Musical Charis is a Sacramento indie-pop/folk group built around the vocal duo of Blake Abbey and Jessie Brune (later Jessie Abbey), known for harmony-rich songwriting, an open collaborative live format, and for founding a community music school in Oak Park.[1][2][3] The group is best understood not as a conventional band but as a fluid "musical entity" with a rotating cast of contributors.[1][2] The band was inducted into the SAMMIES Hall of Fame in 2015[4] and has remained active well past its Submerge coverage window, releasing music through at least November 2025.[5]
At a glance
- Sacramento-based; formed in 2008 after the Abbey brothers and Colin Vieira relocated from Florida to Sacramento.[2]
- Core duo: Blake Abbey (guitar/vocals) and Jessie Brune/Abbey (keyboards/vocals); the two are engaged in 2012 and married by 2013.[2][6]
- Emerged alongside Owltrain from the late-2008 breakup of Sacramento pop-rock band Self Against City.[7]
- Co-founded the all-ages Musical Charis Music School in Oak Park (grand opening May 2, 2009).[1]
- Won the SAMMIES Best Indie Band of the Year in 2011; nominated in 2010 and 2012; inducted into the SAMMIES Hall of Fame in 2015.[2][4]
- Prolific live act, reportedly playing up to 150 shows a year including national tours.[2]
Origins and members
Musical Charis emerged from the late-2008 implosion of the Sacramento-based pop-rock band Self Against City; the breakup split its members into two new groups that became Musical Charis and Owltrain.[7] Blake Abbey, formerly of Self Against City, formed the core of Musical Charis together with Jessie Brune, described as a prominent local singer/songwriter.[7] By the group's own account, it formed in 2008 following the relocation of the Abbey brothers and Colin Vieira from Florida to Sacramento.[2]
The lineup is intentionally fluid. The core duo is Blake Abbey (guitar/vocals) and Jessie Brune (keyboards/vocals), with additional musicians joining for various instruments at shows.[7][2] By 2012 the recording/touring lineup also included bassist Colin Vieira and guitarist Bradley Abbey (Blake's brother), who shared an apartment with the core duo.[2] Contributors on the 2012 album FOOL$ GOLD included Jarrod Affonso (drums), Brian Brown (keys), and Shawn King.[2] The 2013 live recording lineup featured Blake Abbey (acoustic guitar/kick-drum/tambourine), Jessie Abbey (Rhodes/synth/hi-hat), Joe Kye (violin), Sam Barlow (electric guitar), Colin Vieira (bass), and Marc Del Chiaro (electric guitar).[8]
Blake Abbey and Jessie Brune were engaged and living together as of 2012, and were married by mid-2013, when Brune is referred to as Jessie Abbey.[2][6][8]
Local status
Musical Charis is unambiguously a Sacramento-scene band. Submerge repeatedly describes it as a "local indie-pop group" and "beloved local indie-pop group" deeply embedded in "Sacramento's music culture."[3][6] The band has been based in Sacramento since its 2008 formation, when its founding members relocated from Florida to Sacramento.[2] (Origin governs local status: the band coalesced and operates as a Sacramento act regardless of some members' Florida roots.) Confidence: high.
Philosophy and the Musical Charis Music School
Vocalist Jessie Brune characterized the group as "more of a musical entity" than a traditional band, citing a communal lifestyle—living, eating, writing, and paying bills together—and a refusal to "sell out" or take press photos.[1] In 2009 the group co-founded the all-ages Musical Charis Music School in Oak Park, located at 3600 Stockton Blvd., next to the Colonial Theatre, with a grand opening on May 2, 2009.[1][2] The school offered a free place to play and inexpensive lessons, doubling as the band's practice, recording, and writing space.[1] The project drew the attention of Mayor Kevin Johnson, an Oak Park native, who met with Brune to discuss the area's need for after-school programs.[1] By 2012, the band taught lessons out of Beatnik Studios in guitar, piano, singing, songwriting, and performing, sometimes letting students open shows.[2]
Live performances
Musical Charis became known for high-energy, unpredictable, never-rehearsed shows in which the stage is treated as a shared space: members swap instruments, auxiliary drummers and guitarists rotate, other bands join in, and audience members are invited up to play—occasionally putting a dozen people onstage at once.[2] The band reported playing as many as 150 shows a year, including an annual 65-day national spring tour, smaller tours, and SXSW.[2] Submerge called the group "one of the best sounding live bands from Sacramento."[8] An early Submerge review of a March 18, 2009 show at Marilyn's on K—reuniting the Self Against City factions—noted live favorites "The Life," "Anatomy," and "Baby Blue."[7]
Blake Abbey also hosted the first Non-Drummer Drum-Off, a comedic event at the Westfield Downtown Plaza mall on December 4, 2011, co-organized with the ZuhG Life store.[9]
Discography and releases
Submerge coverage documents a prolific output, though some titles and dates are reported loosely:
- Electra Church Bells — slated for a late-May 2009 release via JMB Records.[7]
- A full-length album was anticipated around late June 2009.[1]
- People People (JMB Records, July 23, 2010)[10][11] — full-length reviewed by Submerge, melding keyboards, xylophones, piano, guitars, bass, and female harmonies, with a late-'60s/early-'70s feel.[12] The album contains 10 songs with a total runtime of 34 minutes 43 seconds.[11] Full tracklist: Tell Me, Slice of the Pie, Forward, Passport, Big Ball, Andy, Touchy Hands, Jezebel, Fish, and Baby Blue.[11]
- Ace of Space (JMB Records, August 11, 2011)[13][14] — described in 2012 as a prior release.[2] The album contains 7 songs with a total duration of 24 minutes.[13]
- FOOL$ GOLD (JMB Records, released Oct. 11, 2012) — described as the band's fourth release; seven tracks of indie pop recorded with engineer Joe Johnston at Pus Cavern, with closing track "Sunlight Stalker" co-written long-distance with Florida musician Chris King.[2]
- Cherish the Charis (released July 18, 2013) — described as the band's fifth full-length, a 23-track collection spanning five years of songs (including covers and new material), with track titles hidden under scratch-off diamond stickers; initially withheld from iTunes to emphasize the physical release.[6]
- Coast to Coast Christmas EP (December 8, 2015)[15] — a holiday collaboration with Orion Walsh released under the credit "Musical Charis & Friends"; produced by Blake Abbey and co-produced by Jessie Abbey.[15]
- Live EP/DVD — seven songs recorded live Nov. 11, 2013 at Velveteen Laboratory in Los Angeles (a studio owned by Taylor Locke of Rooney), released via JMB Records on iTunes Jan. 1, 2014; the physical release debuted Dec. 6, 2013 at Harlow's.[8]
- Abbeycadabra (released October 20, 2018)[16] — a release by Musical Charis under the Jessica Abbey label, classified as Children's Music; represents a distinct genre and label departure from the earlier JMB Records catalog.
(Note: Submerge's own numbering is internally inconsistent—FOOL$ GOLD is called the "fourth release" in 2012 and Cherish the Charis the "fifth" in 2013—so the exact release count and chronology should be treated as approximate.)
The band continued releasing music well past the 2017 Submerge coverage window. According to Apple Music, post-2017 output includes singles from 2021 (Chasing Cars feat. Jenna Terranova; Where Is My Mind feat. Haute Mess), 2023 (Frozen; Over the Edge; Lucky; Steal My Sunshine), 2024 (Motivational Speechless feat. Chas Huff), and 2025 (IYKYK, released November 27, 2025).[5]
Awards
Musical Charis was nominated for SAMMIES (Sacramento Area Music Awards) Best Album of the Year in 2010 and Best Indie Band of the Year in 2012, and won Best Indie Band of the Year in 2011.[2] The band was inducted into the SAMMIES Hall of Fame in 2015; induction requires winning awards in more than one year (at the time of the Sacramento News & Review's 2019 listing, the threshold was three wins).[4]
Scene relationships
The band shared bills and association with numerous Sacramento acts: it gigged with Lite Brite, Prieta, and Goodness Gracious Me, and played Goodness Gracious Me's 2010 CD release at the Blue Lamp.[17] It appeared on Lite Brite's July 6, 2012 CD release at Ace of Spades alongside Stuck, Simpl3jack, The Hungry, and The Trees.[18] The FOOL$ GOLD release show (Oct. 11, 2012, Townhouse Lounge) shared a bill with Autumn Sky, Hey Zeus, and James Cavern.[2] The Cherish the Charis show (July 18, 2013, Harlow's) featured openers Jesi Naomi and the Trippers and Orion Walsh and the Rambling Hearts.[6] Musical Charis also appears on the "Sac Go Home Fest" 2014 live compilation recorded at the Midtown venue Witch Room.[19]
In 2014, Blake Abbey joined the local folk/rock group Sea Legs alongside members of The Inversions and Todd Weber of Blame the Bishop.[20] The band repeatedly worked with JMB Records and recorded at Sacramento's Pus Cavern.[12][2]
In June 2015, Blake Abbey was one of three local musicians injured in a Midtown Sacramento stabbing that police reclassified as a hate crime after the assailant yelled homophobic slurs; the local music community organized benefit shows in response.[21] Jessie Abbey contributed a remembrance to Submerge's 2017 tribute to longtime Harlow's soundman John Carlson, recalling how he jammed onstage with the band.[22]