Charles Arthur is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who has occassionally been seen playing shows around the country with Slaid Cleaves, Caroline Herring, and Wayne 'the Train' Hancock. Mostly he can be heard playing in Richmond, Virginia with Johnny Hott's Piedmont Souprize, Chez Roue, Page Wilson and Reckless Abandon, on his own, and with many others.  At home in just about every style  of American music, his primary instruments are guitar, lap steel, and dobro, though he can be heard playing fiddle, banjo, piano, autoharp, upright bass, and drums. His hallmarks are a deep knowledge of various styles, and his ability to blend with different musicians and musical situations.  A fun, sensitive player, he can play wacky, sweet, or nasty, adding excitement to a tune yet never overplaying.

It was a crooked path that eventually led Charles to his relatively late-in-life career as a musician. A soccer player for most of his youth, at 16 he was given a guitar for Christmas and fell in love with it. Self taught, he would study records voraciously, starting with Joe Walsh, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, then to Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, to B.B.King, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and many other bluesmen. At age 20 in a small club in Falls Church, Va. he would hear Danny Gatton for the first time and was forever changed. Smart enough to know better than try to copy his hero's licks, he would instead study his influences: Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, and all the other giants of American music. Nervous about pursuing music for a living, he would finish college (barely) and make various attempts at 'legit' careers. Since 1985 his occupations would include air force navigator, high school math teacher, and computer technician. During these years he would always play music on weekends, and his interest in various styles would lead him to play everything from blues, rockabilly, jazz, country, to black gospel. One week you could hear him playing country at a VFW in the Shenandoah valley, the next he would be in a black church in Richmond backing a 20 piece choir or a male quartet (to this day his most gratifying musical experience).

Eventually he realized that the need for music was just too strong, and in 1998 he decided to pursue it full time. His first gig was playing electric guitar and lap steel with Austin Texas based singer-songwriter (and old friend) Slaid Cleaves, touring throughout the US, Canada, and UK, playing major festivals (Newport, Philadelphia, Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival), radio shows (NPR's Mountain Stage) and sharing the bill with artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Iris Dement, Greg Brown, Joe Ely, Buddy and Julie Miller, and the Austin Lounge Lizards. A highlight was adding his sound to Slaid's award winning albums 'Wishbones' and 'Broke Down'. After one of his first gigs in Austin, he was heard by one of the local pickers and landed a gig on the road with Wayne 'the Train' Hancock. Later on he would cross paths with another Austin based songwriter, Caroline Herring, and occassionally play dobro and guitar with her.  In between the touring he managed to establish a strong musical presence in Richmond Virginia, playing with Chez Roue, Page Wilson, and becoming a founding member of Johnny Hott's Piedmont Souprize (which features the fantastic vocals of his wife Sara). In 2001 he cut his road work considerably to devote his time to his local musical pursuits and, more importantly, to his wife and new daughter (Josie). In addition to gigging with the above bands, he will occasionally step out on his own, opening for Bill Kirchen, Cephas and Wiggins, Bob Margolin, Roy Bookbinder, and others. He is also on the faculty of the University of Richmond as a guitar, banjo, and mandolin instructor.

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