CHARLIE LOUVIN
Sunday, Jun 03, 2007   2:pm

THE LEGENDARY CHARLIE LOUVIN- AND RIGHT HERE WAS HIS ONLY TAMPA APPEARANCE!

Man were we excited! There aren't many country music icons left nowadays and the few there are don't allow for a whole lot of retail music visits. On June 3rd, Vinyl Fever Tampa was truly honored to be hosting an in-store performance and meet and greet with the legendary Charlie Louvin of the Louvin Brothers.

Thanks for the great turnout (70+ strong)! We were all charmed by Mr. Louvin's humor, storytelling and the depth of feeling in his music.

We had specially designed posters made for the event and were thrilled to be able to present a framed one to Mr. Louvin "In Appreciation for a Lifetime of Music and Inspiration".

Born in 1927 (that's right- 80 years old in July), Charlie Louvin and his brother Ira started performing in 1940 and soon were recording for Apollo, Decca and MGM Records. The group's progress was stopped twice as Charlie left the group to fight in both World War II AND the Korean War. Soon after, the Louvins were made members of the Grand Ole Opry, toured with Elvis Presley as their OPENING act and signed with Capitol Records where they would remain until 1963. Ira Louvin was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1965.

The music and legend of the Louvin Brothers has lived on as generations of Americana/ Roots musicians have discovered and paid homage to the Louvin's music. Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Uncle Tupelo and current indie rockers The Raconteurs are just a few who have covered The Louvin Brothers' music.



2007 has brought the first solo release from Charlie Louvin in 10+ years and it is a monster which features guest performances with George Jones, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare Jr. as well as members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop and Superchunk.