About Me
What do I bring to the party?... The party!
I make my living playing live music--usually famous cover songs but lately, I have been incorporating a lot of original songs as well. I perform mostly in restaurants and bars near the beach. If you come early, you may hear me play some mellow guitar music; the later it gets, the more upbeat the music! People regularly dance or sing along at my gigs. I also play private events like birthday parties, weddings, etc. (those are not listed on my calendar). If you are interested in live music for your party, please keep me in mind.
In addition to keeping my calendar filled, I am pursuing songwriting opportunities. I would love to place more songs in movies or TV shows, or have well-known artists record them.
MORE VIDEOS and MUSIC , list of COVER SONGS , PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE, etc. , are posted at EVYNCHARLES.COM .If you really must read more about me, see the "Official Bio" or "A Little Personal History" below!
Dear Evyn: Matt and I just got back from our honeymoon, and we just wanted to thank you so much for all you did for us at our wedding. Everyone gushed over your beautiful music for the wedding, and the processional song went perfectly. Your ability to improvise as needed was truly a blessing. I was so confident in your skills that I didn't have to worry at all about the music coming together during the morning preparations for the wedding.
What luck it was that we met. It all worked out so perfectly in the end.
Laura and Matt Sheehan
WEDDING
Evyn: Thanks so much for playing, you made the party!
In the past, most of the guests liked the better entertainers I hired but EVERYONE of all ages loved you. I received so many compliments about the music. You played soothing instrumental guitar music while we were having dinner in the backyard and later had everyone dancing inside the house, what a range!
I will definitely hire you again and recommend you to all my friends and clients.
Nel Stanley, Owner
SOPHISTICATED PARTIES EVENT PLANNING
On behalf of the National Cancer Survivors Day Committee, I would like to sincerely thank you for providing the wonderful musical entertainment at the Survivors Day event.
Your involvement helped to make our celebration a huge success. We hosted over 1,300 survivors, family and friends, volunteers and staff.
Thank you again for your willingness to help support City of Hope's National Cancer
Survivors Day and those who have experienced cancer.
Sincerely,
Linda Baginski, Event Chair
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER.
Just a quick note to say Thank You for the outstanding performance at MGM Plaza. The band was a pleasure to work with, your professionalism was a welcomed pleasure. We were all so impressed with the variety of music in your repertoire, your selections were perfect and everyone had a great time!
We look forward to working with you again at one of our future events.
Sincerely,
Kimberly D. Miles, Office Manager
TISHMANSPEYER PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Thanks again for playing the ribbon cutting opening party for Paciugo! We had a great time and your music was perfect for the party, you couldn't have picked a better playlist!
Love it! :)
Brittny Tacker, Owner
PACIUGO GELATO, HERMOSA BEACH, CA
Hello, Evyn, Just a note: wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed your music last night! You were incredible!!! Hard to imagine that just one guy can produce such a sound! Thanks for a great evening. Best,
Jen Jones, Customer
BULL PEN RESTAURANT, REDONDO BEACH, CA
I wanted to express my deep appreciation for your band's participation in our Museum of Contemporary Arts Contemporaries event last June at Abiquiu Restaurant.
As I have told you before, I thought the band was fantastic. We continue to have extremely positive feedback regarding that event, especially the band. You have had many compliments. A lot of people danced and everyone had a great time.
Please feel free to give my name as a reference for you in the future. I look forward to seeing you guys playing again soon.
Thank you again.
Alan Jacknow M.D., President
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, LOS ANGELES, CA
Evyn Charles has only been playing for us for a short time and he has already established a following.
I have been in the bar business for twenty years and I recognize a great performer. He gets my guests whistling, howling and singing, just great stuff!
Sincerely,
David Fisk, Manager
HENNESSEY'S TAVERN, REDONDO BEACH, CA
Thank you for your excellent contribution to our event. We wouldn't have had nearly as much fun without your talented trio!
Hugh Taylor, Planning Committee
ENCINO, CA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
I would like to share my wonderful experience of a very professional musician. He was scheduled to play one song at our wedding. At the last minute, the morning of the wedding, we had to ask Evyn to do the entire wedding ceremony. Not only was he able to fill in, but he did a very great job.
Many people complimented him directly or told us how well they enjoyed the music and his singing. He was very instrumental in giving us advice before, regarding the music for the ceremony. We were both very delighted that we had beautiful solos and music, which will be very memorable for the rest of our lives. His rendition of Now I Do rendered applause from our guests.
Thank you Evyn for a very memorable and beautiful event.
Rich and Grace Bordwell
WEDDING
Just wanted to let you know again how much we appreciated you and your band playing at our wedding. You were great, individually and collectively.
Heather and David Hanes
WEDDING
On behalf of all the staff and management of WebVision, Inc., I would like to express our most sincere appreciation for your performance at our recent company party.
A group of us happened to catch them in performance at a Redondo Beach club a few months ago. We stayed all night while Evan and the band graciously took our requests. These guys know hundreds of songs and sound fantastic! We knew this was the band we wanted for our event.
Our employees' families had been invited to the party so there were people of all ages, from older adults to children and teens. The band managed to entertain everyone, and get a bunch of computer programmers on the dance floor, now that's impressive!
In addition to being extremely talented, from a business standpoint, they proved to be very professional and easy to work with. We look forward to having the band perform at next year's company party!
John McGloughlin, Vice President
WEBVISION, INC. COMPANY PARTY
Hi Evyn! Thank you for adding such wonderful entertainment to our event. We and our many visitors very much enjoyed your music. We had numerous comments of appreciation for your participation. Councilwoman Schipske (Long Beach 5th District) asked about your band and obtained your business card. We are so glad you were available for our special street fair. We'll be in touch in the future!
Thank you again, Evyn!
Barbie and Jim Ault, Managers
PARKVIEW VILLAGE, CA STREET FAIR
We hired Evyn Charles and his band to play at our wedding reception last month. They were great! The variety of music they played was fantastic and their obvious skills as musicians was apparent. They had everyone on the dance floor and having a good time.
In short, we would recommend them to anyone for their wedding, party or other event.
Shari and Jerry Dressler
WEDDING
Evyn: Thank you so much for playing at our party on the 4th of July. You were a major hit with everyone there and I look forward to having you perform at our next party. I also give you the highest recommendation for anyone interested in hiring you. Good luck in the future and I'm sure we will see you real soon.
Donald J. Calabria
4th OF JULY BACKYARD PARTY
"OFFICIAL" BIO
"Soulful, passionate and engaging, Evyn Charles delivers superb vocals and positive music with an extensive repertoire of cover songs and originals.
His Soulful Beach Groove™ style falls somewhere between Jack Johnson and Sublime while following in the footsteps of Van Morrison, Bob Marley and Bill Withers. Like those artists, he combines great party songs with heart-tugging numbers. Evyn is especially adept at evoking the sounds of his adopted home, Southern California, and regularly performs in beach towns.
He also has a wonderful quieter side and can provide instrumental guitar music.
Born in France, living and educated in the United States since his teens, Evyn Charles Schonbuch (he does not use his last name professionally) has toured the world with various groups, appeared in musical and theatrical productions, and been featured on major recording projects.
Equally at home on a solo acoustic guitar, with a duo, trio or his band The NeverQuitters, he performs at venues ranging from neighborhood bars and country clubs to festivals, as well as parties, weddings and special events."
A LITTLE BIT OF PERSONAL HISTORY
My mother says I have been singing since before I could walk; she recalls pushing my baby stroller and if famous songs of the day were coming out of a radio somewhere, I would sing along. I have been playing music since I was about 7 years old while still living in Fresnes, a suburb of Paris, France (famous for its penitentiary). In those days, I studied the violin and participated in a children's orchestra.
As a young teen, I switched to guitar so I could sing and write my own songs; even then, I carried around a songbook. I always loved a good song whether I wrote it or someone else did.
While in high school and with dreams of becoming the Next Big Thing, I joined or started a few bands (two names I recall are "The Monarchs" and "The Detektives").
After high-school, I worked for Club Med a few seasons where I played music and taught windsurfing among other things.
I enrolled at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and received a world-class music education that continues to be helpful to this day. While enrolled at Berklee, I got involved with numerous bands and musicians, both on live gigs and studio recordings. At that point, I also started using my middle name Charles instead of my birth name Schonbuch, which was proving too difficult for most people to remember, pronounce or spell.
I moved to Los Angeles, California, where I joined bands (I remember "Thinking Out Loud," "UC3" and "The Famous Revue") and collaborated with various musicians, once again playing live and in the studio. While music constituted a major part of my income during those early years in LA, it was not enough to make ends meet. I had to work the proverbial "day job," mostly by doing temporary office work.
Eventually, I decided that I still liked good songs, whether I wrote them or not, and that playing music for a living was preferable to doing anything else. So, for the last few years, I have kept a busy calendar, essentially taking requests and playing parties for a living. I have a repertoire of close to 1,000 songs (oldies to current) that I continue to add to. I appear regularly mostly in Southern California beach towns where I work very hard for very little money but I love what I do.
I have played with an artist from India, appeared at the House of Blues and The Oyster and Beer Festival with Irish Band Sally's Gap, played Rock (Classic to Alternative), Reggae, Soul (Old to Blue-Eyed), Country (and Western, too!), Pop, Jazz (Straight Ahead to Smooth). I have been on stage with Dan Bern, Ted Hawkins ("The Next 100 Years") and Folk legends Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Odetta at the Westwood Folk Festival. One gig was for of a receptive audience of 20,000 only to play a few days later for 4 sad souls, 2 of which being the bartender and the cocktail waitress. I have played in houses of worship of almost every denomination and am a volunteer cantor at Ohr HaTorah temple.
I have been married and divorced. My son E.J. (born December 1999) is the best thing in my life although he has regretfully moved to the Sacramento area with my ex-wife.
I am now (well) over 30 years old, so I am not counting on becoming the Next Big Thing anymore but I still hold out hope that my songs will find a home on some well-known projects. My CD "Spare Me The Details" has been selling well at my gigs since it came out and is available both on iTunes and at CD Baby. Time and money have been in short supply but I am planning to record more of my own songs as well as some cover songs I am particularly fond of.
I became an American Citizen June 22, 2007 during a naturalization ceremony held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There were 3,631 of us taking the oath that morning. My 7 year-old son E.J. came with me and took photos.
If you read this whole thing, thanks for your interest. I hope to see you at a gig soon!
Purchase songs or my entire CD Spare Me The Details atMore originals are posted here
