Charlie Lorenz - Musician, Store Manager

People or experiences that led me to where I am

My parents always encouraged me to get into art and music. When I moved to Ann Arbor, trying to get a job at the most important music store in town was the first thing I thought about.

How I got into this field

I grew up in a home were music was everywhere. My mother was a very successful and popular artist, and my father was an artist promoter. When I was 15 years old, I bought my first electric guitar, and since then I’ve been playing on a daily basis. I started playing live when I was 18, and at age 22 or so I started touring and recording pretty much non-stop.

What I like most about my work

Being in touch with things I love, music instruments (especially guitars), fellow musicians, etc. I also like a lot the fact that I keep on learning things on a daily basis.

Volunteer or other experiences you might check out to learn about my field

I guess being in touch with music and musicians helps.

Challenges and exciting changes I see in my field in the near future

There’s always room for improvement. We’d like to start having more workshops in the near future.

The kinds of training and education needed to keep up in my field

It is basically based on experience and music instruments knowledge. I’ve been playing live, recording and touring (both in the US and abroad) for the past 10 years; being surrounded by so much music was one of the best trainings I could ever get.

Other career fields where my skills could be put to use

Anything involving music instruments and/or musicians.

How my job impacts my family life

As I told you before, my parents made a living out of music. My wife is also a musician. We play together. We also run an independent record label and a booking agency for independent artists.