Charlie Winston

Although there seems to be a singer/songwriter on every corner nowadays, Charlie Winston is one of the few success stories to emerge from Cornwall. Although he’s now relocated to France and the majority of his success is based there, seeing him in concert has made me hope that he’ll start to tour further afield. I wasn’t very familiar with his music before I saw him in concert, but when you see an artist perform live and the next day own a lot of his music you know they’ve done something right.
He opened with Wild Ones which grabbed me from the first chord. Although I only knew one or two of his songs, it was good to hear the audience singing along to some of his popular tracks, and with the catchy hooks and choruses, I found it easy to pick up the gist of the music and join in. He was wonderful at interacting with the audience, saying phrases in French and joking around in English with the audience. He jumped down off the stage with his guitar and played part of his song acoustically immersed in the crowd. It was great to see how trusting he is of his fans, and everyone was extremely respectful. Another thing that drew me in, was the dancing from Charlie and his band whilst they were performing full out. The talent from every single performer on that stage was electric and their energy was contagious. After seeing him live, and buying his music, I can’t wait to go back for more.

Cornwall born indie folk musician Charlie Winston has done something many English musicians struggle to achieve, a consistent success in France. The French charts are famously unpredictable and varying yet three of Winston's albums have hit the top 10. Unfortunately he is more of an acquired taste when he returns home although there is a definite following and it is constantly growing with the release of each album.

He may be a folk musician yet onstage Charlie performs like a jazz aficionado with sharp suits and an animated stage persona. He is at home whether sauntering up and down stage with a mic in hand greeting his adoring fanbase or sat behind the piano performing emotive performances of 'Evening Comes' and 'Say Something'. The biggest cheers of the evening go to the introduction of 'Like A Hobo' yet Winston's music clearly has universal appeal as almost every track from a lengthy twenty song setlist is sang back by the enthusiastic crowd. They beckon him back onto stage for an encore which he happily obliges to, running out beaming for 'My Life as a Duck' 'Constant Sorrow' and 'Speak To Me'.

Charlie Winston is an artist more people should know. Being French,I have been familiar with his work for the last 10 years, but here in UK, he is back to square one (hence the title of his new album)
Amazing showman, Charlie captivates his audience and plays with them. A concert I absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone.