Pack up your suitcase, grab your guitar, you’re following Charles Ellsworth. Confidence, comfort, and soul pour directly from his gut into this beautifully arranged EP, titled “Wildcat Chuck Charles”. From Brooklyn to the Arizona pines you can tell he’s learned a thing or two roaming the country on his own.
The record resonates whistling winds, rustling leaves, and long dusty drives with no destination. It seems each song starts small and daunting, but parallel to a trip across country, they learn their lessons and pick up lots of little things along the way. And suddenly here are these wide ambient soundscapes showcasing a genuine human spirit and a hyper-determined heartbeat on a mission; hypnotizing you to listen deeper and deeper still.
Lyrically, the EP is Vedder-esque in terms of the dark, introspective dynamic, and soothing, mid-rangy approach. When paired with the smooth and trebly electric lap-steel, it becomes a dreamy equation. Such simple transitional wisdom as “I watch the world pass, foot heavy on the gas” and the melodies carving clean away, you can feel the long roads disappearing behind you, right where they belong.
The second song on the record “Could Have Done Better” is a bite at love. It’s familiar territory, but the way he phrases “She was the apple of my eye in the eye of the storm” gives you that whirlwind affect of a broken heart but for a valid reason, to trek on and find your true calling before settling down. The female backing vocal puts amazing emphasis on this bittersweet point.
There are a lot of heavy cruxes and grim imagery buried in Ellsworth’s elegant bouquet of blues and rock music. “Arizona Pines” gives you the guilt, and “Grandfather Pine” gives you the grit to keep on marching. That’s the way of the road I suppose, and Charles is braving it as we speak. So if there’s a vicarious experience I could suggest, it’s listening to “Wildcat Chuck Charles” as many times as it tells you to, and inviting the man himself to perform and tell stories for you and your friends in your living room.
Bio: Born and raised in the White Mountains of Arizona, Charles Ellsworth first gained an appreciation for a simple, not so distant past. A recent transplant to Brooklyn and self proclaimed “Wandering Man”, Charles has spent the better part of the past four years crashing couch to couch. Making friends & enemies. Talking his way onto bar stages and out of traffic tickets. He’s taken to heart the advice of one of his most influential writers, Roberto Bolaño, “Make new sensations appear…subvert daily life…give it all up again. Hit the road.” His songs wind down a familiar highway. A road more traveled, but with a perspective less explored. His vivid lyrics and near-familiar melodies weave to tell stories of heartbreak and loneliness while shining a light on the perseverance of the human spirit. Charles has subtle way of exploring the idea that even when all seems lost, there is always a sliver of hope. Declan Ryan of Independent Clauses (www.independentclauses.com) called his and Vincent Draper’s recent release Salt Lake City: A Love Story, “a triumph for american songwriting…blending outlaw grit with a raw streak of self-awareness.” His ability to go from a stomp-your-boots anthem reminiscent of Springsteen, to a simple love song in the vein of Townes Van Zandt assures that it won’t be long before his name, lyrics, and melodies are stuck in music lovers head’s everywhere.
