Charles O'Meara (March 13, 1953 – October 20, 2018)Madison Funeral Home https://www.guilfordfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Charles-Chuck-OMeara?obId=3393202#/obituaryInfo better known as C.W. Vrtacek, was an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was a founding member of Forever Einstein and group member with Biota.
Career Vrtacek took up guitar at the age of 11, and played in the band Dancing Lessons before starting Forever Einstein with Dancing Lessons drummer John Roulat.Hill, Gary "C.W. Vrtacek Biography", Allmusic. Retrieved October 25, 2018
Vrtacek claimed to be influenced by anything from rock, folk, jazz, blues, ska, punk, avant garde, classical, to Irish music. He also cited unorthodox things such as church hymns, cartoon music, and the sounds made by pinball machines as being inspirational. His solo music drew equally from the dissonances of Stockhausen and Varese as well as the melodies of French impressionists such as Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel, and also used tape loops.
In 2013, Vrtacek, along with Nick Didkovsky of Doctor Nerve, conceived and released the "$100 Guitar Project", a recorded project based upon the "journey" of a guitar purchased from a secondhand music shop for $100 that passed through the hands of over 65 players, each of whom recorded a piece with it and then signed it, in turn passing it along to the next player to do the same. The two-CD set, released on Bridge Records, features performances by such noted guitarists and musicians as Alex Skolnick, Fred Frith, Nels Cline, and many others.Kozinn, Allan (2013) "A Generic Guitar Inspires a Distinctive Project", The New York Times, April 2, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2014
Discography
Solo YearNameRef1981 Victory Through Grace1982 Days and Days1986 Learning to Be Silent1988 When Heaven Comes to Town1992 Days of Grace1996 Silent Heaven1999 Fifteen Mnemonic Devices2008 By Chance
Forever Einstein YearNameRef1990 Artificial Horizon1992 Opportunity Crosses the Bridge1998 One Thing After Another2000 Down With Gravity2005 Racket Science
with Biota YearNameRef1995 Object Holder2001 Invisible Map2007 Half a True Day2012 Cape Flyaway2014 Funnel to a Thread2018 Fragment for Balance
Collaboration YearNameArtistRef1984 Monkey on a Hard Roll w/ Dancing Lessons1999 Preacher in Naked Chase Guilty w/ Chris Cutler & Thomas Dimuzio2013 The $100 Guitar Project w/ various solo artists
References
External links C.W. Vrtacek at Cuneiform Records Forever Einstein