Charla Rainey

Bio
Born into a music making family, Charla remembers singing as her life was beginning as much as she remembers learning to speak.

In 1991, while attending Baylor Dental School to become a dentist, Charla started hearing songs and seeing pictures in her head that had to be expressed. She played with a folk band in Dallas called "Hand in Hand" while finishing dental school. They recorded twice together ("Hand in Hand" and "This I Know"). She then moved on to play and record with a close friend Kristen Roberts ("My Friend"). Later she ventured into a few solo albums: one to reach out to those hurt by abortion ("Whiter than Snow"), the other to reach out to the people she had met in Nigeria suffering under civil unrest ("Sanu"). After this, she has been growing in home recording, and has been writing, collecting songs, sharing these songs with others, and growing on her varied instruments (guitar, keys, mandolin, dulcimer, whistles etc.) for the past 10 years. Some of these songs are currently being released on a new project, "Open Wide" on January 30, 2010, produced by Scott Macleod of Harvest Sound Productions in Nashville, TN.

Charla loves mixing sounds from countries that she has visited and pouring out her life story over these tunes. It is one of her favorite parts of life.

Visual artistry and dance is another big part of Charla's creative expression. Therefore, expressions of art, sound, and dance can be expected at any of her events.

Charla also finds fulfillment in creativity when others around her are succeeding in their own creativity. She has found a niche for this at Provision International (The Foundry) in Nashville, a ministry that exists for the cause of seeing others blossom in their creative gifts. Charla hostesses a songwriter night at The Foundry the third Tuesday of every month, where she enjoys being a part of developing other people's gifts of creativity and leading worship once a month for their church services.

Learn more about Charla's ministry here.

Donate to Charla's Ministry via PayPal.