Organically grown trans-atlantic folk pop.

12 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, FOLK: Anti-Folk



Details:
The son of French and American art historians, Charles Theodore Zerner spent his childhood traveling, wandering through old churches and looking at paintings; he adapted to his surroundings, holding on to music as his constant. From Providence, to Santa Monica to Chicago to Boston, going to the local school in a tiny French town with more cows than people, to living in the carnival that is New York City, Charles-Theodore's bicoastal, trans-Atlantic upbringing has influenced his songwriting as much as his musical heroes have.

Charles Theodore discovered the guitar very young. He led an active band through high-school, and continued to perform regularly with a jazz combo at Boston's esteemed Regattabar while working his way towards an honors diploma in French Literature at Harvard University. There, Rimbaud, Baudelaire and T.S. Eliot joined Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Dylan and Townes van Zandt as lasting lyrical influences.

It was after his graduation in 2002 that Charles-Theodore really began to stick out as an anomaly amongst his peers. He moved to New York City not to work on Wall Street, or live off a trust fund, but to spend time in the damp underground of the New York subways, developing a unique acoustic sound. "It was the only way for me to thicken my skin and learn what is worth singing about." Soon, Charles-Theodore was invited to cut a record with rock outfit the Curves and producer Joe Blaney (The Clash, Keith Richards, etcâ¦). This proved to be an immensely enriching experience, soaking up musical lessons for 3 straight months with a legendary producer; he quit the band after finishing the recording, however, realizing he needed to further develop his own material.

Charles Theodore hit the NY club circuit: Pianos, The Living Room, CBGB's and Galapagos are just a few of the venues he still plays at regularly. CTZ also found a home in the Antifolk scene, considered worldwide for being the heart of the New York songwriter world today.

Charles Theodore made his way back to France, covering over 120 dates in 2006, with his three piece band, building a following in Paris. Charles founded the Folk Underground biweekly residency/concert series at the chic Ile St. Louis club Le Franc Pinot, now an important venue and home of a real scene for folk rock in Paris.
His tendency to gravitate towards a sincere, stripped, straight-up sound are instantly noticeable. Delve a little deeper, and you will find why his understanding of French and American mentalities - not to mention a talent for capturing the universals: love, loss, joy and pain â resonate with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond.

A SUITCASE LIFE

Charles Theodore's first release is finally ready. It's about time. Recordings began in late 2006, with drummer and producer Francis Lassus (producer of French pop star Jacques Higelin, and drummer for Claude Nougaro, African singer Ray Lema, Joe Zawinul amongst others.) in the Pyrenées mountains near Pau, France. The chemistry between them was instantly audible, and the result is his soon to be released debut album. Charles-Theodore merges American folk-rock ramblings a la Dylan with Serge Gainsbourg's Baudelaire-inspired wordplay, injecting the whole formula with rare honesty. Add bittersweet melodies, carefully layered keyboard, bass and drum sections, and irreproachably poppy production to his stripped down vocals and you have A Suitcase Life: an album that exudes professionalism and accessibility, but never at the detriment of a rawness, intelligence and sincerity. In an age of irony and prefabricated fluff, Charles Theodore Zerner's Suitcase Life is a necessary and refreshing change. written by AAA