Charles Wesley Godwin at Tønder Festival 2025

The successful American singer and songwriter, Charles Wesley Godwin, has won the hearts of both listeners and critics with his raw, cinematic and passionate songs.
To Tønder Festival he and his band are bringing his own authentic brand of country songwriting, americana from the Appalachians, stories from down home and personal tales exposing life's inner side, so we all can feel part of it. With his deep baritone and an eye for both the detail and long currents, Charles Wesley Godwin touches his audiences with the lighthearted and the reflective.

It Looked Like American Football

Growing up in West Virginia, son of a coal miner and a teacher, Charles Wesley Godwin thought sport was to be his career. But he didn't get picked for the college team and he compensated by learning the guitar.
This turned out handy when, on an exchange student visit to Estonia, he entertained his new friends, strumming and singing about his home state. He won his first fans and played his first concerts. Once home, after graduation, he took up the musician's life full-time.

His debut album Seneca (2019) was a success, winning praise from reviewers. Godwin toured USA then played full houses in Europe. When the Covid pandemic put a temporary stop to touring, he spent the time writing the album How the Mighty Fall (2021), a collection of songs about characters and their choices. This album established his name in both USA and Europe.

Songwriting as a compass
In 2023, Godwin followed up with another gem, a critically acclaimed album, Family Ties, a deeply personal album containing 17 songs as if from a daily journal, lifting the unpretentious songwriter and talented storyteller's soars to new career heights.

Neither intensive touring nor international recognition have jolted Godwin's inner compass: "I just want to go on writing as I always have, recording when I can, go on making music. For that's what makes me happy,” he said in an interview in 2024, his most productive year to date.
In 2024, Charles Wesley Godwin wrote nearly 30 songs, releasing seven of them on the EP Lonely Mountain. Mostly written on the road, the songs represent life's quieter moments, seen through traditional country eyes. They are poetical reflections, Godwin meticulously picking over situations to bare the sensitive moments life opens for us.

Charles Wesley Godwin plays on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th August.

THE MUSICIAN:

Charles Wesley Godwin (USA)

His music has been called cinematic country folk, as scenic and wild as his home countryside in West Virginia. This is americana from the Appalachians delivered in Charles Wesley Godwin's precise songwriting and his rural baritone.

Growing up in coalmining country, son of a coalminer and a teacher, Godwin reckoned on a career in sport. But he did not make the college football team and learned guitar instead. Soon after graduating, he began playing music full time.

His debut album Seneca (2019) was a success, winning critical praise. Godwin toured USA then played full houses in Europe. When Covid put a temporary stop to touring, he spent the time writing the album How the Mighty Fall (2021), a collection of songs about people and the choices they make. In 2023, he followed up with 17 deeply personal, diary-like songs on the well-reviewed album Family Ties. This lifted his career to new heights, without reducing his drive to write songs.
In 2024, Godwin's hitherto most productive year, he wrote about 30 songs, releasing seven of them on the EP Lonely Mountain, snapshots in song of life on the road. These are poetical reflections, Godwin meticulously picking over situations, barring life's more sensitive moments.

Charles Wesley Godwin is bringing his band with him to Tønder Festival, and this will be their only concerts and festival in Denmark in 2025.

Tønder Festival 2025 – so far:

Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group (USA), Take Me To The River (USA), Joe Henry (USA), Sons Of The East (AUS), Natalie McMaster & Donnell Leahy (CAN), Elephant Sessions (SCO), Oysterband (ENG), Rikke Thomsen (DK), John Smith (UK), Jeffrey Foucault, USA), Tina Dickow og Helgi Jonsson (DK, IS), Melissa Carper (USA), Fantastic Negrito (USA), Adeem The Artist (USA), The Lonesome Ace Stringband (CAN), The Langan Band (SCO), Quote the Raven (CAN), Michael Falch & Zonen (DK), Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys (CAN), Flook (IRL, ENG, UK), The Hello Darlins (CAN), Trousdale (USA), Allan Olsen & Norlan (DK), Kellie Loder (CAN), Matt Andersen (CAN), Stundom (DK), The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (CAN), Talisk (SCO), Nanna Carling Swingband (SE), Hans Theessink Band (NL, ZW, A), Avi Kaplan (USA), S.G. Goodman (USA), Elias Rønnenfelt (DK), Evan Honer (USA), Mànran (SCO), Kellermensch (DK), Dervish (IRL), ULD (NO), Crowe Boys (USA), Väsen & Hawktail (USA/SE), Charles Wesley Godwin (USA).

Tønder Festival 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th August 2025

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