Charles Fitzgerald Robison (September 1, 1964 – September 10, 2023) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

Career

After a knee injury at Southwest Texas State University ended a potential football career, Charlie Robison came to Austin, Texas, in the late 1980s and had stints in the bands Chaparral, Millionaire Playboys, and Two Hoots and a Holler. He went solo with his album "Bandera" in 1996. He subsequently signed with Sony and released "Life of the Party" on Sony's subsidiary Lucky Dog Records. The album gave him three of his biggest hits including "My Hometown." His next release was a live disc called "Unleashed Live," which is credited to Charlie, brother Bruce, and Jack Ingram. He then signed with Columbia Records for "Step Right Up" and another live album. In 2003, Robison was a judge on the first season of the TV singing competition ''

Nashville Star ''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the l ...

''. Unhappy with the expectations and limitations of being a Nashville country artist, he moved to a smaller independent label, Dualtone, for ''Good Times'' in 2004, followed by extensive touring and newfound control over his career. Accordingly, his sound began to evolve away from mainstream/Nashville country and toward more Southern and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

influences. Five years after the release of "Good Times," Robison released ''Beautiful Day'' on June 23, 2009, on Dualtone. This was the first album he self-produced. Both albums featured several songs written by Nashville singer-songwriter Keith Gattis. His song "Good Times" was featured in the credits of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's original series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

'' in the first season's third episode. In 2009, he embarked on an East Coast tour with stops in Little Rock, Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Memphis to promote ''Beautiful Day''. Since then he has played primarily in Texas, with occasional shows in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Robison was known for playing

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

covers during his live shows. His live band included Mark Tokach (lead guitar), Abe Combest (drums), Zeke Benenate (bass) J.C. Burt (steel guitar) and Chris Valdez (road manager and additional guitar). Prior to Beautiful Day, his band was known as The Enablers, and included Keith Robinson (drums), Scott Esbeck (bass) and Travis Woodard (drums). Other notable members have included Kim Deschamps (pedal & lap steel, mandolin and guitar from 2000–2009), Kevin Carroll (guitar), Jason Bryl (bass), Chris Grady (bass), Louis Landry (keyboards and accordion), and Kris Brown (bass). His recordings have also featured special guests Lloyd Maines (who produced "Step Right Up" and "Good Times"), Rich Brotherton, Charlie Sexton, and Natalie Maines (duet on "The Wedding Song" and harmony vocals on "El Cerrito Place"). In September 2014, Robison opened Alamo Icehouse in San Antonio, Texas, with former Major League Baseball player

Brooks Kieschnick Michael Brooks Kieschnick (born June 6, 1972) is an American former professional baseball left fielder and pitcher. The only player to win the Dick Howser Trophy twice, he is a College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. He played in Major League Bas ...

. On September 24, 2018, Robison announced that due to complications from surgery, he was permanently unable to sing, and that he was officially retiring from stage and studio. Robison resumed his music career in 2022. He returned to Billy Bob's as part of his first tour since 2018, playing at the same venue where he first played in 1999.

Personal life and death

Robison's brother,

Bruce Robison Bruce Ben Robison (born June 11, 1966) is an American Texas country music singer-songwriter. Bruce and his brother, fellow singer-songwriter Charlie Robison, grew up in Bandera, Texas, near San Antonio. His self-titled debut album was released ...

, and his sister, Robyn Ludwick, are also singer-songwriters. Robison married Emily Erwin of the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...

at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in May 1999, with whom he had three children. The couple divorced in August 2008. He and his second wife had a son in February 2020. Robison died after suffering from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

and other complications at a

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, hospital on September 10, 2023, at the age of 59.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

Tributes

He appeared on ''Kindred Spirits: A tribute to Johnny Cash'', singing "Don't Take Your Guns to Town". In 2006, Charlie Robison performed "Wildman from Borneo" on the

Kinky Friedman Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and columnist for ''Texas Monthly'', who styled himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Roger ...

tribute ''"Why the hell not..." The songs of Kinky Friedman''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robison, Charlie 1964 births 2023 deaths American country singer-songwriters Judges in American reality television series Participants in American reality television series Country musicians from Texas Singers from Houston Dualtone Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Bandera, Texas