Lauded as hearkening back “to Motown, Spector, or the Brill Building” by Huffington Post, Charlie Faye’s most recent musical endeavor, Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, was called a “modern-day ‘60s girl group” reminiscent of The Ronettes or The Supremes. Now, Faye’s new project for kids and families, Charlie Faye & The Fanimals, brings those same ‘60s-tinged soul/pop sounds to their self-titled debut album, Charlie Faye & The Fanimals.

 

“The thing that’s cool about this project is that it has a throwback sound, but the themes of the songs are very modern,” says Charlie Faye. “You wouldn’t have a Motown song in the ’60s about a little boy who wears a tutu. But now you do.”

 

Charlie Faye began her music career as a sideperson, singing and playing guitar and mandolin in Dan Zanes & Friends. Following that, Faye's career has been fueled by interesting ideas: In 2010, she did a solo tour around the country where she lived in a different city each month, put together a local band, and wrote and recorded a new song with local musicians in each place. Her best-known project to date, and most recent, was Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, which garnered high praise from media, earned Faye a publishing deal with Rough Trade, and got her songs placed in shows like Riverdale and Girlboss.

 

In 2019, Charlie Faye became a mother, and soon after, the world became a different place with the onset of the pandemic. Faye wasn't performing on stages like Austin’s Continental Club anymore – she was home with a baby. Fast forward through what was a slow year for all of us, and Faye had become a single mother of a toddler. It was around that time that she was inspired to start writing music again.

“As the parent of a toddler, I got to see firsthand what kind of music was out there for kids, and what kind of music my kid was drawn to,” says Faye. “There’s a lot of great stuff available, but so much of the music my daughter loves isn’t kids’ music at all – it’s music I’ve loved my whole life: old Motown hits, ‘60s soul and pop music … just songs with great grooves and great hooks.”