Charity - Make Me Shiver's rhythm guitarist, pianist, and songwriter

Charity's love of music began at an early age. Having been born into a very musical family (her grandfather was a guitar maestro; her father plays trumpet; one aunt plays saxophone; another plays trombone and drums), Charity began by learning to play the drums at age 8. A year later, when her father got an old piano from a dirt-floor garage, she taught herself how to play the instrument. A few years later, an aunt bought Charity four piano lessons held at a music store in downtown Spokane, Washington. During those lessons, she learned to read music, and began to write her own classical compositions.

At age 16, out of school and bored, Charity began to explore other instruments, including bass, mandolin, and trumpet, but eventually settled on guitar, in part as a homage to her grandfather, and in part because she really took to the instrument. "I found that knowing how to play one instrument -- in my case, piano -- helped immensely in learning a second," she says. After turning 17, Charity took a long break from music to focus on other interests, including art, attending college, and writing a novel. She returned to music, though, in 1999. Armed with dozens of songs, she formed the band "Forbidden Blue." Though the band she started has gone through several transformations (and name changes), Charity continues to endeavor toward a career in music, and writes several new songs a week. "Most of the stuff I churn out will never be heard by anyone but me, but I enjoy it, anyway. Creating something is like a part of me. I can't get enough of that feeling of creating something from nothing."

Charity adores the stage, and loves to perform live, especially when she gets a chance to perform her original music. "It's a rush, being onstage," she says. "There's nothing quite like the feeling of watching people dance or even just listen to music that you wrote and that they've never heard before. I guess that's where I get my highs: from entertaining others."