C.W. Vrtacek


Charles O'Meara 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.
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 , features performances by such noted guitarists and musicians as Alex Skolnick, Fred Frith, Nels Cline, and many others.

Discography

;Solo
YearNameRef
1981Victory Through Grace
1982Days and Days
1986Learning to Be Silent
1988When Heaven Comes to Town
1992Days of Grace
1996Silent Heaven
1999Fifteen Mnemonic Devices
2008By Chance

;Forever Einstein
YearNameRef
1990Artificial Horizon
1992Opportunity Crosses the Bridge
1998One Thing After Another
2000Down With Gravity
2005Racket Science

;with Biota
YearNameRef
1995Object Holder
2001Invisible Map
2007Half a True Day
2012Cape Flyaway
2014Funnel to a Thread
2018Fragment for Balance

;Collaboration
YearNameArtistRef
1984Monkey on a Hard Rollw/ Dancing Lessons
1999Preacher in Naked Chase Guiltyw/ Chris Cutler & Thomas Dimuzio
2013The $100 Guitar Projectw/ various solo artists