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Charlie Faucher - Musical Autobiography
in front of the radio, just listening to the music of the day. I was raised
on music, there was always some type of music playing around my
house, either on the phonograph, or the radio. Saturday mornings it
was always American Bandstand, which was required viewing as far as
my Mom was concerned.
I began playing trumpet in the 5th grade, which I stuck with up until
right before my freshman year in High School. It was through the
guidance of my High School band director, Laszlo Veres, that I truly
discovered music, and my true passion of playing a musical
instrument. I would have probably walked away from music all together
if not for the insight of Mr. Veres. It was after sitting down with him prior
to graduating from Junior High School, and telling him that I just wasn't
that interested in playing trumpet, something which I wasn't that good
at to start with, that he asked me if there was any another instrument
that I might want to try. I told him that I like playing the baritone horn.
So he told me to take one of the schools baritone horns home for the
rest of the summer, practice hard, then come back an audition on it
for freshman band.
Needless to say, I stuck with the baritone horn the rest of my High School years, practicing for hours each and every
day. And by my senior year I actually got the opportunity to play with the Tucson Symphony.
I will always credit Mr. Veres for being a major part in all that I have accomplished in music. His true passion for music,
and his ability to get us to live the music we were playing changed so many of our lives. I truly believe that it changed us
forever as human beings, and only for the better. I know that he made me a much more deeper player, and that was a
direct result of his style of teaching, and his true friendship to all of us.
I had bought my first bass guitar from J.C. Penney around the summer of 75. I use to sit in my room for hours and play
along with my favorite records. But it was in 1977 when a friend of mine loaned me one of his Marshall Tucker albums,
it totally changed my bass playing and my vision of the instrument, I was absolutely hooked. I learned that album from
front to back, and to me that album had it all, Rock, Jazz, Country, Blues, it was my turning point as a player, as if
someone had turned on a bright light on in my head. Tommy Caldwell's playing showed me the possibilities of the bass
and how it could literally change the whole feel of a song. There were three bass players that pretty much formed my
playing style. In the beginning it would be the amazing Carol Kaye and James Jamerson. James Jamerson and Carol
Kaye were the 60's as far as the bass guitar went, not to take anything away from all the other wonderful session bass
players of that era, but I think everyone else was trying to play like them, they were the blueprint of the instrument , true
musical icons. But somehow Tommy Caldwell made it all come together in my mind. It was in 1978 that I got the
opportunity to actually sit down backstage and talk to Tommy, it was the Running Like Wind Tour, and he was such a
nice guy, and I had the chance to tell him what an impact he had made on my playing. I remember him on stage
playing on his Olympic White 1977 Fender Precision, just like the one I now own, shown on my Gear Page.
Well it was also around 1979 that I hooked up with my first real band. We were The James Brockton Band...Kevin
Sterner, Don Britt, Marlon Smoot, Doug Parmenter, and myself. We were all into Marshall Tucker, Hank Jr., and all those
Country Rock outlaws...Waylon, Willie and the Boys. What a great time that was, it was the time of Urban Cowboy,
country music was at such a high point at that time, it was so mainstream. We practiced our butts off and we were a
pretty good band, playing out as much as we wanted too.
But it was not long after an unfortunate motorcycle accident that took the life of our dear friend and drummer Bo
Dodge, who had replaced Doug a year earlier that we all went our separate ways.
It was around 1982 that I hooked up with Dan Wilson and Terry Harper, two high school friends, who had there own
band. They were playing a wide variety of music including Neil Diamond, Dan Fogelberg, and Kenny Loggins. I had
actually met them a year or so earlier when they were opening up for the JBB while they were still in High School. They
were looking for a bass player, and I was looking for a gig. It was such a learning experience for me, what a far cry from
being in a Country Rock band, but I loved it. I added my own thing to the music they were playing, and there were no
rules. We were a three piece band, so our rolls were very defined, but we had fun, and just played what felt good.
We called ourselves Cross Wind, and we got pretty popular around Tucson with our strange variety of music. At one
point Dan decided he would be more productive managing the band than being the drummer, he felt his playing was
holding us back, so he was replaced by Ross Smith, a real power house drummer. And it was not long after that that we
found ourselves on the road playing all over the southern United States. That experience changed me forever, I loved
being on the road, living out of a suitcase, it was all perfectly normal to me. I just loved all the different cultures we were
exposed to, and all the friends we made along the way.
Cross Wind broke up around 1986 and I found myself back in the saddle again playing Country music. I stuck with
Country music through the 80's and right into the early 90's. The early 90's found me playing in one of the best Top 40
Country Bands in Arizona, Trick Rider. We went as far as performing on the Nashville Network show, The Charlie Daniels
Talent Roundup. The show was a disappointment on so many levels, but the experience of hanging out in Nashville for
those three days was priceless. We met a lot of great players, and it's what got me hooked on Nashville. Everyone you
met seemed to be a musician. I knew then that I would have to make my way back to this hot bed of music someday.
It was not long after we got back from Nashville that I had to quit Trick Rider due to the pressures from my bosses at
work, my day gig I call it. They told me that I had to decide if I wanted a real job or if I wanted to play in a band. It really
pissed me off at the time, but with much regret I had to go with my day job. I don't have too many regrets, but that is
one decision I was forced to make that just didn't seem right.
My next musical move would find me back playing Top 40 Rock with a band called The Time Pilots. The lead singer who
fronted the band, Terri Tutt, was and is still is a dynamic entertainer, and very much into the show. She is part of a
legacy herself being the daughter of the great drummer Ronnie Tutt.
I stuck with the Time Pilots for almost 3 years when musical differences found me in search of something new. It took
me almost 2 years, but I finally found a gold mine of talented players, and a real mix of musical backgrounds. They were
two of my former band mates from my days with Trick Rider, Jason Burns and Willie White on guitars, there high school
friend Danny Marquis on drums, Carol Tracy on keyboards and lead vocals, and myself on bass and lead vocals. We
were The Wrecking Crew, a name I took from the group of studio musicians that were the California sound in the 60's,
including one of my heroes of the bass guitar, Carol Kaye, and THE drummer of all drummers, Hal Blaine. Do yourself a
big favor...do a Google Search on these two names, and be prepared to be amazed!
As a result of some real hard work from our Carol (Carol Tracy), and through a lot of self promotion we established
ourselves as one of the top Classic Rock Bands in Arizona. We played when we wanted, and where we wanted. We were
never about the money, we were all about the show.
We would rather spend the money we made at a gig to rent the best sound system, hire the best sound engineer, and
have the best lighting. We put everything we had into being over the top.
Well, at the end of October 2005 I was ran over by a car while riding my bicycle. I still have a very clear picture burned
in my mind of the grill of a Chrysler heading my way at a very high rate of speed. The accident almost took my life, they
said that they had lost me twice on the way to the emergency room. So after coming too in the ER, my outlook on life
would never be the same, it was truly life changing for me. And as I recovered from my broken bones I knew that I had
to pursue my dream, I knew I had to get back on the road doing what I knew I was born to do. I felt like I was given a
second chance at life, and I was not going to waist it.
Fast forward to January 2007 and the end of The Wrecking Crew. After a few personnel changes in the band we all
knew we had to make a clean break, and I knew I had to go after my dream with all my strength and passion.
So here I am, 32 years after picking up my first bass guitar, and I feel like I am 20 again, with all the drive and passion
of some young kid wanting to be a part of something special.
Through my life experiences and all the wonderful music I have absorbed I feel I have so much to offer any project that
I will be involved in. My goal is to get back on the road again, and to be able to add my musical abilities, and my true
passion for music to whoever I end up playing music with.
But whoever I end up playing bass for, I could never forget the true musicians I have had the pleasure of playing with
so far. And I could never say thank you enough to my good friend Carol Tracy for everything she has done to help point
me in the right direction, including the development of this web site. Not only is she a great player in her own right, but
she is such a big fan and supporter of the local music scene...
Thank you Carol.