History:

Charlie Earnst is a singer-songwriter from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Earnst grew up in Nashville, Pennsylvania. Influenced by The Beatles, he took up bass guitar at an early age. Earnst was originally a bass guitarist in local lounge and hard rock bands in southern Pennsylvania. These included Charlie Company and Second Best Trip. Charlie Company did country and CCR covers while Second Best Trip was inspired by heavier acts at the time, like Ten Years After, Black Sabbath, and Grand Funk Railroad. 

After noticing the lack of connection with his audience, Earnst grew disillusioned with rock music and converted to Christianity. Earnst explained this in depth during our conversation:

“Most jobs ended with fuzzy memories of the last set as my alcohol consumption was somewhere near five songs to a gallon. That is part of the disillusionment of the rock scene. I kept thinking that if I had to be in that shape to play and looking at the crowd and they had to be in the same shape to enjoy it there had to be more to it. I reached the end of my rock career when I found Jesus.  Committed my life to him, traded my bass for a 12 string acoustic and taught myself how to play.”

After teaching himself guitar, Earnst began writing and composing gospel songs from 1971 onwards. He composed a few hundred tunes but only five ever made it to wax. Earnst recorded his only album "A Question Of Faith" beginning in early 1974. The album features five self-penned tunes in a folk rock style that Earnst says were inspired by Neil Young, Cat Stevens, and Larry Norman. It was eventually completed and released around Thanksgiving of the same year. One thousand copies were pressed through popular indie company QCA. 

Earnst played almost every instrument on the album himself, including 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars, bass guitar, lead guitar, percussion, and drums on "Come To Jesus". He was joined by Jim De Salvo on Drums on "A Question Of Faith" and Sister Lou played flute on "Come To Jesus". The album was recorded at local Waltersdorff Recording Studio in York. Side A featured a rock style while Side B followed a more acoustic sound. Earnst explained that the recording process for Side A was very complicated: 

“Dave [Waltersdorff], owner of the studio, was real familiar with recording bluegrass bands on 1 mike with the band playing and singing all at once.  I was the first musician he recorded using multi-takes. I would first record the rhythm guitar and lead vocal on 2 tracks (he had a 4 track tape), play that back on headphones while I recorded the bass on track 3. On the title song the drums were added on track 4 then everything was mixed on toa 2 track recorder and put back on channels 1&2 of the 4 track machine. The harmony vocals were then recorded on the two open tracks and again mixed [onto] the 2 track tape. Those were put back onto the 4 track tape and the lead guitar plus any other sounds were added onto tracks 3 & 4. Then the final mix was done on the 2 track machine.”

Earnst would have recorded more songs, but budgetary restrictions got in the way. The album was sold at local coffeehouses and churches where Earnst had played. His goal was to have an album created to give to his fans. After 1974, Earnst formed a christian trio called Lion’s Mane. He eventually returned to the studio. Earnst explained that they:

“...had a recording studio with an 8 track Tascam reel to reel where I recorded enough to release another album (12 songs on that one). Unfortunately, circumstances did not favor completing the pressing but I have a master tape from the session. Again I played 6 and 12 string acoustic, electric lead bass and all vocals. Had some talented musicians help me.”

The album remains unreleased but some tracks may be put on his Spotify in the future. In recent years, Earnst is a bowling coach outside of York. He still produces and records his own music, but does not perform live regularly. His album “A Question of Faith” was reissued in 2011 in South Korea. However, as Earnst himself put it:

“I found out about the CD when I was on eBay and saw it for sale. That is a bootleg release as they never contacted me for permission to do it. Needless to say I get no royalties from it.”

In order to listen to his music properly, you would have to listen to his Spotify. Earnst just released a new album last week titled "To The Promised Land". The album is a collection of bluegrass and folk tunes recorded over the years. To listen, click the link in the Preamble section which will take you to his new recording. He also released a new single "Blind Leading Blind" which is a great 70's sounding folk track. I would like to again thank Charlie Earnst for his time and information he supplied to this page.