CHARLIE HORSE BIO

Hailing mostly from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Charliehorse is pretty good little honky tonk outfit blending elements of bluegrass, southern rock, New Orleans funk and country. A true Ozarks outfit to be sure. The history of the Charlie Horse band is short and sweet but the boys that make it up have definitely walked many miles to "get to the gig" you might say. They got their start the same way that many bands do, the chance meeting of soon to be friends who wanted to play some great tunes for their friends and get free drinks while they did it. Longtime Fayetteville friends Cody Russell (Boston Mtn Boys) and Stacy Liles (Jupiter Hollow, Eckobase) had been doing their share of front porch and campfire rehearsals around town and it was during that time that they made the acquaintance of Ben Wardlaw from Mac County in SW Missouri. He had just moved back to town from the west with a great voice and a head full of songs so the 3 started learning each others tunes and playing shows around town. The guys thought the name Charliehorse was the perfect fit for their good time approach to making music. So it began as a paired down acoustic project with Ben on guitar and vocals, Stacy on bass and Cody playing lap steel, dobro, guitar and banjo. They had started to build a sound from well worn roots tradition while eyeballing a more "eclectic electric" sound off in the distance. With that idea in mind they found veteran drummer David Bright (Randy Rouch/Mothership/Egotrip) to drive that "honka-delic" country sound that they were looking for . David had just returned from spending some years in New Orleans, making his rounds on the Crescent City gig scene. While living in New Orleans, Dave had befriended and played music with guitarist/vocalist Brad Helms, eventually inviting him up to check out the scene around Fayetteville. He dug it. In 2005, after hurricane Katrina, Brad decided to move to Fayetteville and found that there was a place in the band for him. So with its current roster in place, the band has meet with some great success and appreciation for the music all in less than a year's time. They have headlined shows at the legendary Chester's™ Place in Fayetteville and played to the region in Ft. Smith, Little Rock, Eureka Springs, and Springfield. The band has also had the honor of sharing the stage with many great bands:

Cross Canadian Ragweed * Levon Helm and the Barnburners * The Stragglers * Bastard Sons of JC * Shooter Jennings * Fred Eaglesmith * The Avett Brothers * John D Hale

The have been featured at many festivals including:
The Great Unknown Festival 2003
Wakarusa Festival 2004

Charliehorse play stuff from the greats like The Band, Steve Earle, Lucinda, Cash, Burrito Bros and sneak in a few of their own in there for good measure. Charliehorse brings a great driving sound with a jamming sensibility to the more structure approach of traditional country and bluegrass.