Charles Wesley Godwin
CL RECOMMENDS
CRITIC'S PICK:
Thurs., April 16
Charles Wesley Godwin, Jason Scott & High Heat, The Eastern - It never hurts to have famous friends supporting your work, especially when one of them is superstar Luke Bryan. Godwin recorded a duet with Bryan that appeared on the latter's EP. But West Virginia's Godwin was already on his way, having delivered some well-received albums with songs built around his home state's working class populace, specifically those who work in the mines. Last year's raucous near two-hour concert release, Live from the Steel City, cemented Godwin's success with a combination of bittersweet ballads and roaring rockers sung with his everyman voice and a powerful band. Jason Scott's raw, outlaw-styled country makes a solid bill. - Hal Horowitz
From the venue:
For a while there, Charles Wesley Godwin was in something of a funk. A typically prolific writer, and one who over his first two critically-acclaimed albums had proven himself to be a reflective and soulful songwriter and singer — a storyteller in the vein of his heroes like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen— Godwin found himself in a state of stasis last year. To hear him tell it, he was frozen in place — unable to find the words to what he hoped would become his new songs and under a level of pressure he’d never previously experienced.
And yet, what would ultimately inspire the man was right in front of him all along: family.
“I had to get back to the basics,” says the introspective, self-aware artist of what finally set him and his new songs free. “I decided I was going to write about my life and my family. It’s where my heart was guiding me: to be super personal and dig right into the weeds of my life.” The resulting LP, Family Ties —Godwin’s forthcoming third album, set for release on September 22 via Big Loud Records — is a truly stunning achievement, and the culmination of years of hard work to arrive at this point.
Charles Wesley Godwin | 04/16/2026 7:30 PM