Charlie Barker (musician)

Charlie Barker (musician)

Charlie Barker
Born	7th February 1986 Sheffield
Genres	Folk, Acoustic, Americana, Country, Pop
Instruments	Vocals, Acoustic/ Electric Guitar, Cello, Ukulele
Years active	2001 - present
Labels	RootBeat Records (2005 - 2019)
Associated acts	Smokie, Harriet Bartlett, Kerfuffle, Sunjay, Sweet Dixie Dreams, Gilmore & Roberts, Sam Sweeney
Website	http://www.charliebarkermusic.com

Charlie Barker (born 7th February 1986) is a British vocalist, musician and vocal/ music coach from Sheffield, England. A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, who trained in classical cello and pop/ folk and acoustic styles on guitar since the age of seven. She is a former BBC Young Folk Award semi-finalist and has appeared on BBC 1's TV music programme The Next Big Thing, as well as performing live at festivals, theatres and clubs around the UK and Europe.

Early years

Charlie was born into a musical family in the mid-80s, and was musically influenced by her Grandfather and Father in her early life. Her Grandfather, a former World War II soldier, was a self taught pianist and percussionist and her Father played guitar. She spent much of her early years listening to her Father's varied record collection citing Blondie, Jethro Tull, The Stranglers and Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Nanci Griffith as notable influences.

She attended Sir Harold Jackson School in her hometown of Sheffield, where her musical interests were sparked by her music teacher demonstrating how to play the cello in an assembly. That was enough to inspire her to pick up the instrument herself and start learning from the age of seven and played mainly classical music. In the same year she picked up a guitar and started learning pop/ rock/ blues and country styles with Sheffield-based, Irish born guitarist, Alan Kennedy.

Throughout her teenage years she honed her craft playing classical cello with the Sheffield Youth Orchestras organised by the Sheffield Music Service, now known as the Sheffield Music Hub, as well as playing at folk and acoustic nights and open mics throughout Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

Whilst studying at secondary school, Charlie was encouraged by her GCSE Music teacher to audition for a BBC 1 children's talent show called The Next Big Thing. After sending in a tape demo, she attended an audition with the programme producers in Manchester and was selected to perform in front of the studio audience. She performed a cover of the song All 'Bout The Money by Meja. She was the only act to both play and sing live for the studio audience.

She played her first paid, professional solo gig aged 15 at the Three Merry Lads pub in Sheffield, where she was scouted and recruited as a lead vocalist for the Hope Valley Soul Band, who needed a young person to front their group for their entry into the National Festival of Music for Youth. Charlie performed with them on the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage in London in 2002 and remained with the band for a short tour in Europe that included playing dates in Paris and Switzerland.

Charlie is quoted as saying: "Appearing on TV at such a young age was such a valuable experience, it taught me how to deal with nerves and become more of a performer as opposed to someone who just sings songs. Joining a soul band gave me the opportunity to do something entirely different to what I’d always performed, but it wasn’t long before I wanted to return to doing more acoustic music."

Music Career

2005 saw Charlie release her debut album Sleeping at the Station on independent label, RootBeat Records. The record comprised of five original tracks; Sleeping at the Station, Moving On, Poppies, Not the Way and New Horizons. The other five tracks featured songs from independent songwriters and her own interpretations of well-known material. It was produced by Chris Thornton-Smith (ex-Kerfuffle guitarist) at the Blast PA Systems in Wickersley, Rotherham in the summer of 2005 and featured both Thornton-Smith and Sam Sweeney (Kerfuffle, Bellowhead, Leverett, Jon Boden, Fay Hield and Hannah James & Sam Sweeney) as session musicians on the recording. The album was received well on the folk and acoustic circuit and gained positive reviews in the acoustic music press with Stirrings Magazine/ NetRhythms saying; "Her intrinsic purity of tone and expression betrays shades of Alison Krauss and Nanci Griffith. Her treatment of the ubiquitous 'Fields of Gold' gives Eva Cassidy a run for her money." ​

Charlie toured the UK music club and festival circuit making appearances at Ely Folk Festival, Henley Festival to name a few and supporting artists such as Vin Garbutt, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan and Ken Nicol, whilst simultaneously studying for her degree in Media Studies with Journalism and Public Relations at Sheffield Hallam University.

In 2006, she became a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards semi-finalist, joining the chosen acts to perform at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, hosted by then Radio 2 Folk Show presenter Mike Harding. Following Harding's introduction to her performance she commented, "Well thanks for that lovely introduction Mike, most people usually say, Charlie Barker... who’s he?" The finalists were chosen as Bodega, Southwind, Joe O' Connor, Shona Donaldson, James Chadwick and Matheu Watson and all the acts gathered for the finals event at The Sage, Gateshead performing with all the semi-finalists to celebrate. Gaelic band, Bodega were chosen at the winners of the 2006 Young Folk Award.

In 2008, Charlie played to her first arena-sized concert at the Barnsley Metrodome after she was invited by concert promoter/ radio DJ Steve White, to open up for rock band, Smokie who were touring the UK.

2010 was a year for working on collaborations and saw Charlie embark upon a duo project with Shropshire based, vocalist and piano accordionist Harriet Bartlett. The pair had been friends for years, after meeting at Ely Folk Festival in 2006, and have said they would regularly get confused for each other due to looking alike. Many thought due to their similarities that they were also sisters, but they are not related. They decided to become a duo after attending a New Year's party at a fellow folk musician's house on New Year's Eve 2009. They were offered their first gig in February 2010 by Eastenders actor, Adam Woodyatt who offered them a slot at the Aid For Haiti charity concert he was organising at the Coventry Ricoh Arena. The concert was attended by the multitude of soap stars from Eastenders and Hollyoaks all offering meet and greets, as well as many musical acts. The proceeds of the event went to help the victims of devastating earthquakes in Haiti. Barker Bartlett, as they became known, toured actively until December 2013.

Her second album Ghosts & Heroes was released in 2011, once again on RootBeat Records and this time it offered Charlie's interpretations of well-known songs from influential artists such as Alison Krauss, Richard Thompson, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. This album has a distinctively Country/ Americana sound, stepping away from the folk sound of her first album. Once again, she returned to producer Chris Thornton-Smith to record at the Blast PA Systems studio in Wickersley and at RootBeat Records former base in Castle Donnington, Derby, she worked alongside Thornton-Smith and Tom Sweeney as co-producer. Former Kerfuffle bassist, Tom Sweeney played electric guitar, bass and backing vocals on the record as well as BBC Young Musician finalist, Jim Molyneux joining on percussion. The album featured a collaboration with vocalist and piano accordionist, Harriet Bartlett on track 9, a version of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide.

Ghosts & Heroes was performed live at an album launch event on 3rd November 2011 at the Lantern Theatre, Sheffield, with all session musicians (except Harriet Bartlett) performing on stage.

Charlie said of the album: “I felt I wanted to take some time to recognise some of the brilliant writers and performers who made me want to pick up a guitar and start singing. After taking time out to complete my degree and spending time with my son, I was really excited to get back in the studio and I felt right at home.”

Following the release of her second album, Charlie spent time working on several session musician projects including the work of acoustic blues and folk guitarist, Sunjay. She appears credited as a vocalist on Sunjay's single Fire Down Below/ Don't Breathe A Word, his self titled debut Sunjay, as a live and studio vocalist for the Sunjay Sings Buddy album and appears on his latest 2019 release, Devil Came Calling.

Charlie joined country music covers band Sweet Dixie Dreams as a vocalist and guitarist, alongside Katriona Gilmore, Jamie Roberts, Gerry McNeice, Ben Sutton, Lyn Blakeston. The band started as a fun aside to the band member's other musical work, playing the music of the Dixie Chicks and other modern country music. They played a short run of concerts throughout 2011 and 2012 before band members returned to the commitments of their main musical projects.

In 2015, Charlie moved into teaching music after she was approached by a Sheffield-based music school. After spending over half her life on stage, she decided to help others realise their dreams in performing and initially became a vocal coach teaching privately and one-to-one lessons in schools as well as group workshops. She also gained experience over the years helping young people with special needs access music as a therapeutic activity, before opening up her own music school in 2018. Charlie said of her teaching work: “I love seeing achieve their goals through music. It’s one of the best feelings. Whether people come to learn for pure enjoyment or to further their studies and careers, it is wonderful to watch and help people grow.”

It wasn't long before Charlie was called back to support her old friends Smokie once again on their 2018 UK tour, held throughout March that year. She joined the band for a total of five tour dates around England, Scotland and Wales, playing Venue Cymru Llandudno, Victoria Theatre Halifax, The Ironworks Inverness, The Convention Centre Southport and The Barbican in York. She was invited back to a special, one-off performance later in the year with Smokie at Grassington Festival, which made up her 2018 dates with the band.

As of 2018/ 2019 she continues her performance work both as an acoustic artist and also working on an 80s music show called Electric Dreams, named after the Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey song Together In Electric Dreams.

Photography Career

Charlie studied photography at the Sheffield College in 2011 and founded her photography business shortly, after graduating from her undergraduate degree at Sheffield Hallam University. Throughout her life she had been a keen amateur photographer and further developed her skills whilst studying for her BA Honours degree, learning to capture visuals to accompany her written journalistic work. This lead to working as a freelance photographer for many years specialising in commercial, portraits, wedding and event photography. She opened her own photography studio, Apple Tree Hill in 2015.

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