– Charlie's Blog –

Three musicians in a home music studio that features a grand piano and built-in bookcases in the background.

Poetry in Music

by | Jun 14, 2025 | , ,

My good friend Greg Watkins, an extraordinary bassist, recently hosted a virtual children’s concert in my home studio. Greg works as the principal bassist for the American Pops Orchestra, and he also coordinates some of their events. In this case, Greg and the APO had solicited poems from students all over the country and selected some of the best to be read by the gifted singer and actor Alan Naylor, while Greg and I improvised a musical accompaniment on bass and piano. Students and their teachers logged on to stream the performance. It was such a joy to simply “create” on the spot with two such talented artists, and to spotlight the work of the next generation of creators.

Artwork by Charlie Barnett, featuring the neck of an old banjo against a painted background featuring a tree that has dropped its leaves. The predominant colors are blue and brown.

A Personal Folk Revival

by | May 14, 2025 | , ,

Last month, I was the bandleader, pianist, and singer in a show in Rochester, New York. It was a birthday concert, and the birthday “boy” was turning 90. The set list consisted of his favorite songs from folk and traditional artists, including Harry Belafonte, Leadbelly, and Odetta. For me, it was a return to my musical roots; I may have spent decades as a jazz performer, but old-time Appalachian music is in my heart, and five-string banjo is the first instrument I could play well. This concert gave me a surprising idea of what my future in performing might hold. As I say to my banjo when I put it back in it back in its case: “Stay tuned.”

Gold and black poster promoting Classics 101 at the Writers Center in Bethesda MD

Classics 101 Premiere

by | Aug 25, 2024 | , ,

Classics 101, my drama set on a college campus, just closed its first run. As you may recall from previous newsletters, I produced and directed the play myself, with generous support from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County and a lot of help from assistant director Andrew Mitakides, who also played the heavy in the show. This was my first time as a director, and it was nothing like what I expected. One thing I learned is that I don’t have to think of everything myself. I was blessed with a 13-member cast full of smart and capable actors who had terrific ideas and often saw things in this story that I never saw. It was truly a collaborative process, and I was pleased to share the results with an audience.

A darkened mixing studio with computer screens glowing and a larger screen, red background with yellow lettering, that says "Picture Start."

The Art of Sound Mixing for Film

by | Aug 12, 2024 | ,

There’s nothing like watching a master at work. Last week, the documentary filmmaker Jonathan Gruber and I went to Baltimore to check out the sound mixing for Jonathan’s new film, Centered, which I scored. The mix was done at Studio Unknown, where Jamie Horrigan is the boss and Kevin Hill is the mixer-in-chief. I had already sent Kevin all the stems—the individual instrument recordings. That is a lot of audio information. But watching Kevin as he reassembled the score, with each track getting its own compression, equalization, and reverb, and added sound effects including crowd noise, explosions, jet engines, footsteps, sneezes, and, finally, the dialog was amazing.

In olden times (i.e., the 1970s) when this process was done physically, on the actual reels of film, this operation was known as “rock and roll.” It was a tedious back-and-forth process. Now, it is all digital. It may be less tedious, but it’s also much more detailed. Kevin’s screen looks like a high-tech NASA command center. But the end result sounds remarkably unaffected and completely natural.

When people talk about the magic of movies, they often are thinking about visual effects—green screen animation, for example. When I want to experience movie magic, I close my eyes and listen to everything the sound mixer has done.

Red chairs in auditorium for Bethesda Writer's Center theater

Preparing to Direct ‘Classics 101: A Satyr Play’

by | May 1, 2024 | ,

After my third or fourth reading of Homer’s Iliad I became obsessed with Breseis, Achilles’ concubine—so obsessed that I wrote a play that transported the character to the campus of a small, modern-day college in upstate New York. Now, with a generous grant from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, I will be able to see the play onstage … by producing and directing it myself. It’s my first go as a director, and I have been learning a great deal about the process, with kind help from several experienced directors, designers, and other pros. The play, newly renamed Classics 101: A Satyr Play, will be performed at the Bethesda Writer’s Center on August 23-25.

Signed handout photo of Joe Lieberman

Current Film Project: ‘Centered’

by | Apr 2, 2024 | ,

One of my favorite documentary filmmakers, Jonathan Gruber, is fearless in the face of controversial material. I have been lucky enough to score a handful of Jonathan’s films and am currently working on his latest: a clear-eyed profile of the recently deceased centrist politician Joe Lieberman. For a mild-mannered guy, Lieberman evoked strong feelings from others over the course of his career, from deep admiration to wrath. Jonathan is at his best when exploring a subject like this, and it’s a great challenge for me to be working on this balancing act with him.

logo from The Last Days of Cleopatra musical. Features Liz Taylor in her Cleopatra costume with beaded braids and an Egyptian statue wearing mod 1960s teal sunglasses

Cleopatra staged reading in Manhattan

by | Jan 1, 2024 | , ,

On December 14, a longtime dream of mine came true. After a few tries and cul-de-sacs, I finally got to hear my Liz-and-Dick musical, The Last Days of Cleopatra, as I had first envisioned it many years ago. Thanks to executive producers Dick Kaufmann and Dan Markley, a truly stellar cast of Broadway performers—brilliantly led by director Tom Caruso and music director Matt Smedal—gathered to perform a full staged reading of this wacky period farce on Theatre Row in New York. It remains to be seen where, if anywhere, the show goes from here, but to my mind, the reading could not have gone better. I’m so grateful to everyone who made it part of their December.

When We Get There at the York Theatre in NYC

When We Get There at the York Theatre in NYC

by | Nov 18, 2023 | , ,

In October, a reading of our Civil Rights show When We Get There was produced as part of the York Theatre’s Musicals in Mufti series on New York’s Upper East Side. The theater even made a promo video for the run, complete with audience member reactions that truly warmed my heart. Along with my creative partners in the show, co-librettists Richard Lasser and Robert P. Young III, I was honored to work with director Janeece Freeman Clark, music director Dionne McClain-Freeney, and an amazing and talented cast of performers. Watching Janeece and Dionne mold this show was like seeing a master potter turn simple clay into a beautiful vase. I’m pleased to report that there is some interest in taking this to the next level. Stay tuned!

Give Me the Orchestra Returns

Give Me the Orchestra Returns

by | Oct 18, 2023 | , ,

Once again this fall, my wonderful home of Montgomery County, Maryland, sponsored an orchestral concert for every single second grader in the county. It amounts to thousands of kids, many of whom are experiencing live orchestral music for the first time. I was honored to have my composition Second Grade, Second Line aka Give Me the Orchestra included in the program. It’s a participatory piece with a New Orleans groove that introduces children to the orchestra’s various sections. There’s nothing quite like hearing 2,200 eight-year-olds screaming, “Give me the strings!”

Promotional poster for The Spectre of Death play in Allentown Sept-Oct 2023

Spectre in Allentown: ‘Wry, glib,’ ‘humorously quirky’

by | Oct 3, 2023 | , ,

The first run of The Spectre of Death, my heavy-metal comedy, is in the books, and the critics liked it! Here’s the Lehigh Valley Press:

“Barnett writes wryly, glibly and humorously about the foibles of fame and its often corrosive effects on the psyche. Barnett’s often laugh-out-loud funny play is a bit of a cautionary tale, and not only for aspiring, or expiring, old rockers.”

And the Lehigh Valley Stage:

“An original comedy that is humorously quirky with unexpected twists.”

I got to see two performances and was proud and honored by what the Crowded Kitchen Players were able to do with this play.

 

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