Originally an acoustic guitar/vocal trio formed in 1996 by ex-Killing Floor members Jason Shipley and Carmen Grago, along with Denis Gunther. Jason recalled that “this was at the height of the acoustic unplugged boom. We recorded a home demo and started getting jobs in bars that had usually booked full bands based on our prior draw with the Killing Floor. The Band eventually played everywhere from Johnstown, PA to Key West Florida. The name Charlie Don’t Surf was from the line from Robert Duvall about taking the beach in Apocalypse Now. Funny thing is Veterans from Viet Nam would regularly compliment us on the name and ask us if we were Vets. The other side of the coin was the constant questions about who Charlie is.”
Early gigs included Brewster’s, Fallston Station, The Barn, Firehouse Tavern, Bahama Mama’s (Dundalk), Fish Bowl (Arbutus), Sonoma’s, The Zu…
“Shortly after starting to work in Ocean City and elsewhere we started using either Stanley Hall (Joanne Dodds, 5th Avenue Band, Michael Hedges) or Mark St. Pierre (later played with Cary Ziegler’s Expensive Hobby) on drums, and Mike Watson from Burst of Silence on bass.” This lineup eventually morphed into the first full time lineup consisting of Shipley (1996-04), Gunther (1996-01), Grago (1996-02, 2003-06), with Mike Watson (bass, vocals 1996-99), and Stanley Hall (drums 1997-99). As a full band they played more alternative type contemporary music with classic rock and blues mixed in.
Grago left for a brief stint with Basement Floor in 2003 before returning to the group. Other members included Chris Sellman (occasional bass fill in 1996-98), Bob Perry (guitar 1999 ex-Duck Soup), Mike McCoy (drums 1999-06 ex-Mascaraid), Don Beecher (bass 1999-06), Tim Albert (keyboard and guitar 1999-04), Sabrina Scarborough (guitar briefly in 2002 while Jason was recuperating from a motorcycle accident), Paul Quelet (keyboards 2004), and Fred Tepper (2004-06).
Seen locally at the Purple Moose, Putty Hill Station, Red Eye Dock Bar, Fells Point Festival… Performed at Sloppy Joe’s in Key West, Florida. Group opened shows for national acts such as Molly Hatchet, Guess Who, Buckweat Zydeco…
Tragedy struck the band in October 2005 as Carmen was killed in an auto accident. Jason recalled “my dear friend Carmen was a very gifted cover guitarist with a great touch for replicating tough parts to recreate live. The band disbanded after the death of Carmen but we have done a few reunion shows with Denis, Donnie, Mike, and myself for private party gigs for a following we had at the Gibson Island community.”
Shipley was also a member of Kaos (2004-08+), and in ‘08 formed a group called Caffeine with ex-Charlie Don’t Surf members Gunther, Beecher and McCoy. Gunther and Beecher had also been members of the group Breakaway. Jason and Denis also worked frequently in ‘00s as an acoustic trio at venues such as Cancun Cantina West (Hagerstown) and High Tops (Timonium).
Mike Watson and Rob Belanger (Oriole Mark Belanger’s son) went on to a good run of success and label interest with their band Burst of Silence. Quelet was later with Bobby & the Street Rods… Sellman also worked with disappear fear… Tepper was also a member of many other bands…
