Charlie Petitt is a singer-songwriter from Janesville, Wisconsin. He performs regularly at the Open Mic Night held twice monthly at Mocha Moment, a coffeehouse on Janesville’s south side. In addition, he plays keyboard for the Riverside Ramblers, who perform locally at nursing homes and sheltered workshops. He also plays once a month at Rock Haven nursing home with a church group.
What about Charlie’s musical style? Well, he has been described as a “folk crooner,” and that is probably as good a description as any. His vocal style combines the warmth of Andy Williams with the smoothness of Jim Reeves (although Jim wasn’t a tenor), but the spin he puts into some of his lyrics is his own personal trademark: they can be anything from sweetly poetic to fairly blunt, and sometimes they’re funny!
Charlie’s repertoire includes love songs, songs about life, hymns and gospel songs, and a few silly songs. Though most of his music would be considered folk, he manages to blend it with some country, a bit of rock, a splash of jazz, even a few hints of classical.
Charlie has always been a lover of music. He began writing music at a very early age. He has written numerous songs of various styles and genres. He grew up listening to old-time country music with his parents. Charlie was also active in church choirs. His appreciation for music was influenced by stars like Marty Robbins and Jim Reeves, as well as traditional church hymns. Years of listening to singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot and Carly Simon, and crooners like Andy Williams (and more recently, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé), added new flavor to his writing style.
In college, Charlie sang in a men’s choral group which toured all over the central and southern U.S.
In 2005, Charlie wrote “He’s Not Here” especially for the Easter Celebration service at his local church. It went over so well that Charlie was told by several people that he should create his own CD. So, in short — he did!
“Singing to a group of people always gives me a thrill, so I would like to do more of it,” says Charlie. His goal is to share his musical messages with as many people as possible through live concerts, CD sales and the Internet.