Enfield Folk Troubadour Releases Newest Original Album

ENFIELD, CT — An East Granby native and full-time Hartford firefighter who now calls Enfield his home has embarked on a second career, one which he describes as "therapy" which gets him through the multitude of life events he has already experienced in his short 38 years.

Charlie Diamond, who bought a house in Enfield in 2019, doesn't spend as much time there as one would expect. When he's not on first responder duties, he writes and plays folk music at venues throughout the Northeast, traveling with Jupiter, his 180-pound English mastiff. Oftentimes while traveling, he and the dog sleep in the back of his pickup truck.

Battling depression is something Diamond has faced for many years. In 2022, he said, "I get the blues very easily, like a lot of people. It’s a big reason why I started doing music and the folk stuff."

A modern-day troubadour, Diamond is somewhat of a latter-day cross between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Unlike most live musicians, he performs his own compositions rather than covers of popular tunes. As a result, he often finds it difficult to get booked.

"I’ve never gone to a therapist; writing songs has been my therapy," he said in 2022. "My songs are like a journal. I put into it every ounce of my being — my dreams and aspirations and all my loneliness and sadness. That’s why I like folk music. It takes on all aspects of life by storytelling."

On his website, charliediamond.bandcamp.com, Diamond summed up his past in this fashion:

"Wrestled an alligator, fought a tornado, and been everywhere twice. Ran away with the circus when I was 16 and spent a few years as a rigger. Started writing songs when I was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Thoroughly convinced I've been reincarnated and landed in the wrong decade. I write a lot about the mountain I grew up on."

His manager, Sid Grossman, told Patch, "Here's a guy who lost everything in a house fire. Drove across the country on his motorcycle like Jack Kerouac facing the great unknown. Lived in a tent and stayed with people he met. Alligators, ghosts, knife fights, love, loss, psychics. Became a firefighter. Awarded the Medal of Valor. Became a folk singer-songwriter and now travels throughout New England with his dog playing music. Sleeping in the bed of his pickup truck under the stars and living life as only a Diamond could. From the Hudson River Valley in New York, to the Catskills, and across the Berkshires."

In late January, Diamond released his sixth album, entitled "A New Poet In Town," featuring tracks such as "Back to Meadow Street," "Mid-Century Debutante" and "Herman Drasser An Innocent Man." It is available here.