Meet Charlie Brown

Music and story have been lifelong passions of mine. I began seriously combining the two, weaving in story elements from my upbringing in rural Appalachia, when I arrived as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My musical endeavors were primarily conducted outside of my formal studies as a classical guitarist. I began performing original music with a youth ministry called Young Life my sophomore year and took my passion for music and story into video projects during my junior year where I directed the music for a student documentary called "Project Bucket." This project gave me the skill set necessary to cooperate with multinational corporations such as Google, The World Wildlife Fund, HP, and Sephora through a Singaporean agency called Villains. I graduated in the class of 2018 with a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance. My debut album, "The Ruling Grade" , was released in May of 2018.

- Portfolio -

The Ruling Grade

Here is a brief "get to know me" (albeit with a slant towards fundraising). This video was a key element of my Kickstarter campaign which successfully raised more than $12,500 for my debut full length record, "The Ruling Grade." I wrote, directed, and edited the video and recorded the music. My brother, Sam, is to thank for the beautiful cinematography. 

You can listen to "The Ruling Grade" on streaming services (Spotify is linked for your convenience)

Fundraising for "The Ruling Grade" allowed me to hire a team of 18 musicians, engineers, designers and artists, the vast majority of which are local to Durham, NC. The project spanned January-May, 2018.

Music Director - World Wildlife Fund Earth Hour

I composed, performed, mixed, and mastered the music for this project. This particular piece went through about ten iterations (fortunately, the beautiful thing about cooperating with Singaporean clients is productivity around the clock!!). This piece focused on organic growth and was written to mirror the growth of the Earth Hour movement through social networks.

Music Director - Google/Sephora Case Study

Here is another piece I worked on alongside Villains. The instrumentation and arrangement for this piece were inspired by the visual aesthetic of the Sephora storefront. I used arpeggiations in the background to convey a sense of organization and made use of clean electric guitar riffs to highlight a sleek and modern edge.

Music Director - Google/HP

Another project in conjunction with Villains. The client wanted to divert from the norm of the typical case study soundscape in an attempt to capture the attention of the audience. I used this blues/jazz inspired piece to keep things professional but fun. I had also been taking jazz guitar lessons at the time so it doubled as a fun exercise.

Music Director - Project Bucket

Project Bucket was my introduction into scoring. I undertook this project during my junior year at UNC-CH and worked with the director, Joseph Townsend, to develop the score. The documentary was screened at the Varsity Theatre on Franklin Street upon its completion.