This past weekend marked Charlie Glenn’s birthday, and while that might not ring a bell to everyone, it’s a name that anyone tapped into Richmond’s indie rock scene knows well. In my humble opinion, Glenn has been the best rock guitarist in our local scene for years. To mark the occasion, he released his first solo album, Get Reflected, with a special show at The Camel, drawing out a who’s who of Richmond’s last big surge in indie rock—a wave that crested about a decade ago and, at its height, propelled local singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus to national fame and multiple Grammy wins.
Seeing so many familiar faces packed into one room for Charlie’s night felt a lot like a high school reunion, only with better music and shared nostalgia. It was a celebration not just of Charlie, but of an era that still holds sway over many who were around when Richmond’s indie music scene was on the brink of something bigger—yet somehow fractured, and with the pandemic, went into hibernation.
Charlie’s new album Get Reflected is a testament to his years in the scene, blending personal reflection with that signature Glenn sound. The album feels like a conversation between his past and present—part John Lennon, part Trillions, that has been in the works for over ten years. There’s a fun, upbeat energy that’ll remind fans of his earlier work, but underneath it, you can sense a tension, a weight. At 40, with almost two decades in music behind him, Get Reflected carries the unmistakable feeling of an artist wrestling with the realities of time, the stress of the industry, and maybe even the idea of letting it all go.
The album plays like a balancing act—mostly light and fun on the surface, but with a darker undercurrent. Songs feel like a purging of sorts, like he’s laying it all out and admitting that maybe, just maybe, not everything works out in the end. That’s a sentiment that hits home for a lot of us still chasing the dream, still trying to make a living from our art.
After working through some of the heavier emotional terrain of Get Reflected, Charlie lightened the mood by giving us a taste of something we know we’ve missed—the short lived, but explosive rock band Palm Palm. Reuniting with frequent collaborator J. Roddy Walston, who has brushed close to the heights of the music industry himself, Glenn pulled the night back into full rock ‘n’ roll territory. The room buzzed as the band launched into tracks that reminded everyone why Palm Palm has been considered a potential hit machine. It was a perfect counterpoint to his introspective solo set—an artist showing both sides of himself in one night: the reflective songwriter and the pure, raw rock god.
The whole evening felt like a full-circle moment for Glenn, and for those of us lucky enough to witness. We got the introspective depth of his solo work and a blast of what’s to come with the possibility of Palm Palm’s future return.
What happens next? I have my thoughts, but for now, I am going to keep them to myself.
And with that, here are some incredible shots from the night, courtesy of our friend and frequent collaborator Joey Wharton, who captured the energy and spirit of the evening perfectly.
