Press — Charlie Rauh

Reviews/FEATURES

“Nature’s push and pull are all over Rauh’s playing, which centers around a measured, intimate, fingerpicked style that is truly his own.”

— Premier Guitar

‘“Theoria,” derived from the Greek word meaning “to gaze at, to contemplate with the eyes or with the mind,” mirrors its namesake in providing a window into the shared experiences of humans and animals. Rauh beautifully crafts a sonic tapestry that invites listeners to contemplate the ways in which wellness and empathy intersect at their core.’

— Musikepool

“Tones that emanate healing and calm for souls in need. “Theoria” aligns the vibrations of the heart.”

— Roadie Music

“This exquisite compilation of lullabies, crafted for acoustic guitar, voice, and sound design, is a tribute to the exceptional poet Phillis Wheatley. The album commemorates Wheatley's groundbreaking achievement as the first published African-American writer, a remarkable feat that occurred 250 years ago. Rauh's captivating melodies, coupled with the album's rich tapestry of influences, take the listeners on an unforgettable musical journey blending plainchant, baroque, Appalachian folk, and R&B.”

— EARMILK

“A Hymn To The Morning is not his initial voyage into this music-literature dialogue, but rather the next lesson in a series of masterclasses on what the craft of music can take from the toolboxes of literature. He turns the poetic mode of ekphrasis—poems about art—on its head, showing us that music can go beyond mere citation of or homage to writers, titles, and phrases.”

— The Museum Of Americana : A Literary Review

“Rauh proved himself with this EP to be a pioneer in his field as a guitarist and composer.”

— Sistra

“A charming set which is as likely to appeal to scholars of Americana as to the jazz cognoscenti, Local Folklore draws considerable strength from the artists’ close rapport and unshakeable commitment to understated virtuosity.”

— Jazz Journal

“Local Folklore is a rare album, one that tells stories of people and places with beautiful music that, like soulful echoes of memory, ring in the mind long after the last note is played.”

— Monarch Magazine

“With this recording, Rauh reminds us what a visionary artist he is. His guitar-playing is buoyed by a rare intelligence, almost as though he’s using the instrument to annotate the poetic texts that are so close to his mind and heart. He’s a musician for whom disciplinary and genre distinctions among poetry, classical composition, and song don’t hold up.”

— The Museum Of Americana : A Literary Review

“While some composers rely on digitally generated sounds, VSTs, and plugins, it seems that Charlie still loves the authentic warmth of instruments that are actually performed by other players. This is something that cannot be emulated, because the chemistry between musicians is definitely a rare commodity in this day and age. Charlie’s record is not only a great example of his skills as a composer, but also as a purveyor of amazing sounding records with a timeless attitude.”

— Ink 19

“I love everything about this project. The line from the Bronte siblings to the Rauh siblings; the spiraling out of vision and collaboration; the leaping from one art form to another and back again. In a time of enduring disconnection, when all of us are suffering one kind of loss or another, when even those of us who have stayed well and mostly whole are beginning to fray…. Well. We can still make beautiful things. And share in the joy of it."

— Waterwheel Review

“Words fall short, comparisons are useless. Both musicians come together to form a true musical landscape in “From The Ruins”. A landscape set in a mysterious place, far from the busyness of life and urban noise. They take advantage of the silence and the taciturn moments embodied by each of their instruments with great elegance.”

— Indie Criollo

“The nine tracks {of The Bluebell} create a series of modern lullabies, full of gentle pleasures which are both relaxing and stirring. As in the Brontë poetry which inspired the album, these are vignettes which make you think, so that the pauses and silences are as important as the notes you hear played.”

— AnneBronte.Org

“Recorded in the very home where he learned the instrument, The Bluebell is more than a collection of miniatures (each track averages about a minute and half) inspired by poetry. Rather, they are devotionals bound by the metaphysical leather of tribute, meditation, and emotional transference.”

— Between Sound and Space : ECM Records and Beyond

“The Bluebell emerges as thoughtful, pensive, and reverent interpretations of the sisters’ poems. Rauh studied the work of the Brontës, carefully choosing the selections that suited the intention of the project.”

— Post-Punk.com

“Charlie Rauh plays guitar with a quiet intensity, each note and chord ringing with purpose. With these lullabies Rauh gives a gentle reminder that playing soft and slow can be more impactful than loud and fast.”

— Acoustic Guitar Magazine

“Close your eyes as you listen to the first track, “The Bluebell”, based on Anne’s poem, and tell me you’re not instantly transported to the beautiful Yorkshire moors, a place synonymous with Emily and Anne in particular. To me, it’s a simple piece full of ideas of reflection, the joys of the past, and a sense of wonder at what the future will hold. It’s hauntingly, achingly relevant to 2020.”

— Brontë Babe Blog

“Rauh sets out to bring his own sensibility to his songwriting, often experimenting with a wide range of sounds and a refreshing iconoclastic approach. As a result, Rauh's style is always engaging and hard to categorize according to usual genre definitions and aesthetics. “

— All About Jazz

“Rauh is a masterful guitarist, who knows how to load each note he plays with a lot of emotional intensity. His innovative guitar style reminds of iconic artists such as Bill Frisell, as well as Julian Lage, Nels Cline, and Dominic Miller, only to mention but a few.”

— JazzCorner

“Two of the finest guitarists in the land collaborating on some of the most finely honed original compositions you will hear this year (or any other year, for that matter)”

— Contemporary Fusion Reviews

“Rauh shows that he is a skilled and inspiring musician who also possesses a very personal and starry guitar tone that allows no one to be left untouched. It is a phenomenal solo debut and it will be exciting to follow the continuation."

— Orkesterjournalen

“Rauh is a true virtuoso and as such expresses a musicality that transcends the exceptional technique, which he surely has, putting it at the service of intimate, moving and dreamy music, in which every single note played by his guitar shows an innovative and contemporary vision. Highly recommended, one of the best records of 2017"

— Neuguitars

“Two things in short supply in the modern guitar world are melody and brevity. Rauh’s solo performances of his original compositions here supply both, with many tunes running well under two minutes and melodies that will break your heart. "

— Guitar Moderne

“These quiet tunes dust off a few neglected shelves of the human soul, and from them pull down vials filled with brightness."

— All About Jazz

“Using different influences with each song is a little complicated, but Rauh is highly successful in doing so. Making the record has allowed Rauh to explore his artistic ideas and incorporate it into his music. Expressing gratitude to his inspirations and environment has given him the ability of making beautiful and expressive music. Viriditas is very personal but an album that everyone can relate to."

—No Depression

“Maybe it’s just encoded in the DNA of guitarists, that, one day, they’ll take their guitar out to the middle of nowhere and record a solo session of introverted pieces. It’s a romantic conceit, attempting to create some serenity while at the same time be immersed in a thick pocket of it. Charlie Rauh makes good use of his go-around. These quiet tunes have tons of feel, resonating strong from the gentlest of expressions."

— Bird Is The Worm

“There is an introspective element that sets the music apart, with spacious sound-staging focusing on the crystalline guitar sound. The atmospheric mood sustains us throughout. There is beauty here, great beauty."

— Grego Applegate Edwards(Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog)

“I do not know if it’s meaning should be grasped; if it is not better to listen to the harmonious orbit of the guitar with the ears of an innocent life. I do know that making this record was a beautiful thing to do, and in having done so the listener is reminded that loss itself is not senseless, it is our attempting to deny it’s inevitability that makes it so."

— Valerie Kuehne (TheSuperCoda music Blog)

“I wonder what Rauh hears, what are his intentions? His music reminds me of driving home, late on a summer night, windows down, music off, totally spaced out and totally tuned in. It’s peaceful but solitary. I don’t know how I could bring people into such an experience."

— Mike Faloon (Go Metric Blog)

INTERVIEWS

“Instead of building my creative identity on technique, I dedicated my time (and still do) to the development of technique built on the foundation of my creative identity. The goal is not to master every style of playing with impeccable technique. The goal is to continuously nourish my creative voice by developing a technical approach which allows me to weave in and out of any musical scenario I choose to.”

— Voyage LA

“Q: In the album’s description, you mention creating music that serves both doctors and patients. Could you elaborate on how you aimed to achieve this dual purpose through your music?

A: This music was created specifically to be familiar and wondrous. Familiar in comfort, patience, and calm. Wondrous in curiosity, uncertainty, and trust. To make music for humans and animals, I believe it’s essential to lean into the unknown. In her book, “The Sense of Wonder”, Rachel Carson writes : “It is not half as important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow.” I kept this in mind when creating this music. I wanted to provide a music that is equal parts a reminder and a gift.”

— Beach House

“Trust is a precious commodity in any relationship, because it must be earned. Which is why Charlie Rauh is awed by the high level of trust between clinicians and their animal patients in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. So, Rauh didn't take it lightly when those same clinicians patients instilled their trust in him.”

— The Advocate

“Growing up in the South exposed me to space. I never lived in a rural area or anything like that, but the amount of open space in that part of the country has a sound. There’s a simplicity to open fields, mountains, long highways. That’s a sound that will always be part of me and my music. I love to visit my friends around the South, and always enjoy going back – but I do prefer the pace and action of NYC as a home base.”

— York Calling

“When Rauh received his Collings Parlor 1—with its Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, satin finish, and La Bella silk-and-steel strings—he first played selections from The Bluebell and was immediately blown away by how the instrument turned out.”

— Acoustic Guitar

“With its roots in folk songs, lullabies, literature, and hymns, Charlie Rauh’s music feels familiar, yet rare. Spacious and strikingly intimate. To an observer, he moves effortlessly between an array of musical spaces, from studio sessions and outdoor chamber music performances to collaborative records and solo acoustic guitar compositions.”

— Kitchen Music

“I am greatly inspired by Anne’s understanding that there is no value in performative strength. Rather, true strength is rooted in faith. I chose to title the EP “The Silent Current From Within” after the line in the poem : “Yet powerless to quell/The silent current from within/The outward torrent’s swell”. For me, this resonates as the acknowledgement that stoic persistence rooted in the self will always disintegrate into a cry for help. Unless the self is protected by something indestructible and eternal.”

— The Sisters’ Room : A Brontë Inspired Blog

“ CS Lewis once wrote that “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” The fundamental role that art plays in our existence is rooted in relation. The ache for purpose is intrinsic in the creating of art, and the action of art is one of extension in the most intimate of ways. Without art, the world would continue. But it's the invitation to wonder that inspires humanity to reach for greater heights, and that is what art provides.”

— Prepared Guitar Blog

“My father is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and inspired me to learn guitar as a teenager. I grew up playing music in church and before I played, singing hymns with my family.”

— No Depression

“I was very lucky to discover Charlie through the Brontë Society. I think his music will appeal to those of you who love The Brontës, as well as those who love poetry, creativity and well, just beautiful music.”

— Write On Ejaleigh!

“As a great admirer of Emily and Anne Brontë's poems, I try to structure my music as their poems : brief, impactful, endearing, personal, memorable.”

— JazzCorner

“With my playing I try to be concise, curious, and driven by intent. I hope to offer music that engages listeners and extends an invitation to wonder."

— Museum of Americana : A Literary Review

“I am deeply influenced by early music, particularly plainchant and the lullabies/folk music / sacred music of America and Europe. In a lot of ways my harmonic choices are my take on a combination of Appalachian, medieval, and lullaby songs."

— JazzBluesNews

“Viriditas is a word Hildegard used often in her writing. It translates to “greenness” and contextually could be understood to describe evidence of divine grace as seen in the natural world. I love her use of it, and immediately connected her intention with my music."

— Neuguitars

“Much modern guitar focuses on atonality and noise. More rare is the forward thinking guitarist whose approach leans towards the seductive rather than the assaultive. Though fully capable of aggressive sonic forays, Charlie Rauh’s music lives largely in a contemplative realm. Echoes of Frisell-ian pastoralism can be heard, but Rauh resembles him only in a similar rootedness and a focus on beautiful tone—he is his own man."

— Guitar Moderne

“For me the triggering of new ideas has to come from new experiences, so I particularly love to travel with my music. During those times I write the music I am most proud of."

— Fifteen Questions Interview with Charlie Rauh
A Small World

“We can say whatever we want or keep on bitchin' about social medias, but one sure thing is that it always makes me discover new awesome musicians. Charlie Rauh is one of them. We finally met last august in Liège, Belgium. Small guitar, small amp, Charlie is a modern troubadour, playing everywhere with nearly everyone, always with his own unique approach that I would put between Susan Alcorn, Bill Frisell and Hildegard von Bingen. "

— TOWARDS ELECTRICITY