After a month-long tour, euphemistically referred to as the ‘March Madness’ tour, with his renowned band, the ‘Tartan Terrors,’ Charlie McKittrick trades his kilt for a Stetson wide brim to continue his solo career throughout the Muskoka, Huntsville area, where he has made his home these past few years.
McKittrick, the drummer for the famous Celtic septet, turns in his drumsticks for a guitar and microphone as a singer-songwriter-performer. Over the past three years, Charlie has been winning audiences over with his mix of classic covers and versions of his own recorded compositions.
A seasoned touring musician, McKittrick was introduced to Huntsville through his friend, guitarist extraordinaire, Nate Silva, who regularly entertained at the Pub on the Docks.
“I was actually feeling quite trapped and depressed and there were days where I was watching the blur of the world go by, sitting in the tour van going, “I’m not here for me anymore, what am I doing here? What do I want?” I was trying to keep other folks happy and that’s never a good recipe, right? So, I ended up going to Toronto and thought I was getting out of music altogether.” Charlie relates how, in 2011, he left the highly successful Windsor band MicLordz & Sauce Funky, a unit he joined in university, whose success and relentless schedule had taken him throughout North America, and he was gearing up for further extensive show dates.
He had auditions for three universities before studying, on a scholarship, as an undergraduate in music at the University of Windsor. Raised in Hamilton, Charlie treasures his experience at the University.
“I went out to the University of Windsor, and I studied percussion. It was a classical program and they had some extracurriculars like community orchestra, jazz band, percussion ensemble, things like that. University singers. I learned I could sing in university. I had no idea I had any talent whatsoever. and there were a couple people and especially the director, he said to me, ‘you know would you stay back and I’d like to work with you, just a one-on-one, for a second’ and I thought that’s weird, maybe I’m in trouble, and he says ‘I noticed you’re standing out in the tenor section and I think you’ve got some real talent there.’ I said, wow, okay I guess I should rethink my approach to this whole thing and I started to take his words under advisement and put into practice what he was showing me and I just loved it and I discovered a love for singing.”
He joined the band, MicLordz & Sauce Funky, in university. Windsor, a border town, is a gateway to the United States and his experiences both in school and as part of the powerhouse band formed the discipline and approach he has taken to his future music endeavours.
Soon after his move to Toronto, Charlie recognized his need to apply his talents in music. He joined the band Timegiant, a hard rock trio, that celebrated rock at its fieriest. Charlie and his bandmates travelled extensively, from Singapore to New York, and garnered a loyal fan base and recorded a handful of albums. On April 1, 2016, the band celebrated their demise with a blowout concert at the Horseshoe Tavern, much to the dismay of their followers.
“You know, Toronto was good to me. And eventually, I just kind of lost my love for the city, my love affair had outgrown itself. And as I started to come back home, I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach like I don’t think I want to be here anymore and my colleague and friend Nate Silva was a Huntsville resident for a time and right away he got me playing up here, about nine or ten years ago, filling in for him had just occasional fill-ins on the Docks. So, I was playing on the Docks, and I thought, wow, they’re gonna put me up for a couple nights. And I’ll get out of the city. I can bring my bicycle. It’ll be like a sweet little getaway, and of course, I fell in love with Huntsville.”
Meanwhile, in 2016, McKittrick became the drummer for the Tartan Terrors, an Ontario-based rock Celtic band founded by Ian Irmisch and his sister Ellen in 1996. The Terrors are loved for their high energy, commanding instrumental mix, theatrics, and sense of humor. They are scheduled for an October 11, 2024 show at Algonquin Theatre in Huntsville.
‘Perfect Storm’ written by Charlie McKittrick. Video by the Tartan Terrors.
Discovering he could sing was a precious gift, but writing songs became and continues to be a riveting passion for McKittrick, who not only writes for his own solo albums but for the Tartan Terrors as well. Charlie explains his songwriting experience:
“I was always around diverse music, right from a young age, and I loved everything. I thought that it was just great. And when I started to take my hand at songwriting in high school, and of course, who knows how good that was, but I loved the process of it. And it was, I always think staying curious as part of the love of it, and I can always beat myself up, oh I’m not very good at this, I shouldn’t attempt that, but that’s just the ego speaking, and you know I think just doing it is half the battle because so many people just don’t make that effort. I left songwriting alone for a little while. I don’t know if it was writer’s block or I just wanted to get known as a drummer and focused all on that side of things. But I got back into songwriting right around the time I started attending these types of meditation retreats or medicine ceremonies. I was working with a facilitator, I don’t know, she was an integral part in opening me back up to that whole possibility of songwriting and getting back in touch with myself, standing firm in my beliefs and redefining what those were even. It was just a huge part of where I’m at now, getting me to where I’m at now.
“My biggest problem is recording. I’ve got so many songs, and I’ve actually got an album coming out this year; songs are all recorded, so I’ve got over a hundred songs just waiting to be recorded”.
Charlie performs throughout the Huntsville area three to four nights a week, bringing the magic of his gifts to live stages and appreciative audiences as he has for the past twenty years of his career.
‘No Bounds’ by Charlie McKittrick.
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