Charlie first started playing electric bass and acoustic guitar as he pursued rock and roll music in his native Tampa, Florida. A local musician, Mike Marshall, eventually turned Charlie on to the mandolin.

Charlie moved to Denver in 1979 and studied with the famous Tim O'brien at the Denver Folklore Center. He then joined the Denver Mandolin Orchestra and began to explore more ethnic varieties of mandolin music. Charlie went on to win the Telluride mandolin contest five years in a row and took second, third, and then the top spot at Winfield. He was featured in Mandolin Magazine as the Winfield Winner in the summer 2000 issue.

Charlie is an extremely versatile musician, always playing with a variety of groups in the Denver area today. His contest resume is his source of pride, as is all the experience he received playing with other talented mandolinists.