Closer to Home (Black Market Music)
Nick Charles
*****

Melbourne guitarist Nick Charles continues to write highly accessible melodies that insinuate themselves into your consciousness. On his latest album, the acoustic player delivers a dozen tracks that range from folk and blues to bluegrass, ragtime and jazz.

It’s familiar territory, but superbly executed with understated skill and finesse. Mostly backed by dobro, double bass and fiddle, Charles includes gentle vocals – notably a delightfully sardonic original called “You Can’t Change A Thing” and his casual rendition of Bob Dylan’s One Too Many Mornings. A highlight is the relaxed “New Memphis Blues”, inspired by W.C. Handy and augmented by Ian Collard’s blues harp, with Charles dipping his fingers into Django Reinhardt’s nimble technique. Another standout, “Elizabeth Mary”, is dedicated to Nick’s mother (“who finally relented and paid for my first guitar lessons”). It’s a beautiful, extended, atmospheric instrumental, reinforced by bassist Howard Cairns, with splashes of dobro colour from Pete Fidler. But the solo guitar pieces are what really set Charles apart, including his evocative “Las Cruces” and a splendid blues-swing treatment of “Yesterdays”. You can hear Charles solo or with his quartet at various venues, including a May 9 concert at Melbourne University’s Melba Hall.(details: www.charlesguitar.com )

MIKE DALY (THE AGE, April 3, 2008)

Herald Sun Nov 2005

A simple elegance carries the day

There is something special about albums that demand attention without screaming for it.

This music should be heard free from distractions, almost as it sounds in Bus Station Blues, in a cabin with rain falling.
Charles draws the listener in with his beautiful playing, then traverses the acoustic guitarist’s landscape of folk, country and blues. There’s the lively fingerpicking of Pig in a Blanket, the well- argued relationship breakdown of Say What we Mean and the wonderful LA Melody.

Charles wrote 12 of the 15 tracks, all turning on his abilities with whichever guitar – and he plays four on this album.
When he sings – on four tracks only – he has a country tinged voice, a nice fit for the cover of Peter Keane’s You Haunt My Dreams. The album is bookended by two of it’s best tracks – the title track and Bus Station Blues – both instrumentals and both amazingly expressive.

Lee Howard ****

"every movement is logical; every phrase musical....his Ship to Shore should be a standard."
Rob Santos, Australian Guitar Magazine


"Travelling Fingerpicker is dazzling in its musicianship." Brian Wise, Rhythms Magazine.

Rhythms Magazine, March 2004

You don’t quite realize just what a fine player Nick Charles is until you see him close up. The fingers literally fly across the frets as if more than two and a half decades of performing, recording and touring have honed his skills to perfection.

Having released the acclaimed albums, “My Place” and “Grace Notes”, it seems to me that the latest album, his back-to-basics record, is Charles’ most accomplished work. It runs through a gamut of styles on the ten original songs and two covers – almost a potted history of the guitarist’s influences. Charles notes that the album reflects his musical journey over the years - a journey that was inspired in his youth by a Big Bill Broonzy record.

The music moves from the gentle “Ship to Shore” and “Two Wells” through the “St. Jude Rag” into Norman Blake’s “Down at Millows House” while the other original compositions range from the sublime, as on “Anywhere with You” to the jaunty “Deep Creek Turnaround”. Charles’ interpretation of Lennon and McCartney’s “Norwegian Wood” unfolds beautifully, breathing new life into a melody we must have heard thousands of times before.

Of course, a large part of the enjoyment of Travelling Fingerpicker also has to do with the fabulous sound of the Santa Cruz Dreadnought guitar (and its heavy steel strings) along with the engineering of Chris Corr, who manages to get an extraordinarily rich, warm sound.

I daresay there are much flashier guitarists, who have a higher profile, but they don’t play with the sort of feeling you can hear on this album. While I recently had the opportunity to watch Charles from a few feet away in some radio studios and have marvelled at his skills - which I am not sure that I ever fully appreciated before - I also saw him from a more distant vantage point at the recent album launch and was equally impressed with his stagecraft.

Charles has performed at international festivals from Edinburgh to Kansas, including a recent trip to the US, and he supported people such as BB King, Taj Mahal, Guy Clark, Chris Smither and Dan Crary. Over the years his presence on stage has developed substantially, an achievement for one who seems to be naturally quiet. These days he will preface his songs with brief stories, humorous remarks and, at the launch, he even managed to deal skillfully with an over-enthusiastic fan who felt obliged to give a running commentary from the floor. This was almost as impressive as the music - it is hard enough being on stage with a just a guitar as a shield.

It is easy to understand while Charles has been getting such a great response overseas and why his album launch was packed. Travelling Fingerpicker is dazzling in its musicianship and something that hopefully might act as a calling card for even bigger things.

Brian Wise

Australian Guitar Magazine

Although Charles has the chops of a John Fahey or Peter Lang, his songwriting never comes second to technique. The Aussie has a well-developed melodic sense: every movement is logical; every phrase musical. His Two Wells should be a standard, and his Angie-inspired Jasmine and cover of Norwegian Wood are magical.

Rob Santo

The Age, May 2002

Fingerpickers rejoice: Nick Charles is back with another elegant, six-stringed saunter across the soundbox. His solo debut, My Place, revealed this local musician to be an exceptional acoustic guitarist and Grace Notes reinforces the point. A more focused recording, it contains nine original melodies among the 10 tracks (the exception is a freehand rendition of Spanish Harlem) and Charles ranges across folk-blues, ragtime, jazz and bluegrass.

Standouts include stylish nods to Kenny Burrell on the cool, flamenco-accented Kenny’s Blues, and to Chet Atkins on Walkin’ the Blues, accompanied by double bassist Howard Cairns and violinist Matthew Arnold.

Favourite track: Sometimes the Way is Clear, a beautiful, swelling, hymn-like refrain featuring Chris Bitcon on lap-dobro, bassist Cairns, and crisp guitar and mandolin from Charles. Turn up the volume and give the sub-woofer its head!

Mike Daly

The Age, February 2000

Melbourne guitarist Nick Charles has grasped the nettle and put out an outstanding instrumental work of acoustic rags and fingerpicking ballads. He wrote seven of the 13 tracks, which also include chestnuts from Joni Mitchell, Doc Watson and John D. Loudermilk.

Reminiscent of Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed in the early ‘70s, My Place is an understated masterpiece for the ever-composed Charles. It will astonish listeners with its brilliantly coloured lines. The Loudermilk fingerpicking charmer Windy and Warm is impressive in its artistic bravado.

Solo instrumental albums like My Place are a risk, but Charles triumphs. Stuffed full of surprises and instrumental undercurrents, it creates the impression of a small lyrical string combo at play, as demonstrated by Doc’s Guitar, creating its own pictures. In this case, a fast-forward chase up an Appalachian mountain the 1930s will do.

Terry Reilly