I first met Charley while doing the "Hounds of Nobility Faire" in 1997. I was struck by his gentle, almost mournful voice as he sang songs such as "There were Roses". When Marooned finished our set on the stage, we always stayed for Charley's set. He even invited us to join him on stage.

As years passed my wife and I got quite a bit of listening out of Charley's albums and we always asked him about the "next" one. He always gave us a soft laugh and a smile and his answer always began with the same, soft-spoken "Well..."

Oftentimes, as we walked through a night-darkened faire, we would hear muffled laughter and voices. Numerous times we followed that to the Clan MacGowan encampment where Charley and his friends would sit, whiling the night away with song. The atmosphere there was magic.

We went for a while without seeing Charley. He had run into health problems and wound up in the hospital. Many of us were shaken by the news for Charley had become the surrogate grandfather for much of the southern California small faire circuit. Finally though, he seemed to recover.

The last time I saw Charley was at the Fall Escondido faire in 2002. He seemed healthier and happier than I had seen him in a while and he finally had an answer to my question. He was working on three albums simultaneously, including a Christmas album. I was overjoyed and I couldn't wait.

Charley passed away on Feb 8th, 2003. His albums were never finished and the music he recorded has never been released.

Charley's passing inspired me to create Modern Bard as a tribute to his memory. I realized just how much had been lost with his passing and I suddenly wondered if it was even possible to order copies of his existing albums.

I created Modern Bard in hopes that no faire music would ever be lost again. Slaving away to catalog the music out there, and find where it is sold. Perhaps we'll even eventually offer once out of print albums. In any case, Modern Bard has been a labor of love.

For Charley