User:Sonny Charles

Sonny Charles is the founder, harmonica player , and lead singer of the Backtrack Blues Band. He grew up in North Carolina and attended college and law school at the University of North Carolina. He founded Backtrack Blues Band when Sonny moved to St Petersburg, Florida, in 1980.

He has written over 50 original blues songs that appear on the five Backtrack Blues Band albums. The most recent studio album, " Way Back Home ", on Harpo Records , received international radio play , charted at number 8 on the Roots Music Radio Charts for blues rock releases. The album is featured on the Stingray TV music channel, and enjoys airplay in the U.S. and Canada , and has been included on syndicated radio shows in France , United Kingdom , America , Australia , Canada and other countries. The " Way Back Home " album was named among the top 50 blues albums in the world, by Roots Music Radio , for the year 2016.

Sonny has performed with Backtrack Blues Band at concerts with multiple blues legends, such as Stevie Ray Vaughan , B B King , Robert Cray , Johnny Winter , Kenny Wayne Shepherd , John Lee Hooker , Buddy Guy , Gregg Allman and others.

Sonny Charles is also the founder and president of the acclaimed Tampa Bay Blues Festival, in St Petersburg, Florida. The festival began in 1995 and has grown into one of America's top blues music festivals. The event won a prestigious " Keeping the Blues Alive " award in 2011, from the International Blues Foundation, as the best blues music festivals in the United States. The non profit festival raises funds for local charity PARC, in St. Petersburg, Florida.