Charles Riley

Teaches: Guitar

Charles is a Columbia native who began pursuing his interest in guitar at age 16. His early influences were that of classic iconic rock bands known for their heavily guitar driven music such as Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. After a few years of self teaching, Charles began writing songs and performing with the band Exit 101. Several years later in 2005, he joined the Brent McDonald band. In that setting, Charles first saw the value and importance of musical instruction and study.

Charles first took lessons from James Beresford, and then received instruction from Don Russo. Charles has been a full-time musician for nearly 6 years, and now looks forward to pursuing a fulfilling teaching career. As a player who spent many years struggling to learn basics on his own, and then grew much more quickly once he had proper instruction, Charles is very excited to share the same gift with his students.