About
Who's Behind CharlieFest West Michigan... and Why?
Hi everyone, I'm Charlie Cheney and I'm the guy who came up with the idea of hosting a songwriter festival in Fremont Michigan, and I'm the primary driving force making it happen... but I can't take all the credit!
First of all, even though he's not directly involved with CharlieFest (this year anyway, lol), the major nod of inspiration must go to pAt mAcdonald and his amazing Steel Bridge SongFest, which is the first event of this sort that I ever attended and is by far the best festival in the Midwest, you simply must go every year. The 2nd Week In June, get up to Sturgeon Bay!
Secondly I'd like to give a big tip of the cap to Burr Settles and his fantastic online songwriters challenge February Album Writing Month which is absolutely the coolest online songwriter event and songwriter community I've ever seen, it's so awesome. Go there, discover the joy of writing 14 Songs in 28 Days, and become family. :-)
It also takes tons of people to make something like this happen and I don't want you to think I could possibly do this on my own. Special thanks go out to YMCA Camp Echo, The Fremont Chamber of Commerce, the local venues and businesses, The City of Fremont, Dusty Mason, Steve Hamilton, Chip Dodsworth, and dozens of others who are helping make this a success.
Over the past 10 years I've been a touring musician and I've gotten fairly well-known around the world from the software I make for musicians called Indie Band Manager. This software has been purchased by over 3000 musicians in 20 countries... so I've met and befriended a lot of musicians over the years. I've also been involved with a lot of festivals and conferences. I'm utilizing all of my experience and accumulated skills to take on the enormous task of mounting this festival. I love big challenges like this.
Creating and marketing the Indie Band Manager software also showed me that helping others is the most fulfilling thing in the world for me... I've never been more fulfilled or satisfied with my job as I am now. It occurred to me that hosting this songwriter festival could help a lot of people as well (especially locally). I quietly hosted the first one in September 2007 to see if we could pull it off and it exceeded all my expectations. This year we're making some changes so it can be a little bigger. Hopefully next year we'll grow a little more too. If we keep taking small steps forward... I know one day we'll look back and see we've come a long way. :-)
I have three goals for this festival...
First, I want to bring a wonderful annual cultural event to Fremont, with songwriters, musicians, and artists from all over the country. I want to help it grow each year and bring joy to my neighbors.
Second, I want to do anything I can to help the local Fremont community and economy, and producing this festival feels like it could bring people to Fremont to see what a great town it is, what great recreational resources we have here, what a great community we've built.
Third, I want to help songwriters... I love the art of songwriting, I love the craft of it, the structure (particularly the act of writing songs collaboratively)... I love sharing music with others... and love it when others share their music with me.
Those three goals are what drive me.
In the past few years I've had the incredible fortune to be involved with the Steel Bridge SongFest, the St. John SongFest in the Virgin Islands, February Album Writing Month's 14 Songs in 28 Days challenge, and the 50 Songs in 90 Days Challenge. All of these festivals and the wonderful people I've met and befriended during each fest have inspired me to organize CharlieFest West Michigan. Songs I've written and recorded during the festivals above have been included on 4 recent compilation CDs, with three more slated for future CD releases. I want to help other songwriters feel the same sense of elation and joy that I'm feeling lately from songwriting and performing, come join us!
Looking forward to meeting you in person to share a laugh, a smile, a meal, and some music the weekend of Sept 17-21, 2010 here in Fremont Michigan. Much love to all.
-Charlie