from: Austin, TX
website: www.charliesexton.com
myspace: www.myspace.com/charliesexton
As I start to wrap up the previews, I'll have quite a few guest contributions to post. Here's another from my friend Jeff:
With his stellar musical ability and dashing good looks, it’s truly amazing that Charlie Sexton has not been a gigantic star for years and years. Could it possibly be that he has never been interested in being a huge star or teen idol? What a concept! The idea that an artist would choose musical integrity over the major label “hit machine” mentality and monetary rewards that result is a noble one, and that appears to be the path that Mr. Sexton has taken over the years, despite early label attempts to mold him as such.
Even though Charlie had the hardship of being raised by a single mother who had him when she was sixteen years old, he had the good fortune of growing up in and around the musical wonderland of Austin, Texas and was exposed at an early age to all its wonders and diverse musical influence. Charlie was what many people labeled a prodigy, and he began to make waves in the Austin scene with the assistance of such heavy hitters as the legendary Joe Ely, who took Charlie on as his guitarist at the age of thirteen. Seeing his obvious star potential, MCA snatched Charlie up and released his first album Pictures For Pleasure, which they promptly gave the full new wave treatment complete with cheesy synths and drum machines (hey, maybe he should re-release this since it’s back in style…). Despite this, they were able to pull off one hit with the catchy “Beats So Lonely”, which actually still holds up fairly well, in my opinion. His eponymous second album for MCA drifted somewhat back towards his Texas roots.
After the death of his mentor and good friend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Charlie formed a band with the other two member’s of Stevie’s band Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton) along with fellow Texas hotshot Doyle Bramhall II and released one album for Geffen in 1992 as the Arc Angels. Even though this supergoup fizzled after that one release, it is still an excellent effort with Charlie and Doyle switching up lead vocals on many of the songs and fine Texas-style guitar wrangling all around (plus one of the best rhythm sections in the biz).
Charlie released Under the Wishing Tree in ’95, which was more musically adventurous and accomplished than his previous work, but the thing many people will remember him for was his stint with Bob Dylan during Bob’s “Love and Theft” era. Charlie brought a fire and youth to Dylan’s shows and studio work that had been lacking and earned the reputation of being part of one of Dylan’s best bands. In recent years, Charlie has concentrated on production for other artists and has worked on such excellent projects as Lucinda William’s Essence. Charlie’s current solo album Cruel and Gentle Things, released last year (ten years after his last release) and largely performed by himself, has been noted as his most accomplished and mature work to date.
"Beats So Lonely" (from Pictures for Pleasure)
"Living in a Dream" (from Arc Angels)
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