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   When I hear a song just a few times and wake up with it in my head, I know I really like it (or it’s from one of my children’s damn kid shows..).  Such is the case with the opening cut Bottletops on the debut cd by Charlie Faye.  Her musical career began in her hometown of New York where she fronted a band called The Jerks, and toured entertaining children in Dan Zanes band.  Charlie moved to Austin a few years ago seeking inspiration and a sense of community, which is exactly what she found and threw herself into. She ended up on Wilson Street, an area long called home by Austin musicians in the neighborhood’s small affordable cottages.  The neighborhood was to be destroyed by a developer, but they hadn’t counted on a fight from new resident Charlie Faye, who devised a plan to relocate the cottages instead. The “cottages” even have their own MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/wilsonstreetcottages!

Now to the music.  Most of the tunes are upbeat catchy americana tunes. Charlie is one of those singers who has that unidentifiable something extra in their voice; some kind of “secret ingredient” that certain singers, such as Natalie Merchant have that others don’t.  Charlie wrote many of the tunes on the disc at her Wilson Street cottage on an old Gibson guitar.  While certainly a tough cookie, some of the tunes show a softer, more vulnerable side, as on the beautiful soft acoustic closer Ready To Fall:

            Time and time again I’m laying on some lover’s arms
            Saying we’re just friends, while I’m counting all your charms

Along with many guests, including Gurf Morlix, Charlie is backed on the disc by Will Sexton bass and guitars, David Holt on guitar and Rick Richards on drums.  She plans a rather unorthodox tour in 2010, choosing to travel to 10 cities in 10 months and not only play in those cities, but live there for a short time and putting together a local band to play a show with at the end  of every month for those she’s befriended onthe way. It is difficult to be fresh and unconventional in today’s world.  Somehow Charlie Faye has found a way to be both!

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