Charlie Cunningham

Charlie Cunningham has emerged as a truly under-the-radar success story. He has headlined London’s iconic Queen Elizabeth Hall and has become a regular fixture in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls. Splitting his time between piano and nylon string guitar, Charlie creates melancholic yet rhythmically driven songs. When these are expressed with his characteristic restraint, something timeless takes shape. Despite his dyslexia making it nearly impossible for him to read music, Charlie earned a music degree and by his mid-20s worked a variety of odd jobs and wrote songs in his free time. Eventually, he moved to Seville, immersed himself in flamenco music and focused intensely on his guitar playing. Planning to stay for three months, he stayed for three years. Once home, Charlie found work playing in bars across London and Oxford ­—eventually returning to songwriting. Charlie has subsequently released two albums and four eps which have garnered over half a billion streams. Charlie comes to Michigan with his his third album, “Frame.” A collection of lush, delicate pop songs brimming with references to art rock, golden era jazz, and neo-classical composition—all the while maintaining the pared-back and clear-eyed musicality for which he is so well recognized. Throughout the album, Charlie creates the fragility, power and tension found in timeless songwriting, reanimated through a modern lens.