Charlie Pace

Charlie Pace is on a journey of self-discovery and she’s inviting the world to take part in the journey. Along the way, she’ll rock out to move the body and touch hearts by baring her soul through her music. 

The 20-year-old Copeland resident is a singer-songwriter-guitarist focused on carving out a career in music, both onstage and as a recording artist. She regularly plays venues and events in Naples and Lee County and on Marco, both solo and with her Charlie Pace Band. She’s also ventured beyond Southwest Florida to entertain at music festivals as far away as Delaware and Georgia. 

Her free-spirited, warm nature radiates, as does an eclectic fashion sense that’s matched by musical tastes that embrace rock, funk, folk, blues, R&B, new wave and alternative. She’s also a fan of punk, a passion she explores with another group she leads, CAAM. Regardless of the genre, songs are highlighted by Pace’s soulful voice and dynamic performance style. 

Cover tunes, that staple of local entertainment venues, comprise part of her energetic live sets. Audiences are also treated to her catchy, self-penned tunes. Lyrically, some are reflections on her life’s journey thus far. Others are observations on the human condition and the state of the world. Taken together, they reveal a quest for understanding and a grasp of life’s paradoxes and promises that show a maturity beyond her years. 

Pace began performing professionally at 14 and released her first single, “Blue Eyes,” at age 15. The single “Juicebox” came the following year. 2023 saw the release of her first album, the 18-song “Hear Me Out.” Today, she’s working on her second album, “Human Error,” which will serve as a sister album to its predecessor. Several singles from the album will be released by June. The remainder will be released in time for her 21st birthday in October. 

“Hear Me Out” is a lyrical journey of self-examination. However, with “Human Error,” she turns her attention outward, rather than inward, in the subjects it examines. 

“I'm using my voice to talk about us,” Pace said of her songwriting approach for the new album. “So, this time, it's not all about me. We all share different traumas as a society and as people. The human experience is not easy. I just want to collectively describe that because I feel like there's a lot we relate to as people that we just don't take time to talk about.

“I wish more of society, more people my age, would think about the big picture,” said Pace. “The entire world has to get on the same page in order for us to survive. It's down to every single person to save the earth, to save the government, to save everything. We have to work together as a community. I kind of want to use the record to say, ‘Hey, we should talk to each other.’ We need to do it.’” 

Pace first took the stage at age nine at the annual Everglades City Seafood Festival, where she continues to perform. She was 11 when she began writing music. 

Locally, she can be found performing, solo and with bandmates, at such establishments as The Boardroom Tavern, The Shops of Olde Marco, and Kava Culture in Marco Town Center, where she hosts open-mike nights on Thursdays. 

Her music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and other streaming services, as well as in video form on her YouTube Channel. It’s also been in heavy rotation on the Fort Myers-based internet radio station US 41 Radio, which features Southwest Florida artists. 

Matt Mangas, the station’s owner-operator, said he first learned of Pace’s music about three years ago when her mother, Donna Pace, brought it to his attention. 

"The first thing she sent me was kind of rudimentary, just a basic R&B cover - I think it was ‘Respect,’ he said. “But it was when she started sending me her original music that I started to take notice and realize that this girl is a serious talent and really, really needs to be nurtured. That's when I got interested in her music for the benefit of my audience.”

“A lot of the stories she tells in her songs came right out of her young life,” said Mangas. “The fact that she's so young and writing songs that are so mature really bodes well for her future because you can only get better as you get older and play with better people. She's on her way. All she needs is the support of her hometown people to really get her to that next level and she just needs to get out there and play as much as she possibly can.”

Mangas said that in his 45 years in radio, Pace’s voice is as good as any he’s heard. 

“But the thing that really sets her apart is her writing ability,” he added. “She can write in just about any style, anything from dancehall, to pop, to rock, to heavy metal, to punk. She can write a song in pretty much any one of those genres and knock it out of the park. Her album “Hear Me Out” in my opinion, is one of the best albums that's been released by anybody in the last couple of years. That's how good it is.” 

Mangas predicts Southwest Florida will lose her fairly soon to a big city, a move necessary for success in the music business. 

“She's got all the tools and most importantly,” he explained. “She's got the drive and in the music business, that's everything. You have to have the ability to weather the storms and the hassles and the inconveniences that go with being a professional musician these days. And she's real tough and really, really smart. You add that to her talent and you know, there's really no stopping her.”

Touring nationally and internationally, eventually, is where her sights are set. Until then, she’s enjoying the journey and marveling at the part music has played in her life so far. 

“Basically, music is just a beautiful thing because you're always searching for the deepest, truest form of who you are as a person. You know, I've got my whole life ahead of me with this thing that I love and I just think that's awesome. I couldn't imagine it any other way, so I just can't wait to see what I make next.”

For more information about Charlie Pace and her music, please visit charliepacemusic.com/. For more information about US 41 Radio, please visit us41radio.com/.