Author: CharliesTrail

  • How to give a good toast

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    CharliesTrail
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    We all know that you don’t have to be a public speaker to be a best man or a maid of honor. The only requirement for the position is being a best friend. It’s not a job, it’s an honor and a responsibility that comes from years of trust, years of long talks, years of…

  • “Crashing” the Indy 500

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    CharliesTrail
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    I was back in my hometown of Fishers, Indiana, driving in for the weekend from Kentucky, where I was going to school at the University of Louisville. For some extra cash, I turned to bartending, graduating as a “certified mixologist” from the Midwest Bartending School. Usually this took two weeks, but since the only people…

  • ‘Jingling’ proves lucrative after all

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    CharliesTrail
    in

    I always thought it’d be fun to record a jingle. Think about it. “Mentos,” “My Buddy,” “Kit Kat,” “Oscar Mayer Wiener,” “Folgers.” All those little ditties just come alive in your head, don’t they? “Fresh goes better, Mentos freshness, fresh goes better with Mentos, fresh and full of life. Mentos, the freshmaker.” That’s what jingles…

  • Behind “Whispers of the Lonely” (as published in Glendive Ranger Review)

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    CharliesTrail
    in

    Three and a half years ago I went to the Rudyard Kipling in downtown Louisville, Ky. to work the door and support my friend Hambone, who was playing music full time. At the time, Hambone was a one-man band, playing guitar, kick-drum and high-hat all at once while singing. That evening he shared the billing…

  • CD Release Party in Wibaux: a dream realized

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    CharliesTrail
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    CD Release Party in Wibaux: a dream realized by CHARLIE DENISON In the two and a half years I was in Eastern Montana, one magical night stands out more than any other. Sunday, Feb. 19 at the Beaver Creek Brewery. It was a highly anticipated event that all began when I first visited the brewery…

  • Why I Wear a Fedora

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    CharliesTrail
    in

    My name is Charlie, and I wear a fedora. I’ve been wearing one for two years now. Many times I think nothing of it. On a recent trip to Boston, however, I read your anonymous grip on fedora wearers, grouping us all together, associating us with the hipster movement. “Your friends are worried for you.…

  • Remembering Brett

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    CharliesTrail
    in

    “It’s snowing,” he said. “It’s beautiful.” That’s the last thing I heard Brett say before we got cut off. I was driving out to Intake, one of the best-known fishing access sites in Eastern Montana, 17 miles north of Glendive, where I was working as a newspaper reporter. “You sound at peace,” I said. He…