‘Gospel music can mould people’s lives’

said gospel music made it possible for him to preach the good news of salvation adding that such news gave hope to different people who listened to his music.
“I am a Christian who was baptised in 1999. As an artiste I believe gospel music preaches the word of God to people.
“As a gospel musician I find it easy to reach out to different sections of the people with God’s word packaged in music.
“Using the medium of music makes it possible for me to preach the good message of salvation which gives hope to different people in Zimbabwe.
“This message is that of Christ and his goodness to us,” said Charlie.
Although faced by numerous challenges during the initial stages of his musical career which included lack of equipment and knowledge of how to launch his career in gospel music, Charlie said he was now more established and has assisted other upcoming musicians who have approached him for help.
“There are many things involved in music which can present problems for many young and upcoming artistes and groups.
“I have assisted many artistes who approached me seeking advice and other forms of assistance” he said.
He added that sponsors and music promoters needed to find ways to assist talented musicians in Zimbabwe by giving them a platform to expose their music during live shows or concerts.
He said that he concentrated on performances in church and at the Harare Gardens to complement his CD sales adding that he often used his own money to support his music.
Charlie enjoyed singing for God while still a teenager until later in life when Faith Ministries identified his talent and elected him to lead the praise and worship team in church.
With encouragement from friends and colleagues at church, Charlie joined hands with a gospel music group “Inspiration” and they recorded an album “Ndiregererei” in 2002.
He soon decided to go solo and three years later recorded his 2005 debut album “Tichaonana”, which caused a stir in the gospel music sector.
Later projects included his second album “Tichafara” recorded in 2005 which was an instant hit among his fans.
His latest album, “Zvanaka”, was released in November last year after a five-year sabbatical from the recording studio.
Although his two first albums — “Tichaonana” and “Tichafara” — gave him a lift during the early stages of his career, it was “Zvanaka” which turned him into a house-hold name in gospel music.
With all the eight tracks on his album “Zvanaka” receiving good airplay on the country’s local radio stations, it was easy for Charlie’s music to gain acceptance among gospel music enthusiasts in Zimbabwe.
“I worked with my producer, Macdonald  ‘Macdee’ Chidavaenzi, who produced my music.
“We took time recording my album ‘Zvanaka’. This was mainly because we wanted to produce a quality product for my fans. We first started recording the album in March last year, with the aim of recording a song each month,” said Charlie.
He added that he was currently working on videos for his new DVD album, which is a follow-up to his CD album “Zvanaka”.
Charlie’s music has a strong jazz flavour that resounds throughout all the songs on his albums making it more of gospel   jazz.
“I love jazz and this has influenced my gospel music. My music can be classified as gospel jazz because you hear an acoustic guitar which sounds predominantly in all my songs” said Charlie.