Meet Charity Hendricks Rael | Great Lumbering Beast band leader

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charity Hendricks Rael and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charity, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Live music isn’t nearly as sought after as it was in the ’90s, basically after the rise of the internet and social media. Everybody can find your content online or watch a video of last night’s performance so people aren’t clambering out of their doors to see you play every night so you tend to need a day job or some other means of making money to pay the rent and bills. I’ve actually been working security near a decade and my schedule has changed a lot over the years to make sure that I can continue doing music. I’m currently working four 10-hour days doing early shift so that way I’m available in the in the early evening to be able to plan practices with the other members. That does get really tedious though because there are show nights where you’re out until 3:00 to make sure everything is packed up and you get paid out, and if you got to be up at 4:30 a.m. to go to work the next day it could be a bit much sometimes. So I guess to answer your question with work-life balance I’m kind of faking it until I make it right now lol.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well I’ve been writing songs since I was about 6 and learned how to read and write. I’ve always been really empathetic and emotional in general so I wanted to be able to express that from a young age in a way that people were actually going to listen to me so I started writing songs. I guess I didn’t start actually taking my songwriting seriously until probably 2019 and some musicians that were pretty good actually took an interest but until then I played a lot of covers and very few originals outside of the house. Nothing has been easy but like I said before fake until you make it lol, a lot of it is confidence and having an opportunity or being lucky I guess. I learned a lot in the past few years doing this and if there’s one thing I know it’s I know nothing so I know I’ll be learning some more about the world the people and the industry whether I want to or not lol. If there’s anything I want people to know it’s that somebody’s got your back whether you know it or not or whether they know you or you know them personally somebody cares about you. This world is a big boat with a lot of holes but we’re all in it together and my music is not only a release for myself when I’m feeling certain emotions but it’s also for other people to be able to relate to and realize that they’re not alone when they’re struggling or feeling certain ways so always reach out if you feel like you need help, and if you feel like nobody else does just remember Great Lumbering Beast gives a f word about you all.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you’re coming to Denver you’re definitely going to want to check out one Denver’s best local dive bars One of the world’s best time bars as a matter of fact the legendary Carioca Cafe or as we call it here BAR BAR! Located at 2060 Champa Street in downtown Denver off 21st and Champa / Champa and Broadway. We are often a house band at Bar Bar and play there most every Thursday or Friday.

For food when you’re hungover the next day you’re going to want to check out the ranch house cafe off Colfax and Syracuse to get some pretty immaculate green chili on anything you want it on a burger a burrito some french fries whatever you want they’ll throw some of that delicious chili on there they also have some amazing breakfast skillets.

We’re also home to some of the best Rocky mountains you can find so if you’re into hiking head on west of Denver to one of our many trails or national parks such as Arapahoe or Roosevelt national Forest. And if you don’t want to head that far west for some family mountain fun head down to Chatfield State Park for some fishing Bird watching or a nice walk around some of the lakes.

If you’re not too tired from all that hiking come back into town and enjoy some delicious ramen at one of the many Ramen shops in Denver and Aurora such as Katsu Ramen in Aurora off Havana and Jewel, Jinya Ramen off of wyncoop and 17th right next to Union station downtown, Asuka Ramen off of Colfax and St Paul, Neko Ramen off 40th and Colorado boulevard in Central Denver, and Corner ramen on Bruce Randolph and gilpin Street. There are many more delicious ramen spots around the city but those are some of my favorites that I frequent.

After all that Ramen you’re probably going to want to have a couple drinks over at the legendary Lions Lair off of Colfax and race they always have some great live bands affordable drinks and great people coming in. But don’t forget to head back to Bar Bar to end out your night between Thursday and Sunday night when they are open.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Matt Colvin with the band nub from fort Collins

Brian Hook with the band florissant from Colorado springs

Website: greatlumberingbeast.bandcamp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatlumberingbeast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greatlumberingbeast

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@GreatLumberingBeast

Other: If you’re interested in booking you can email us at greatlumberingbeast@gmail.com

Image Credits
Lisa Dibern -Little Sister Shoots-