Central North Carolina multi-instrumentalist, Charlie Peek, 74, of Sanford, passed away on August 26, 2025. He was known for performing in several local bands and weekly open jams.
His wife, Martha Quillin, shared some of Charlie’s musical background.
“He grew up in music to some degree. His parents were both from the mountains, but he didn’t get into the music himself until he was an adult. When I met him, we were going to jam sessions in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He was playing mainly bluegrass then. He was living in a cabin off the Blue Ridge Parkway. He began by playing the upright bass. He was a little guy and it was a big ass instrument. He drove a little Ford Ranger. He liked those trucks because he could carry his bass in its bed with a shell on the back.”
She praised her husband’s musical ability.
“He could play almost anything and did! He was an excellent bass player, both acoustic and electric. He was just as steady as a metronome. He never lost the beat. If everybody else was falling apart, he would bring them back together. I had never really appreciated a bass until I hung around him. I saw what it took to do it. It is an underrated, but really important, component of good music.
I had taken fiddle lessons as a teenager from Bobby Hicks. What I was really doing was paying to hear Bobby Hicks play music. So Charlie picked up a new instrument. He taught himself the fiddle as he had done on other musical instruments. The fiddle was great because it was little. He eventually sold his upright bass and used his electric when needed. Then he took up the mandolin. Who teaches themselves to play the mandolin in their 70s?”
Charlie became a crucial piece in jams, always the encourager. Martha recalled…
“It was important to him that music was communal and welcoming; that anyone that wanted to try was welcomed. If they didn’t get any better, it didn’t matter. If you love music and that’s your thing, you have to do it and you don’t have a choice.
I remember one night he was playing in Pittsboro. This young man that he did not know asked if he could he join in on the music. He went out to his car and came back with a couple of bongo drums and sat in. Charlie loved it.”
Fellow picker, David Pennington, recalled…
“Charlie was a well-known and a very well-liked multi-talented musician in the Sanford, NC area. He loved his fiddle and mandolin. Charlie was also a very good guitar player and was really impressive on the bass fiddle. He could walk the strings and make the bass sound great.
He would visit several jams. We first met at Clyde’s Music Barn when we moved here six years ago. Charlie was always willing to jump in and participate regardless of the style of music that was being played at the time. Charlie always had a kind word and was willing to help out any group that needed an extra musician.
My wife, Alice, once made the remark after a jam session, ‘Charlie knew I was playing the wrong chords during a song and just played anyway and didn’t complain. He just played and had a good time. Charlie was a great guy.’
Charlie was a friend to everyone and will definitely be missed at the Circle M City Monday Night Bluegrass Music Jam. Charlie was most always in the first group of pickers to arrive and get the jamming started and played for hours.
Rest in Peace, our bluegrass brother, and feel free to take your well deserved place in the angel band above.”
Fellow jammer and friend, Big T Lassiter, agreed.
“He loved to play: rock, country, and bluegrass.”
In recent years, Charlie was the “long-haired sideman” in Rod Brady & Rusted Luck.
Brady reflected on his relationship with Peek.
“Charlie and I actually met at an open mic in Pinehurst in 2016 or 2017. We started playing some together. We did our first show at Lumina, a wine shop in Asheboro, in 2017. He was playing with several groups, but thankfully, two years ago, he came to play exclusively with me. We did duo shows together and sometimes brought in a drummer and did a trio. Charlie played fiddle and mandolin.
Charlie was one of the most interesting people I have ever known. He had a wealth of experience. He was a very well-rounded person as far as the music is concerned. Charlie didn’t say a lot, but when he did, it was worth writing down. He was very witty.
He was a good Ying to my Yang when we were playing. I wanted Charlie for Charlie, so usually I just let him choose [instruments and how they were played]. He put himself into what he played. It was definitely a stronger musical experience for all involved. We developed our own sound. That’s what made it special: his aura and his glow. He was an entertainer.
We were playing a show in Fuquay-Varina and he had a little strand of battery operated Christmas lights that ran down his arm and up his fiddle bow. It was a great aesthetic and people really got into that.”
Charlie was also a gifted photographer, often taking photos of music and nature. Here is a link to some of his photography:
A celebration of life date has been set for Sunday, October 5, in the afternoon at Wild Dogs, a brewery in downtown Sanford. Brady is organizing the musical part, and it will be followed by an open jam in memory of Charlie Peek.
