I recently caught up with Sir Charles, and this was a fun one. This time around, I’m taking one of Sir Charles’ favorite childhood food memories—a humble, old-school wartime dish of ground beef, savory gravy, and seriously toasted bread—and turning it into Appalachian Chopped Beef on Toast. I’ll share the recipe later in the feature, but first, let’s get into Sir Charles.

Before we even got into the conversation, I had already listened to his debut single, “Sun, Sun, Sun.” Almost immediately, I thought I heard something familiar—a hint of early British rock weaving through the sound. I didn’t want to speak too soon. Turns out I wasn’t too far off. The music Sir Charles is making now is a byproduct of decades of influences: The Rolling Stones, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Verve, Blur and Oasis, among others. David Bowie is another major influence, though that relationship with Bowie’s music came much later. Growing up in Cincinnati, Charles jokes that he was surrounded by “a bunch of rednecks,” so Bowie wasn’t part of his childhood soundtrack. It wasn’t until adulthood that he appreciated his music. Music has been part of Charles’ life for a long time—playing in bands in high school and working in Cincinnati, New York, and Nashville. For 15 years, he was an interior designer, with music as a hobby and creative outlet. Over the years, he played in various bands but never led one. Sir Charles changes that.

“Sun, Sun, Sun” is the debut single from the new project, but there’s already more in motion. Charles is back in the studio working on his next two songs with a new producer, rehearsing with a full band and preparing to start playing shows, including a small run of dates. Right now, as he puts it, it’s about getting the wheels moving. And with a new project, sometimes that takes a minute.

But there’s another part of this chapter that feels even more important than simply releasing music. It’s about allowing himself to be uncomfortable. Charles has songs he’s held onto for a long time—the ones most personal to him. Naturally, those have also been the hardest to let go of. Now he’s ready to. There’s vulnerability in putting something deeply personal into the world and letting others hear themselves in it. But that connection is exactly what he hopes to find as Sir Charles keeps growing. Sometimes the songs that are hardest to share are the ones people connect with most. Ultimately, connection is the goal.

Charles isn’t chasing some larger-than-life version of what a music career is supposed to look like. His long-term vision is surprisingly grounded: to build enough of an audience to tour comfortably, create music full-time, and sustain a career doing it—while still having a life at home. He wants both. The ability to practice his craft without constantly taking on side work just to keep it alive. The freedom to have the physical and mental space to create. The opportunity to tour and connect with the people listening. But also a solid home life. Balance. Some sense of normalcy. Because pursuing something creatively doesn’t necessarily mean wanting everything else to disappear. For Sir Charles, the dream is having enough room in your life to make the thing you love—and having people on the other side who genuinely want to hear it. The wheels are already in motion, and “Sun, Sun, Sun” is just the beginning.

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When it comes to food, things get interesting. Charles grew up literally next door to his grandparents, and one of his strongest food memories comes from his grandmother and a dish his grandfather used to eat: the affectionately—and somewhat questionably—named “shit on a shingle.” Obviously, I needed to know more. The dish has roots in old-school wartime fare: chipped or chopped beef mixed into a salty gravy and spooned over bread toasted to a crisp. Simple. Filling. Cheap. Comforting. Charles remembers his grandmother making her version on Saturdays or Sundays. The beef, the salty gravy, and, most importantly, that bread had to be really toasted. It’s one of those foods that instantly takes him back to childhood, and every once in a while, he still makes it himself. Throw a fried egg on top, serve it when it’s cold outside? I was sold.

But Charles’ everyday cooking looks a little different these days. He genuinely loves to cook, especially Italian food, and during the warmer months he grows herbs and vegetables at home. When everything is coming in during summer, that means plenty of fresh caprese salads. His regular meals tend to lean toward whole foods, with lots of protein and plenty of vegetables. Think quinoa with roasted vegetables and salmon, chicken, or beef; roasted root vegetables with goat cheese and fresh berries; or arugula tossed with berries and toasted walnuts alongside a good piece of grilled protein. Basically: protein-forward, nutrient-dense, and relatively wholesome. At least half the time. The other half? In Charles’ words, he can be “a degenerate.” There are nights for cooking, and there are nights when a good Postmates deal wins. 

Keeping healthier snacks around the house is apparently essential because Charles knows his weaknesses, especially chocolate. Give this man a bag of chocolate, and it apparently does not stand a chance. Dark chocolate is particularly dangerous territory. Then there’s ice cream. Recently, he’s been digging into Ben & Jerry’s Tonight Dough, but he also loves Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip—which immediately gave us something else to agree on because that one is in my top rotation, too. But perhaps my favorite discovery from our entire food conversation was Charles’ DIY grocery-store dessert. He buys one of those little carrot cakes from Kroger, pours milk over it, adds a little cinnamon, and lets the whole thing sit in the refrigerator for hours, sometimes overnight. By the next day, it has soaked everything up and transformed into what is essentially Charles’ bootleg carrot-cake tres leches. I’m 100 percent here for that dessert idea, especially for the fall.  

So what was I going to make for this feature? After this conversation, I could have gone in plenty of directions. But how often do I have the opportunity to make a dish called “shit on a shingle”? There was no competition. For my Lhyme take, I went back to that childhood memory of chopped beef, rich gravy, and seriously toasted bread and made Appalachian Chopped Beef on Toast. I used ground beef for this recipe, which Charles mentioned is also a perfectly good option. And this one surprised me. It’s humble food. You could absolutely call it a struggle meal. But it’s also exactly the kind of thing you want when the temperature drops and you need something warm, savory, and substantial that sticks to your ribs. My husband is very much a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, and he loved this recipe. 

There’s also something fitting about pairing of Appalachian Chopped Beef on Toast with Sir Charles’s music. His new music may pull from British rock, Bowie, and decades of playing in different bands, but behind all of those influences is still the kid from Cincinnati who lived next door to his grandparents and remembers his grandmother’s chopped beef on toasted bread. Old influences carried into something new. That works in music and worked out for this feature, too! So put on “Sun, Sun, Sun,” toast that bread really, really well, and make yourself a plate of Appalachian Chopped Beef on Toast. Check out the recipe below, and be sure to listen to Sir Charles on your favorite streaming platform!

Appalachian Chopped Beef on Toast

*Serves: 6–8

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ freshly cracked black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• Sea salt, to taste
• 8–10 thick slices white or country bread (I used plain Texas toast)
• Butter for the toast

Directions

1. Butter the bread lightly and toast until deep golden and crisp. Don’t be shy—super-toasty bread is key to the dish. Set aside.
2. Add the ground beef and onion to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for 8–10 minutes, breaking the beef into small crumbles, until the beef is deeply browned and the onion has softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
3. If there is a large amount of grease in the pan, drain some, leaving about 2 tablespoons behind. Sprinkle the flour directly over the beef and stir well. Cook for 1–2 minutes so the flour loses its raw taste.
4. Slowly pour in the beef broth while stirring. Add the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika.
5. Bring to a simmer and cook 5–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gravy thickens to coat the beef. Taste before adding salt, as the broth, Worcestershire, and soy sauce already provide salty, savory flavor.
6. Place the extra-toasty bread on each plate, then spoon a generous amount of chopped beef and brown gravy over the top. Serve it as is, or go full cold-weather comfort food and top it with a crispy-edged fried egg.