Charlie Shafter Band
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Charlie Shafter Band

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Band Rock Folk

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""17th & Chicago" a welcome red-dirt surprise"

When Charlie Shafter sings the line "I was walking down the street with Jesus and James Dean," on the song "Jesus and James Dean" from the Charlie Shafter Band's new album "17th and Chicago," one almost gets a mental image of the three of them walking, talking, maybe even arguing.

What young Shafter does best is paint a picture in your mind. His brushes? Snappy drums, picked and strummed acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional Hammond B3 organ. The paint are the descriptive lyrics and the passion in his voice.

This Illinois native, now living in Lubbock, Texas, offers listeners an engaging assortment of folk-rock music that has enough country elements to attract the Texas and Red Dirt music fans.

But then there's that sensitive singer-songwriter type sound that comes through, particularly on songs like "Tall Tale," which has already done well on alternative country radio.

And while that was selected as a single, there are far better songs here, including the sweet, folky song "Lately (When You Still Believed in Unicorns)" with it's tasteful accordion and Shafter's low-key vocal delivery. Charming.

Shafter reminds me of Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows when he performs the appealing folk-pop of "California."

All in all, Shafter and his crew came as a complete and total surprise for this Red Dirt fan. But that's great, because we've got a big tent and we love authenticity. The Charlie Shafter Band has that in spades.

Rating: A-

- The Norman Transcript


Discography

Charlie Shafter Band - "17th & Chicago" - 2007
Charlie Shafter Band - "Orange" - 2005

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Bio

The Charlie Shafter Band is an eclectic mix of troubadours; a breath of fresh air in this polluted world of music. They bring to the table a mix of rock, blues, funk, and something new; yet to be a classified genre. Charlie Shafter (guitar, vocals) has a soulful, but heart piercing voice that can bring the strongest of men to his knees. He is backed by an energetic group of well refined musicians consisting of Joel Dreistadt (Drums), Clayton Freeman (Bass), and Adam Cline (Guitar). They have been performing now for three years and have spread joy in every town they pass through. They just released their second album "17th and Chicago", which is packed with soul searching songs and heart warming tales. The record was produced by the very talented Billy Harvey (Bob Schneider, Steve Poltz, Trish Murphy) in Austin, TX.

For more information, please visit www.charlieshafterband.com or
www.myspace.com/thecharlieshafterband.com