Charlie Bonnett III will tell you that the music industry streets are littered with stories of close calls and broken dreams, and with exceptional acts often getting overlooked.  While most never get their “day in the sun,” sometimes persistence, fate, and luck come together to create magic.  Such is the case with this Tennessee guitar slinger, whose rise to fame has taken a quarter of a century to come to fruition.  

Bonnet grew up in rural Tennessee in the 80’s listening to hard, classic, and southern rock bands and just trying to fit in.  Through a neighbor friend, he discovered the guitar, which allowed him to transition from a nerdy teenage kid escaping reality through rock music to a local bar performer.  

Bonnet shares that a pivotal moment came in January 2010 when underground rapper, Big Smo, invited him to collaborate on his upcoming record.  This partnership propelled him into the spotlight, leading to the formation of the band Moccasin Creek, several successful solo projects, and collaborations with notable artists such as members of KISS, The Alice Cooper Band, LA Guns, Megadeth, and Grand Funk Railroad.  

His acclaimed record, A Hotel in Valdosta, released in 2015, and the music videos that followed brought internet buzz and a growing fanbase to Bonnet’s music.  

He now performs as an acoustic solo artist and with his classic rock power trio, Charlie Bonnet III and The Gasholes, and continues to inspire with his music and persistence.

Interview: The Midland Theatre, backstage, 11/9/24

I caught up with Bonnet before his gig at The Midland Theatre on November 9th. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation about his music, influences, and advice for rising musicians.

Lindsey McCutchan Photography: Tell us, who is Charlie Bonnet III?

Charlie Bonnet III: “I’m a Nashville guy born in California, but moved with my parents and sister to Nashville in 1981.” I’ve since moved to Ohio with my best friend, caretaker, and calming source, Mama Bear (aka Holly Jo).”

LMP: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

CB3: “With my three-man power trio, The Gasholes, we’d describe ourselves as if Lynyrd Skynyrd had a couple of guys from Motorhead in the band. We take the Charlie Bonnett III originals and amp them up and make them harder or whatnot. But when I do an acoustic show, like tonight, it’s more of a Steve Earle meets, oh, I don’t know. A Springsteen kind of roots rock thing, storyteller, but without putting people to sleep (chuckles). I’ve got the stage flags and the big mic stand and drink out of a gas can. There’s no kumbaya going on!”

LMP: Who or what would you say inspired you to pursue a career in music?

CB3: “In the 80’s I saw a neighbor kid play a guitar, but I didn’t have the confidence to do it. But then, in the summer of ’89 I was really into hair metal bands. My favorite band was Cinderella, and I wanted to go see them for my first rock concert on their Long, Cold Winter tour. My dad, he hated all that music, but he said, I tell you what, if you can come up with the money to take the whole family and buy the tickets we’ll go. Keep in mind I’m 12 years old, so I think, OK and so start cutting grass, hauling hay, picking up aluminum cans, selling off toys I thought I’d outgrown. I earned enough money to take me, my mom, dad and baby sister to the show. It was May, 1989 at the Amphitheater in Antioch, Tennessee on the grass because they were $13 yard seats. My dad fell asleep, my mom wasn’t paying attention, but I was zoned in on the stage. I couldn’t believe it!! It was Cinderella, Winger, and the Bullet Boys who knocked all their equipment over like The Who when they were done playing. But I see Cinderella spinning their guitars around and everything and I told my mom, for my birthday I want a guitar. I had to actually wait until Christmas, but I ended up getting a $100 little beater out of the Sears catalog. I picked it up and never let it out of my hands.”

LMP: You just returned from the Josie Awards in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, tell us what that was all about.

CB3: “Yeah, the Josies are Independent Music Awards. You can’t be signed to any kind of label and they select people off the internet that are independent musicians. There’s like 80,000 submissions to be considered and they narrow down to, I think there was 196 awards to be given away this year. I’ve been nominated the past three years for a total of 13 different awards. I just now won this year! I wasn’t expecting it. I was standing in line out in the lobby buying a $7 Diet Coke trying to get my money out of my pocket and I hear my wife say, Charles they just called your name! So I’m juggling this Diet Coke and trying to run through the lobby to accept this award. I didn’t have any speech prepared or anything. I won for Guitar Player of the Year, which was a shock because, like, there are a lot of really good guitar players, I’m just faking it (chuckles)!”

LMP: Do you have any advice you’d give to aspiring musicians, young or old, looking to make their mark in the industry?

CB3: “Yeah, just don’t listen to people that tell you to stop. It’s really hard to make a professional living out of it. I’ve been playing for 35 years, and I can honestly say for the last 15 years, this has been my job. But every show is not Madison Square Garden. There’s a whole lot of Billy Bob’s Pool Hall and singing at the back of people’s heads, but work is work. You just gotta keep going. If you love it, just do it because we’re not on the planet for very long so try to have fun with it. Before the internet, there was a rule in the industry that if you didn’t have a major label by your 27th birthday, you’re too old. I’d tick off birthday after birthday thinking I was done. But now there are many different revenue streams to your advantage from ASCAP, Sound Exchange, YouTube. I’ve even done some stuff for video games. At the end of the day, if you’re for hire just say yes and figure it out. Go do it and have fun.”

LMP: Before tonight’s performance here at the beautiful Midland Theatre in Newark, Ohio, what is your greatest on-stage memory?

CB3: “In 2002, my band at the time got offered to do a 6-week tour with the band Gwar. The singer of Gwar actually produced our fourth album. They did our fourth album and then invited us out on tour with them. One of the shows we got to do in May of 2002 was at the new Daisy Theatre in Memphis, TN, which I knew from growing up. It’s a rally nice old, vintage theatre. A lot of my heroes played there. I mean, Elvis played there! So we got to play there and it was just a sea of people. We only had seven songs, about a half an hour, but my family was there and they were like, wow! They didn’t realize this was what I was doing so it was kind of validating.”

LMP: Thanks so much for your time man, really appreciate it. Really looking forward to your set.

CB3: “Thanks man! When you take photos tonight go for my skinny angles. I’m going to suck it in!”