In continuing to bring Texas music icons to the area, East Fork Restaurant and Club will host an evening with Charlie Robison Saturday, September 12. Chris Bevill and Spur On Band will kick off the night at 8:30 p.m.

Robison grew up on a ranch in Bandera in the Texas Hill country. Robison's family has ranched the land whe for eight generations. As a youngster, he would spend Saturday nights with his parents at the cabaret, the local country and western dance hall in Bandera. His brother Bruce and sister Robyn Ludwick are also highly respected as songwriters and singers. He attended Texas State University in San Marcos but eventually convinced his brother that they should drop out and move to Austin. Brother Bruce is married to Kelly Willis, another Austin sing and songwriter who has found critical acclaim in the past decade.

After an injury in college ended a potential football career, Robison came to Austin, Texas in the late 1980s and had stints in the bands Chaparral, Millionaire Playboys, and Two Hoots and a Holler.[1] He went solo with his album "Bandera" in 1996. He subsequently signed with Sony and released "Life of the Party" on Sony's subsidiary Lucky Dog Records.

"Life of the Party" gave him three of his biggest hits including "My Hometown." His next release was a live disc called "Unleashed Live," which is credited to Charlie, brother Bruce, and Jack Ingram. He then signed with Columbia Records for "Step Right Up" and another live album.

Unhappy with the expectations & limitations of being a Nashville country artist, he moved to a smaller independent label, Dualtone, for "Good Times" in 2004, followed by extensive touring and newfound control over his career. Accordingly, his sound began to evolve away from mainstream/Nashville country and toward more Southern & hard rock influences.

Five years after the release of Good Times, Robison released Beautiful Day on June 23, 2009 on Dualtone. This is the first CD he has self-produced. Both albums feature several songs written by Nashville singer/songwriter

Keith Gattis.

His song "Good Times" was featured in the credits of HBO's original series True Blood in the first season's third episode.

In 2009, he embarked on an East Coast tour with stops in Little Rock, Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Memphis to promote "Beautiful Day." Since then he has played primarily in Texas, with occasional shows in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.

Robison is known for playing classic rock covers during his live shows. He will rock out with "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Highway to Hell" (AC/DC), "Call me the Breeze" (JJ Cale and Lynard Skynard), "Rocket Man" (Elton John), and with respect for the Rolling Stones songs, he includes hits such as "Dead Flowers" and "Honky-Tonk Women." You might also here some Willie Nelson tunes, including "Whiskey River" and "Stay all Night."

The band includes Mark Tokach (lead guitar), Abe Combest (Drums), Zeke Benenate (bass) J.C. Burt (steel guitar) and Chris Valdez (road manager/additional guitar). His recordings have featured special guests like steel guitar master Lloyd Maines (who produced Step Right Up and Good Times), and Natalie Maines (duet on "The Wedding Song" and harmony vocals on "El Cerrito Place").

In the fall of 2014, Robison opened Alamo Icehouse in San Antonio, Texas with former MLB player Brooks Kieschnick. [3]

He married Emily Erwin of The Dixie Chicks in 1999. They have three children together: Charles Augustus, called "Gus", born November 11, 2002[4] and twins Julianna Tex (9:19 pm, 6 lb 10 oz) and Henry Benjamin (9:29 pm, 6 lb 14 oz), born on April 14, 2005.[5] Robsion and Emrwin divorced August 6, 2008 after nine years of marriage.[6]