NEDERLAND — Nat Roth has always experienced the joy and whimsy of music and writing. However, she’s found her stride more in music in her adult years, recently embracing the artist identity of Charlie Lou.
“I didn’t really have the environment for creativity for some time, until my mid to late 20s,” she says of growing into her musical self. “I think also through healing different parts of my experience and myself, that allowed for more freedom to create.”
Living in the forests of Nederland, she bought her first guitar at Brightwood Music four years ago and has been playing and writing since. The majority of the songs she’s written have been inspired by, and conceived on, Magnolia Road.
“When I started walking in the woods here, songs came to me,” she says. “‘I’ve always been playing with words, and music has always been around me and highly influenced me. Now, I have enough space both in my environment and in my personal life that I have space to dedicate myself to being an artist.”
Her artist name, Charlie Lou, is a tribute to her grandmother’s side of the family, and having grown up with folk influences such as Bobby Gentry, John Prine, and Dolly Parton. She aims to move people through similar storytelling in her own songs, and she’s also brought 50s jazz and blues influences into her sound.
“I’m still so early on my journey, and it’s so important to be out in the world playing with people, beyond my living room and a lesson online,” she says of her performing journey in Colorado. “I feel so fortunate to have been embraced by the music community and also have genuine friendships, cowrite songs, sit in our natural environment, and be inspired by the present together.”
Charlie Lou will be performing at the Nederland Farmers Market, located on 80 E. Second Street and 85 E. First Street in Nederland, on Sunday, August 30, 2026. The market runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and her performance starts at 10:30 a.m.
