Charles Nesbitt was born on February 19, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his musical journey at a very early age. His mother says that when he was a toddler that he loved listening to records and tried to sing along whenever he heard music. He began taking piano lessons at age five and continued to up until age nine. All the while he was singing in the youth choir at his church. At age 11, he picked up the trumpet and played it for seven years, don't sleep either, he can still play it. In middle school, Charles went back to piano lessons for three years. It was during this time, in middle school, that Charles found his true voice, the drums. He began playing drums at age 13, and began lessons with Jack Bell, who was, at that time, the principal percussionist with the Atlanta Symphony. His first musical experience as a drummer, came in the form of the Metro Atlanta Youth Jazz ensemble, under the direction of Joe Jennings, a Jazz professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. Charles played with this group from 1993 - 1996. He also spent plenty of time playing with great musicians at his church. In 1998, Charles began the most important portion of his musical career. He began his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Charles took lessons from Dave Cowan, and from Jackie Santos, whom Charles holds as his most influential teacher at Berklee. Charles also studied with John Ramsey, Casey Scheuerell, Skip Hadden, and Rick Considine. During this time Charles played for a brief stint with the Mike Willis Band, now known as the Escape Artists. His next project was with a short-lived band known as Kushion. Which is the audio clip that is on the page. In 2002, Charles auditioned and got the drum chair for a show called Beboperella. This show was fronted by legendary singer Patti Austin. Beboperella did dates across the country off and on until 2004. However, Charles still enjoyed the opportunity to play with Patti Austin and various symphonies and big bands, into 2005. After graduating from Berklee cum laude in 2003, Charles moved back home to Atlanta. He did another stint with the Mike Willis Band, now known as the Escape Artists, and as previously stated, continued to tour with Patti Austin. Upon his arrival home, Charles began working at his church as the musical director for the Sunday 8:00 am worship service. He also began writing songs. Quite a few of which were sung by his church choirs. Two of these songs wound up on his church's, Providence Baptist Church, College Park, GA, 2005 release I Do Worship. In March of 2005, Charles was invited to audition for a house band gig in Myrtle Beach, SC. He got the job and is now living in Myrtle Beach, SC playing nightly at the Jasmine Supper Club with the band J360. J360 will be moving on from the Jasmine Supper club in January 2006. He will be forming a new band along with Vince Peeples, the premier guitarist in Myrtle Beach, called Painted Man. Be on the lookout for them. They are going to be the real deal.
