If you had told me five years ago that I’d eventually have a music website, my own merchandise, a bunch of livestreams, a YouTube channel and a whole bunch of folks I now consider friends tuning in to hear me play guitar, I probably would have laughed at you.

Heck, I probably would have asked you what you had been drinking.

Because this whole music thing wasn’t exactly part of some grand master plan.

It just kind of happened.

And when I look back at where it started, it’s kind of funny how long the road has been.

IT STARTED WITH AN OLD GUITAR

I got my first guitar from a friend back when I was in junior high.

He had upgraded to an electric guitar and gave me his old cheap classical guitar. Somehow, with absolutely no idea what I was doing, I taught myself a few basic open chords.

I later learned that guitar players call them “cowboy chords.”

That seemed appropriate.

I had plenty of other hobbies and activities going on back then, so I never really progressed much beyond those basic chords. I’d pick up the guitar every now and then, fool around with it and put it back down.

That old classical guitar actually followed me around for quite a while.

After high school, I joined the Army and it went with me to North Carolina and then all the way over to Germany. Every now and then I’d pick it up and mess around with it.

Unfortunately, that old guitar didn’t make it back home with me.

When the movers brought my stuff back from Germany to Texas, they managed to break it.

I guess that was its way of telling me it had served its country and was ready for retirement.

Over the years I had several other guitars. I’d buy one, tinker with it for a while and eventually sell it. Once I finished college and started my engineering career, the guitar pretty much took a back seat to life.

For a long time, I figured that was probably the end of it.

It wasn’t.

THEN SOMEBODY MADE ME PLAY

About five years ago, when my wife and I were dating, we ended up staying a weekend in Houston with a friend of ours who was in a band.

We had all been doing karaoke together for a while, and somehow he found out that I used to play guitar.

That was apparently all the information he needed.

One night he turned on the amp, plugged in his Telecaster and microphone, handed me the guitar and basically said, “Play.”

I explained to him that I hadn’t picked up a guitar in almost ten years.

He didn’t care.

I tried explaining that I really wasn’t ready to get up there and play and sing in front of anybody.

He didn’t care about that either.

So there I was.

Terrified.

I picked up the guitar and started playing and singing for him and my girlfriend.

And let me tell you something.

It was pretty terrible.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it.

There were wrong chords. There were missed notes. There was probably some singing that should have been classified as a minor public disturbance.

But something happened that night.

It lit a fire.

I picked up a guitar again.

Then I got another guitar.

Then I started practicing.

Then I learned a few songs.

Then I started learning more.

Eventually, I got brave enough to walk into a few open mics around the area and stand up in front of complete strangers with a guitar in my hands.

That was a whole different kind of terrifying.

But I kept doing it.

And eventually, I found my way to TikTok.

THEN CAME THE LIVESTREAMS

That’s where things really started getting interesting.

I started doing livestreams and playing country music for whoever happened to wander into the room.

At first, it was just me and a guitar.

Then people started coming back.

Then more people started coming back.

Eventually, I started recognizing names.

And now we’ve got ourselves a pretty darn good little TikTok family.

There are folks who show up regularly, folks who pop in when they can and new folks who wander through the door every time I fire up a livestream.

Somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling like I was just sitting in front of a camera playing songs.

It started feeling like I was sitting around picking a guitar with a bunch of friends.

And that’s probably my favorite part of all of this.

I’M STILL LEARNING

Here’s the funny thing.

After all these years, I still have a lot to learn.

I don’t think that’s ever going to change.

There will always be another chord to learn, another song to figure out, another technique to practice and something else that makes me wonder why I ever thought playing guitar was a good idea.

But I’ve learned something along the way that I wish I’d understood when I was younger.

You don’t have to wait until you’re “good enough” to enjoy doing something.

For a long time, I think I looked at things as:

“I’ll really enjoy this when I get good at it.”

That’s backwards.

These days, I’m much more interested in enjoying the process.

I enjoy playing.

I enjoy singing.

I enjoy learning.

I enjoy messing up and figuring out what I did wrong.

And I enjoy sharing it with people who want to listen.

Not everybody is going to like my music.

And you know what?

That’s perfectly okay.

Willie Nelson isn’t everybody’s cup of tea.

Neither is Waylon Jennings.

Or Merle Haggard.

Or Kris Kristofferson.

Or Johnny Cash.

Or just about anybody else who has ever picked up a guitar and stood in front of a bunch of strangers and bared their soul through a song.

You can’t make everybody happy.

So I’ve decided I’m not going to try.

I’m just going to play the songs I enjoy and hope they mean something to somebody else too.

SO, I GUESS THIS IS GETTING REAL

That’s how I ended up here.

A kid with a cheap classical guitar.

An old guitar that traveled halfway around the world with me.

A long stretch where I hardly played at all.

One stubborn friend in Houston who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

A terrified attempt at playing again.

A whole lot of practice.

Some open mics.

A few more guitars than I probably needed.

And eventually, a little corner of the internet where I get to sit down with my guitar and play some country music for some pretty good folks.

Now I’ve got Charles W. Smith Music, a website, merchandise, livestreams, original songs, a YouTube channel I’m still trying to figure out and a song request system that makes me feel a little more technologically advanced than I probably really am.

Apparently, this music thing is starting to get real.

And I’m having a heck of a lot of fun with it.

Every time I fire up a livestream, crank the fire up under the dancin’ chicken and start pickin’ that guitar, I never really know who’s going to walk through the door.

Some nights it’s the familiar faces.

Some nights it’s a whole bunch of new folks.

And that’s what makes it fun.

To my beautiful wife, Tammy, thank you for encouraging me, believing in me and for always having my back.

To My Beautiful Tammy, My sweet Mama Nellie, Marcie, Laura, Steve, Nick, Alan, Maggie, Dana, Celine, Jack, Sweetthang, Caveman, Louise, who were all there from the beginning, and all the rest of my TikTok family who keep showing up and hanging out with me, THANK YOU. It means the world to me, having y’all there.

You have made this little adventure a whole lot more fun than I ever expected it to be.

And to everybody who has recently found me, welcome aboard.

Grab yourself a chair, or pull up a virtual stump and stay awhile.

I’ll keep working on getting better.

I’ll keep learning new songs.

I’ll probably hit a few wrong notes along the way.

And I’ll keep playing anyway.

Because after all these years, I’ve finally figured out that the goal isn’t to wait until I’m good enough.

The goal is to enjoy the ride.

And from where I’m sitting, it’s been one heck of a ride so far.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a guitar to tune.

That dang thing is always needing something. 😂