Bobby Charles

Songwriting has been on my radar since my mom took my brother and I to see the local Jamboree when I was around 11. It was a combination of Rockabilly and old school country music played by local bands. I think this is the first time I saw live music played by people like me.

At the time I had saved up and bought a 'single' by a group called "Bill Haley and the Comets" ... I had heard it on mom and dad's radio and had to have it. Printed on the label was the name of the song - "See You Later Alligator" and underneath that was the name of the songwriter - Bobby Charles. It wouldn't be until much later that someone told me what a songwriter actually did.

I would eventually know him, do two paintings of him, and even sit in on one of his last recording sessions at Dockside studios near Lafayette .

As it unfolds, sometmes life has a strange sense of humor. I remember telling myself that songwriters are cool . After all, they just make stories up and then turn them into songs ... hmmmm. I wondered how they did that. Every record I bought after that (mostly singles) I would look to see the name of the songwriter on the label. I was fixated by this, even though I hadn't told myself I wanted to be one.

I began learning to play guitar at this point and subconciously began to analyze lyrics and song structure for patterns. This would eventually lead me to a situation that called for me to help cowrite a song for our band ... the Jades. After this point I told myself I was a songwriter, a bad one, but a songwriter none the less. I knew I would have to work to get better.