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Nashville rocker Charlie Bonnet III has released a brand new single and music video, titled ‘Waiting On Time,’ taken from his recently released studio EP, ‘Sinner With A Song‘.  The record was co-produced, mixed, and mastered by L.A. Guns mastermind Tracii Guns, and features Tracii on B3 organ.

The video, filmed by the Nashville based production company Luminous Midnight Films, tells the story of a psycho ex girlfriend who is stalking the band.  “I usually leave it to the listener to interpret a song’s meaning, but the story line to this video is based on true events,” laughs Charlie. “I actually wrote ‘Waiting On Time’ fifteen years ago, and made a very primitive acoustic demo of it back then” he states. “It never fit the context of my other full band records, but was perfect for the ‘Sinner With A Song‘ EP, so we recorded it.  It’s been a fan favorite live, and we knew it had to be the first video from the record.”

Closing in on three decades in the trenches of the music business, Charlie Bonnet III is a working man’s songwriter, with an ability to adapt and survive in the always changing industry.  He first landed on the national radar in the early 90’s as the frontman for the Nashville based rock band, Disarray, releasing five studio albums, and logging thousands of road miles in an old van.  When that project fizzled, Bonnet re-invented himself as a solo artist, releasing a string of independent records.

Charlie’s latest effort, ‘Sinner With A Song‘, caught the attention of the international press due to the involvement of rock guitar hero Tracii Guns. “I basically went down to Memphis to see Tracii jam with his solo band, and after the gig I asked him if he would help me on this record, and he agreed to do it.  It was really that simple” states Bonnet. “It is surreal when I think about it, because as a kid I had L.A. Guns posters on my wall, had all their cassette tapes, watched them on MTV, and all of that.  I lived in a podunk nowhere town, and would dream of one day being like my heroes, making records and travelling around playing rock n roll.  Now it has all come true.  It’s on a much smaller scale than what I had dreamed, but my dream has come true” he says with a hint of sarcasm and a laugh.

Charlie Bonnet III is now on the road playing live with his power trio, The Folkin’ Gasholes.

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Tennessee country rocker Charlie Bonnet III is preparing to release a new studio EP, titled ‘Sinner With A Song‘, on July 28th.
Having built a following over the course of 8 solo albums and hundreds of live performances, Bonnet is a working man’s musician and songwriter, bringing grit and raw honesty to a music world saturated with AutoTune and gimmicks. “My stuff ain’t rocket science.  I’ve got a one, maybe two octave voice on a good day.  I know a few chords and can play a pretty decent blues guitar lick,” he states.  “I’ve always been drawn to the storytelling of old country music, but I’ve never liked the over produced feel of it.  My personality leans towards more aggressive music, raw and with some attitude.  I like to rock out.“
Enter guitar hero Tracii Guns, the Hollywood mainstay known for co-founding Guns N Roses, and later launching L.A. Guns into the mainstream. “I met Tracii a few years ago while doing another project,” says Charlie.  “Late last year I hit him up to help me on this batch of songs, and fortunately it worked out.”   Guns originally signed on to mix and master the session, but didn’t stop there. “Tracii actually plays B3 organ on the record,” reveals Bonnet. “He’s obviously famous for hard rock, but he’s done a lot of records that lean to more of a classic 70’s sound.  I told him what my vision was and he knew exactly what to do.  He really shaped the overall tone of the record and took it to another level.”  The result is ‘Sinner With A Song‘, a 6 song slab of roots rock glory that is part Steve Earle and part Black Crowes, with a touch of 70’s era Aerosmith thrown in for good measure. “We set out to make this thing vintage sounding.  We didn’t play to a click track.  There’s no pitch correcting on the voice.  It’s just raw and real.  Mic the room up and go for it.  Overdub a vocal and throw a guitar lead on it.  That formula worked for Skynyrd in 1975, so why wouldn’t it work for me?“
Opening with the title cut, Bonnet’s lyrics fire away at the naysayers that have written him off for years:  “Judge me based upon the things you’ve heard.  All second hand, but that’s the way you bottom feeders work…”  “I wrote that song while cutting my grass,” he says with a laugh. “It just fell out of the sky and hit me all at once.  The melody, the lyrics, everything.  I shut the mower off and ran to the house to write it all down before I forgot it.”  Restless And Reckless and Waiting On Time are the next two tracks, both rockers that deal with the age old subject of young love.  “Waiting On Time is actually an old song of mine,” says Charlie. “I’ve had it for close to twenty years, but it didn’t fit the context of my earlier records.  It fit this one perfectly.”  Hometown Heroes is next, a jangly roots rocker about the high school jock that never grew up.  “Every town has one,” he states. “It’s about the high school football star that still acts like an asshole twenty years later.”  The Skynyrd-inspired Heading Home is track number five, and the only ballad on the record.  “I wrote that while staring out a window of a tour bus in the middle of the night,” Charlie reflects. “I was missing my child and the song just came to me out of nowhere.  It’s my favorite of all my songs.”  The record closes with Cold And Alone, a moody rocker that deals with the subject of depression.
Charlie Bonnet III is currently on the road with his power trio, The Folkin’ Gasholes.  ‘Sinner With A Song‘ is available everywhere on July 28th.

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L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns has taken on post-production duties for Sinner With A Song, the upcoming six-song studio EP from the Nashville based southern rock outfit, Charlie Bonnet III And The Rebel Ways. Guns recently announced his involvement with the project on social media, stating, “These guys are badass and I’m proud to be mixing this record.” In a separate post, he stated, “Mixing the new Charlie Bonnet III EP. Sounds killer.” He is also credited on the album for playing the B3 organ.
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A mainstay in the Nashville rock community for over two decades, Charlie Bonnet III first met Tracii in 2013 when the two were working on a track together for another project.
“A mutual friend introduced us through the internet,” Bonnet states. “My previous band would occasionally have guest players do a guitar lead on our records, and Tracii was one of the guys we used for a song. We just sort of stayed in touch after that.“
Fast forward to the summer of 2016, when Bonnet was beginning to write for a new solo record. “I knew I wanted to use the same band for this one that I use at my live shows, not studio session guys like I have used in the past. I just have a cool chemistry with these guys and I wanted to get it on tape,” he says. The backing band, known as The Rebel Ways, has been a hot ticket on the regional bike rally circuit for the past year. “We just get up there with Les Pauls and Marshalls, and throw down on my songs, as well as some rocked up versions of classic rock deep cuts. It’s a party.“
In mid October Charlie loaded up fellow Rebel Ways guitarist, Adam Farris, and the two headed to Memphis, where Tracii Guns was doing a gig with his own solo band. During an after show hangout, the two approached Tracii with the idea of having him mix the project, and he agreed.
“I told him I had a new batch of Skynyrd and Steve Earle plagiarisms, and I would be honored if he’d be a part of it,” Bonnet says with a laugh. “When he agreed, and even volunteered to put some B3 on it, I had to try hard to hide my inner fanboy,” adds Farris. “This record is gonna be really cool.“
The Rebel Ways are rounded out by bassist Ceth Carter, and drummer Travis Ashley.
Sinner With A Song is set for an early-2017 release.