Drinking With Charlie’s Intoxicating Rock Revival
by Tim Wenger
Drinking With Charlie is a name that can be taken many ways, just ask any of the five eccentric players that make up the group. Their music can also be portrayed in a number of ways, perhaps most commonly as a sort of classic rock revival. These kids are college-aged, but playing the music their families grew them up on. In addition to an interactive, danceable live set, Drinking With Charlie is working towards having their recorded music available at all major online retailers. Drinking With Charlie is-
Jack Ryder- Guitar/Vocals
Shane Smith- Bass/Vocals
Leah McDermott- Keyboard
Zachary Goplen- Guitar/Vocals
Alec Vasquez- Drums
CMB: So what do you drink with Charlie?
SS: Pretty much anything we can get our hands on.
LM: We’re mostly whiskey people. . .
CMB: How did you get to be such good friends with Charlie?
SS: Well, it started out believing that Charles Manson is innocent (laughs). We had a joke running between us for a long time that we were the Manson family. We figured everybody didn’t want to hear Manson family and think we’re too weird.
CMB: How did you guys come together?
ZM: Me and Jack have been jamming since we were real little kids, when I was still taking guitar lessons.
JR: We met in what, 3rd Grade?
ZM: Yeah. I moved off to college and he met up with Shane here, and they formed this little jam sesh.
JR: Shane kind of invited me to live with him.
SS: I met Jack through Leah. She was like ‘I’ve got a guy that plays guitar and he’s pretty awesome.’ I was looking for a guitarist, I was going through a lot of crazy shit at the time. I went over there and jammed out to some Jack Johnson or something. We jammed for about a year and then we got a little more serious about it. Zach me Alec at work at Firehouse Subs. We started forming from there!
ZM: They came up to Fort Collins and jammed for me a little bit and it sounded I awesome. I told them, ‘You’re doing this show with me, you’re opening up this show with me.’ At first they were like, ‘Ahh, I don’t know.’ But they did it and they brought over 200 people on their very first show. After that I was like, ‘I have to be a part of this’ and that kind of completed the five-piece band.
CMB: When you’re riding in the van, what keeps you guys busy?
ZM: Listening to Disney songs.
LM: We’re Hakuna Matata people.
JR: What keeps us going along, from what I figured out, is we just kinda talk about the future. We talk about the band.
SS: And we joke with each other. We’re a family, we’ve known each other for so long. Even the name of the band was built on an inside joke between this close knit of friends. That’s what keeps us going.
CMB: So what are those future plans? What’s the goal here?
ALL: To play at Red Rocks!
LM: We started so small, our first goal was, let’s just get some equipment!
SS: We want to get out of Colorado once we get the fan base that we want here. We’re all in to starting a movement. Just trying to spread the Colorado music, the Colorado vibe. We stand for Colorado music.
LM: Bringing old school rock and roll back!
Online: facebook.com/drinkingwithcharlie
Category: Buzzworthy2
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Drinking with Charlie…one of the hottest up and comong bands that I’ve heard in a long time. These guys bring their own style of rock and let it explode on stage. The energy and passion they bring is incredible. They are so much fun to listen to. If you have never heard them, its time to do so and if you have, then you know what I’m talking about.Check out their next show at Hermans Hideaway, May 29th, You won’t be disapointed! Hope to see a packed house for Charlie and all of the other bands!!!