age of 3 when he desired and showed interest in the violin. By the age of ten he began private lessons. Ripening from there, he won 3 consecutive Norfolk "All City Solo" competitions.
At 19 years of age Charlie began playing professionally with local bands and did some touring as a result. Charlie's Sligo Studio Band work includes 6 Billboard chart records. In 1983 Charlie moved to Nashville where he was able to hone his craft even more, learning a great deal about the music industry business which led to some very nice Nashville alliances.
Between 1983 and 1987 Charlie added to his merit 250 Grand Ole Opry performances which included "Opry Live", a nationally syndicated TV show. He helped to launch and was part of the very first episode which was the first of many shows that would follow. His other shows included "Hee Haw" and "Nashville Now".
He has played and/or toured with National Bands such as Jack Greene, Johnny Russell, Boxcar Willie, Larry Gatlin, Charlie Pride, Ray Stevens, Boots Randolph, Irlene Mandrell, David Allan Coe, Tommy Overstreet, Del Shannon, Bare Naked Ladies and the Saw Doctors. He has toured throughout the US and spent tours abroad in Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean. In addition to this, he also spent 4 years performing in Branson, Mo. doing theatrical work.
Charlie is currently based in coastal Virginia and is living in Norfolk. He can be found performing many styles of music, running his audio studio, and restoring and selling antique and vintage violins. Charlie is well respected and is in high demand by many of the local and regional artists. However, Charlie welcomes the opportunity to do studio/session work and is ready to tour once again given the right mix of music and musicians. He is wide open to possibility, always broadening his spectrum of genres of music and the musicians he can work with creatively.
Above all, I can attest to the art of perfection that Charlie encompasses with a great sense of ease and comfort and I often wonder how much dedication and discipline Charlie has mustered through all off his musical journeys. There are few I have seen that execute with such great perfection upon their instrument like Charlie Austin does, although Tommy Emmanuel does come to mind. His level of commitment to the art of the song can easily be detected as one witnesses his live performances and it is easily heard in all of his recordings. As a matter of fact, most of the songs on this site were done in one take. To say the least, hearing and seeing Charlie Austin solicits a great deal of honor and respect for his level of mastery and thus creates a sense of awe from the musicians he plays with, to the audience he plays to. Honestly.
Charlie never fails to please and ever so humbly impresses all who have had the chance to see him perform. Musically Charlie Austin is coming into his own rite of passage and like his "Blue Violin" I realize the sky is truly the limit when it comes to this incredibly talented musician with this amazing musical presence... and Wowza, what an ear! ... But that's another glorifying paragraph I will spare you. Listen for yourself and get out to one of his shows and check it out for your self, you'll walk away amazed and will simply be glad that you did, realizing what a consummate performer he truly is and that the name "Fiddle Pro" is not just well deserved... but earned.
Joyce-Marie Morrin
PR/Promotions Director
"Revolutionary Radio Williamsburg"
WRRW 100.9 FM
Williamsburg Public Radio, Va.
Publishing, Studio Work, Performances and Recordings includes:
Tree Publishing now called Sony Tree, Nashville
Peer Southern Publishing, NYC
Acuff-Rose Publishing now Opryland Music
Combine Publishing, Nashville
In Your Ear Studios
Eliot Morris
Robbin Thompson
Dave Mason
Harlan Howard
John Scott Sherrill
Kevin Welch
Mike Aiken
Jean Shepherd
Johnny Russell
Charlie Pride
Ricky Van Shelton
The Warren Brothers
Boxcar Willie
Larry Gatlin
David Allen Coe
Randy Travis
Charlie, thanx for comin' out & fiddlin' latelty, it's always a pleasure & you're always welcome anytime... we'll be in your neck of the woods tonight 8:30-12:30 at OTANI if you're lookin' for something to do! (Rich Mossman on drums & Chris Brydge on upright) Hope to see you again soon!
MUSIC THAT MATTERS KY, VA and WV Compilation Album ALMOST COMPLETE. What an honor for us to work with the great INDY POWER while serving a cause. Its been great to see artists and fan bases unite to energize the music scene over-all while making a differance and the Music Matter!!!! 24 artists and counting as we near our mastering date on July 25th. THANK YOU
Hey man, just hittin' ya back w/ a "Howdy" and to tell ya I'm hosting an open mic every Monday thru Summer @ Sandbridge Island Restaurant (205 Sandbridge Rd. Va Beach, VA 23456) It'd be great to have you grace the place with a surprise appearance sometime and make a night of magic! (just saw Harry Potter, 'scuse me) Hope all is well... Peace, -Charlton
Feel free to come out & sit in with Thinking CAP Trio on Saturday...I'll be there all weekend running sound for the event and playing short acoustic sets as well!
Happy New Year & Congratulations on the New Recording Gig! Hey, How about a little Spiccato next time? & What's up with those Manchurian Stallions anyway?
