Charlie A'Court

Combine a rich, rhythm & blues upbringing with soulful, adult-contemporary song writing and you have the foundation for one of Canada’s brightest new stars. East Coast Music Award winner, Charlie A’Court has emerged as an emotionally charged and soul moving performer. His music and the passion in his voice stir up the listeners’ emotions, touching the very core of audiences around the world.

His rise from rural MacCallum Settlement, Nova Scotia, to the world stage has been a remarkable journey. As a child, Charlie was always drawn to the sounds of his father playing 12-string guitar. Charlie started learning to play guitar when he was 12 and by the time he was 14, Charlie began taking classical guitar lessons. For the next two years, Charlie devoted himself to his classical studies and it was during this time that he discovered his father’s record collection. It was this collection of music that introduced the impressionable, young guitar student to the masterful sounds of B.B. King, Bad Company, Eric Clapton, Long John Baldry and a new world of music. Rock & roll and blues music was taking hold. Charlie would rush home from school everyday, locking himself in his bedroom for hours with his guitar and those classic albums, trying to play those different sounds, mimicking those legends who had now become his mentors.

After having toured extensively over the last three years, A’Court has returned to the studio to capture his latest collection of works. Partnered with acclaimed producer Danny Greenspoon (Great Big Sea, Bruce Guthro, Sophie Milman) A’Court is poised to release his follow-up studio album, Bring On The Storm. The new album spans the gamut of emotion, dealing with triumph and disaster, loss of loved ones, mental health and chronic physical pain, and being head over heals in love. The album also pays homage to life on the road as well as containing tracks that are tributes to two of Charlie’s influences, Otis Redding and Willie Nelson.

A’Court has toured extensively throughout Canada and abroad. With headlining performances at the Stan Rogers’ Folk Fest, Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, Kerrville Folk Fest, Ottawa Blues Fest, A’Court has also opened for high profile artists including John Reischman & the Jaybirds, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Harry Manx, Colin James, Mick Taylor, and Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd. A’Court has also launched his international career, releasing Bring On The Storm and Color Me Gone in Europe. With several successful tours, opening for Australian slide-guitar legend Dave Hole, Sugar Blue (former harmonica play for the Rolling Stones), and legendary British r&b/rock group, Procol Harum, A’Court now regularly returns to Europe as a headliner, establishing himself as a world player.

The first radio single from Bring On The Storm is Big Dark Canyon, the rock-infused collaboration between A’Court and song-writer/multi-instrumentalist, J.P. Cormier. This cleverly written song paints the picture of three different characters collectively and symbolically finding themselves driven to the edge, desperately seeking the return of innocence from times gone by. This soul story was born from a songwriter’s retreat held at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival where A’Court and Cormier wrote the song in an afternoon and were required to perform it that evening for a large audience.

Charlie’s modern blues style, mixed with his contemporary songwriting has created a mass appeal, enabling A’Court’s material to be widely accepted as a festival favorite by audiences and promoters alike. Fueled by emotion and a desire for delivering powerful music, Charlie A’Court is undoubtedly one of Canada’s new generation of fresh singer/songwriters, attracting fans internationally with gutsy vocals and his colourful yet solid guitar playing.