Catching up with Charlie Ballantine

Former Indy guitarist Charlie Ballantine talks about his life and career since moving with his family to Baltimore. We discuss his new record, East By Midwest ahead his date at Jazz Kitchen.

I recently caught up with former Indianapolis-based guitarist Charlie Ballantine as he hits the road for a few dates ahead of the release of his new record East by Midwest that drops on April 18.

Ballantine will return to The Jazz Kitchen this week for a sold out set with bassist Quinn Sternberg on bass and Paul Wells on drums. Sternberg is currently based in Asheville after around a decade in New Orleans. He and Ballantine met as undergrads at IU’s Jacobs School of Music. Wells. Catch a recently released clip of “Runaround” recorded live at Postal Recording studio in Indy.

I’m doing something a little different with this post. I’m publishing the interview in its entirety. It was edited for brevity and clarity. This is something I’m thinking about offering as a bonus for paid subscribers if you’re interested. Shout-out to my mother and the handful of others who have made the leap to support this work with their hard earned cash.

Let me know how you feel about the full length interview. In the future, I’ll probably get back to cutting things down to only the best quotes for more of a feature length article. But I’m happy to share what gets left on the chopping block. Sound off in the comments.

Charlie Ballantine Interview

Where are you on the road at the moment?

I’m actually here in Baltimore until the Midwest leg. I leave Saturday.

Oh, nice. For some reason, I thought you were hitting the East Coast first.

Yeah, we did three or four dates in New England. We did New Haven, Connecticut, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and then an upstate New York spot.

How’d those dates go?

They were great, man. Everything sold. It pretty much sold out. There are some really nice clubs out there. There’s a lot of money out there [laughs].

That’s true. Old money. Were they clubs you had hit previously, or new settings?

They were new spots for me. I’m a big fan of returning places.

That’s gotta be encouraging that you were packing venues you hadn’t played yet, though.

It was. You never know what’s going to happen on a Tuesday or Wednesday night.

How are things at home? How’s Amanda’s gig with the Jazz Commodores?

It’s going well. It has been busy with the election stuff, Jimmy Carter died. She was traveling a lot. So, yeah. She has been busy.

Take me back and walk me through the timeline of your move to Baltimore and when Amanda accepted that gig.

Let me think. It has been over two years now.

Man, how is that possible?

Amanda got the gig in 2022. She went through basic training. Then she moved out there in like January of 2023 or something. I had some tours, and other stuff in Indy that I had to take care of. So I moved out there in March or April of 2023.

It has been a good two years out here on the East Coast. It’s kind of where jazz lives in this country in a way, so it has been great.

That’s awesome. What does Amanda’s commitment on a week-to-week basis. You said it has been kind of insane recently with all these big events, but what does her typical week look like?

It varies. Sometimes they’ll just have a few rehearsals – two or three, hour-long rehearsals. That’s a week. Then some weeks they have something every night. They tour about a month a year. They do a different part of the country every time. It’s random. They flew them out to the Rose Bowl. They played the Rose Bowl Parade, but for the most part the schedule is not demanding, which is part of the draw for that gig.

Has she gigged much on the side? I saw you guys have a date together in a couple weeks, but what has her appetite for performing her original work looked like?

Yeah. Not as often in Baltimore. She’s pretty integrated into the D.C. scene. She plays a little bit in Baltimore, but that’s where all the military people are. So she’s at Blues Alley tonight in D.C. We were there last night, actually, with her group. So, she gets a lot of calls down there for a lot of different stuff. She does a lot of different kind of gigs down there.

And week-to-week for you, what does your life look like these days? You mentioned teaching commitments. What are those?

I’m teaching at Peabody Prep. I teach the high schoolers that are interested in jazz who want to go to Peabody Institute at John’s Hopkins University. That’s been a great job. I have some really amazing students up there. Then I teach at a private school on Capitol Hill. A couple times a week, I gotta drive down to the hill on I-95, possibly the worst stretch of interstate in this entire country.

The things we do for a paycheck. Talk a little bit about the gig that Amanda accepted and what that means for your family more broadly.

I mean free healthcare. There are countless advantages to the military. You can pay off your student loans. Also the VA loan. If you want to buy a house, it gives you the luxury of not putting down a downpayment. That’s how they get young people into the military. A lot of those soldiers do the 20 and they have a pension when they’re in their late 30s.

Yeah, that’s crazy. Beyond the obvious family support you all have in Indian, was the decision to leave difficult creatively? You had established a pretty nice following in Indy, but did you feel like you had it your ceiling in some way? Other than the obvious benefits of healthcare and things that are almost impossible to come by as an artist. Just talk about the decision to move musically.

It’s hard to say “hit a ceiling.” Because there are guys like Rob Dixon. There are just so many world class players in Indy. So it feels like the ceiling is really high there. I think the idea of growth through change and transition was part of it for us. I love Indianapolis, but I played Chatterbox 8,000 times. I played a lot at The Jazz Kitchen. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything, but you certainly get to a point where another scene is appealing. I had spent a lot of time out here, and that was why we decided to live in Baltimore, because I just love the city. I knew some musicians here, and I knew the caliber was really high. I think it was a challenge for me to set for myself.

As great as the scene in Indy is, it’s a small market. No matter how well you do, I think anybody will wonder, “I wonder if I could do this in New York. I wonder if I could be this successful in L.A. I wonder if, you know?” I toured a lot, but always had those curiosities, about New York especially, if I could hang there. It’s just been great. All my ultimate goals – the clubs that I dreamt of just playing some day, I’ve played. I’ve played with a lot of musicians that I listened to, who were my heroes growing up. That would’ve been a lot more difficult to accomplish in Indianapolis.

No doubt.

Getting booked at Smalls as an Indianapolis musician would’ve been a lot more challenging.

You’ve connected with guys like Rudy Royston who regularly play with heavyweights like Bill Frisell. How did you even make that connection? He’s a New York guy, right?

I had a string of gigs leading up to a recording session in New York when I first moved out here. We had a gig at Zinc and a gig in Brooklyn that I wanted to use as the rehearsals for a session leading up to it. So, I kind of just called my heroes. I knew John Cowherd who’s the piano player for Brian Blade’s group.

We’ve had the same management for many years, and I was kind of connected through that. I hadn’t done a lot of playing with him, but I contacted him first. I got him on the project, and that made it a lot easier. It kind of legitimized me. “Hey, me and John.” You know? Everyone wanted to play with John. They checked out my music and dug it, and they agreed to do it. That’s how I hooked up with Rudy and Tony Scherr. When I met Tony, he’s just the nicest person ever. He’s just a delightful guy.

He was like, “You’re from Indianapolis?”

I was like, “Yeah.”

And he goes, “Do you know Frank Smith?”

I was like, “Yeah, the bassist. Yeah, I used to play with him a lot.”

He said, “This is his bass!” I forgot Frank lived in New York. Tony was his next door neighbor. When he moved out of New York, he sold him his bass. [laughs] That was a cool moment.

No matter how far you get, you can’t escape Indianapolis somehow. That’s hilarious. Tell me more about Baltimore’s scene. You said it was vibrant. What’s your hometown scene like these days?

It’s great. I have some regular weekly and monthly hits. Then I run a big jam session on Sunday nights in the city. That’s been huge, because I meet everyone.

Where does that go down?

It’s a club called The Bluebird. It’s a really cool part of town, called Hampton. It’s maybe like the Fountain Square equivalent in Baltimore. But yeah, I feel very connected to the scene. Right away, we felt very loved, supported, and welcomed into the scene. It’s a very positive environment out here. A lot of beautiful people and beautiful musicians.

That’s awesome to hear. From the outside looking in, it looks like you’re thriving and you’ve really stretched your legs. That’s always great to see. I want to talk about the new record a bit. You recorded at Postal Recording, right?

I did. It was at the end of the last tour. I used it as an opportunity to hang out there and record again. I recorded the second to the last one in Brooklyn at a great spot. And it was great, but there’s nowhere in the world like Postal. It’s special.

Are you three or four records deep at Postal?

Probably like seven. I don’t know, but they keep having to buy hard drives, which I think is just hilarious. It’s a graveyard of horrible takes. I just think it’s funny that everything I’ve ever done exists there.

Keep them working there. That’s awesome. Quinn Sternberg plays bass on this new record. And he’s a Bloomington, native right? How did you guys link up? Did you connect at IU?

Yeah. He’s a townie. He’s a few years younger than me. We were in the same combos. We became good friends. We had similar interests in recreational, extra-curricular activities. So, we spent a lot of time together. He lived in New Orleans for probably 10 years. I recorded on a couple of his records down there. We remained close, even though we haven’t lived in the same place for a long time.

And he’s in North Carolina now?

Yeah, he moved to Asheville maybe a year or two ago.

Man, rough time to move to Asheville, in the wake of the hurricane and all its damage.

Yeah, that was six months into it or something.

I would question my move. Then, Dan Weiss plays drums. I don’t know anything about him. Tell me about him.

Oh, Dan is an absolute legend. He’s Cassius Goens’s favorite drummer. He’s a really legendary cat. His bio is pretty intense, through jazz and as far avant garde as you can get. He’s also really well known in the tabla world with Indian music and drumming. He has a huge following.

The first time I ever came across Dan, I was probably in high school. It was one of the first viral ouTube videos I remember seeing by a jazz musician. In a virtuosic joke. He was playing the drum set along with an auctioneer. It was five minutes of him matching this guy. It was insane. So, Dan is a very prolific cat. He lives in Brooklyn. I’ve done a bunch of tours with him since I moved out here. He’s a great player.

You’re on the road with Peter and Brendan, right? Why not hit the road with the guys you laid the record down with?

Well, Quinn is on the long stretch. He’s on the Midwest and Canadian dates. He’s on the record. It would’ve been great to have Dan Weiss with us. It just didn’t work out. It was fun having him at Postal [Recording] though. He loved Postal. He loved Tyler, and he freaked out over the Chinese food we ordered.

Tell me more about the guys who are on the tour. You said Quinn is on the Midwest dates, but tell me about the rest of the band.

A great drummer named Paul Wells. Another great guy I’ve met in New York. Another really prolific guy. He teaches at Julliard. He plays in the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He’s just a really great dude. Really amazing player. He did a tour with Amanda last year, and that was one of the first times I’ve played with him. I’ve been trying to set something up ever since. So I’m really excited to have him on it.

Awesome. What kind of freedom do you give them to stray away from the material as it was recorded?

I don’t really listen to the record. I think a lot of it is just following me. When you’re on the road at The Jazz Kitchen and places like that, you have to sound check before the doors. So, you’ll be there for maybe three in the afternoon until five or six in the evening.

I love sound checking. I don’t know why, but I love going into an empty club, playing the set down and just really going for it. So we have an idea of what it might feel like. It really varies night to night. Even on the first three dates of the tour, it sounded pretty different every night. It’s fun.

That is fun. Certainly keeps the material fresh and interesting for you. Indy next week. What should your old hometown crowd expect to hear? Are any of your old collaborators going to come out of the woodwork to join you? Any secrets you want to reveal?

I don’t think there will be any guests. I invited some people out to dinner, just to hang. I’ll get to see all the people I miss. As far as what to expect, it is going to be a lot of fun. We’ll play material from a lot of my records. It will be cumulative. We’ll really dig deep through everything and bring back some old stuff. \

It’s always a special show at Jazz Kitchen. Now more than ever. I think this might have been the longest time that I’ve spent away from the venue. It’s been exactly a year. I’m very excited for that show. I’m very excited for Yats. There are a couple of spots that there’s no place like it.

Anything to add?

It will just be special, man. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Indy. It will be a lot of fun. I’m excited to see everybody.

We’re excited to have you back home. I haven’t heard the new record yet. You often work thematically. What kind of themes are at play in this new material?

It’s called East by Midwest. Even the way the band was put together, everything emulated the merging of those two jazz cultures and scenes. Dan is my New York guy. Quinn is my Midwest homie, and the music has blended into something different since I’ve been out here. It’s not Indiana cowboy jazz. It has a different vibe. That was the goal, to celebrate two great perspectives on jazz that are completely different.

I like it. Right on man. I’ll let you know if I have any follow-up questions as this comes together, but it has been nice to catch up and talk. Thanks for the time. Send me love to River and Amanda. Stay safe on the road.

Yeah, it’s great to talk. How’s Walt and Carrie?

Walt’s good. We’re in a very long Bruce Springsteen phase. I never thought I’d say this, but if I have to listen to “Hungry Heart” again, I may pull my ears off the side of my head.

Hey, it could be worse than Bruce Springsteen. River had a “Strawberry Fields” thing for a few months. That’s why it ended up on the new record. It was funny, I played my recording for her and I was like, “Do you like this?” and she was like, “This is not the song.” [laughs]

That has to feel good. That’s amazing. Well, I love you. Be safe on the road, and I’ll see you next week.

Love you too, man.