 There are two places Maverick singing, songwriting, storytelling Texan Charlie Robison is most comfortable: his family ranch in Bandera deep in the Texas hill country and on any stage performing his raucous, cross-cut brand of rockin', stompin' country with an in-your-face orneriness that has both set him apart from the crowd and made him something of a lightning rod. And one of his favorite haunts is the famed Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, where he and his tight band The Enablers camped out for two nights recently to record Charlie Robison Live. Country music fans today swear it is one of the best live CDs ever recorded Born and raised in Bandera, Texas in a ranching family that's worked the same stretch of real estate since the 1840s, Robison spent his time growing up on a full plate of time-honored Lone Star endeavors--working the ranch, playing football, singing country songs and raising his fair share of hell. Embracing elements of such mavericks as Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Doug Sahm, John Prine, Guy Clark, Robert Earl Keen and even Bruce Springsteen, Robison keeps it all real with a heartland/populist approach that blends his natural gifts as a storyteller with a genuine affection for high-steppin' honky tonk and a rocker's instinct to rattle the cage. And if he surrenders now and then to an impulse to poke a little fun with the stuffed shirts on Music Row, well, ya wouldn't want the boy to hold that sort of poison inside him, would you?
Charlie's shoot-from-the-hip tendencies may have occasionally dipped him in some hot water, but the upshot is that audiences recognize and respond to his refreshing candor. This honest, "what you see is what you get" stance has helped him to become a true "crossover" entertainer who's been welcomed on The Grand Ole Opry, "Austin City Limits," "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborne".
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