Baker

Born and raised in the Mississippi river town of Quincy, Illinois, Baker began performing as a singer/songwriter in his early teens and spent several years performing with rock bands in night clubs and bars. In the mid-90's, he recorded and released an album for an Illinois-based independent label. The album was a regional success -- several songs received attention from radio -- generating airplay on over a dozen large and small radio stations across the Midwest. As a result, Baker was invited to perform on numerous television and radio shows and had the opportunity to share the stage with artists such as Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw, REO Speedwagon, Warren Zevon, Waylon Jennings and Randy Newman. One of the songs on this album, The Great River, was featured in a PBS documentary, as well as several different video documentaries about the Misssissippi river and was also used heavily in media coverage of the floods in the Midwest. Baker has performed live on more than 20 regional radio and television stations including major markets such as Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles. Fascinated by the Nashville songwriting industry, Baker moved to Music City in 1998. After spending several years playing writers nights with his acoustic guitar, he found himself feeling restricted by the creative boundaries on country songwriting. Assembling some like-minded friends, he formed a four piece rock band which served as a creative shot in the arm. Revitalized, he wrote several new songs and the band began playing live in 2003. Firmly back to his roots, Baker released a 5-song EP produced by the legendary Ben Keith, whose production credits include Neil Young's GRAMMY nominated Harvest Moon and Jewel's mega-platinum debut album. Keith, who has played with Neil Young for over thirty years, was drawn to Charlie's unique blend of rootsy rock. While finding his niche in Nashville, Baker also collected some impressive acting credits, including spending 63 days on the set of the film The Last Castle, where he can be seen in scenes with Robert Redford, James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo, and acting in a music video for Lil' Wayne. With the release of a new full-length album, simply titled Baker, he has found his true voice. Recorded in California with Engineer/Producer Andy Ackland (Eagles/Meatloaf/Eric Clapton/Willie Nelson), Baker includes appearances by some of California's top musicians including Anthony Crawford (Neil Young/Dwight Yokam/Vince Gill) on steel guitar and David Leach (Blues Traveler/Jack Johnson/Dave Matthews Band) on percussion. Background vocals were provided by Beverley Staunton (James Taylor/Nelly Furtado/Michael Buble), currently a featured vocalist on ABC's Emmy nominated quot;Dancing With The Starsquot; and vocal group Venice (Michael McDonald/Don Henley/Phil Collins).

Baker