Meet the Staff
Charlie Hamill - Executive Director
Charlie has been involved with music since he was young, playing piano at age 3 and taking lessons through college. When he was 10, he got his first drum set but switched to guitar when he was 16. He has primarily focused on guitar since then.
After graduating from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1990 with a BA in Liberal Arts, he attended Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts and received a degree in recording sciences. Since then he has worked in many studios and been the owner of two studios.
He has played in dozens of different bands ranging from acoustic duos and trios, to funk, original rock and tribute bands. He has lived and worked in Charlotte, NC; Austin, TX; Chapel Hill; Orlando and Roanoke. He has released three original records, "Full Tilt" (1991), "Go To Rock" (1998) and "Under the Covers" (2003).
Charlie got involved with the Downtown Music Lab upon its opening in 1999. He enjoys giving students opportunities he did not have when he was in high school, especially answering questions about complex musical and technical issues.
Get more info at www.charliehamill.com.
Vanessa Rynn - Studio Manager
Vanessa was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. Since she was young she has had interests in both music and technology. She began taking piano lessons in elementary school and 
began with voice lessons soon after. She is self-taught on guitar, which she started playing at the age of 13 and also experiments with other instruments such as drums and bass. She first discovered music editing software while in high school and was fascinated with programs such as Cool Edit and various drum machines and music editing software that could be downloaded from the Internet. She began using computers to record and edit music and found the subject so intriguing that she decided to study Music Technology in college.
Today Vanessa is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 with a Major in Music Technology. Since joining The Downtown Music Lab, Vanessa enjoys helping students learn how to use the various musical insturments and recording equiptment to create original musical masterpieces.