Charlemagne, the songs of Carl Johns brought to life with help from many friends, was born in a basement in Wisconsin in the middle of winter.

After a busy year of touring and recording with his post-modern hillbilly band Noahjohn, Johns holed up at home studio Science of Sound to work on songs for a new side-project of a decidedly more pop nature. Recorded in early 2003, the self-titled debut album was a true solo project with Johns playing all of the instruments.

A few months after the album was finished however, a six-piece live band assembled including two lady backup singers who knitted on stage. Over the next three years, variations of this band toured throughout the U.S. and England, and recorded the Detour Allure album.

Charlemagne released the My Sweet Pony Trilogy of CD-Singles and took part in a number of events as part of Madison's WI Pop Explosion collective circa 2005-06.

In support of Detour Allure, Johns spent most of 2006 touring North America and Europe with a rotating cast of backing players. The majority of the shows were as a duo or trio. The rest ranged from a handful of solo performances, to one with 15 players on stage.

Carl and Co. have toured extensively in the US and UK, and also performed in Canada, France, and Australia. Along the way they have shared the stage with such bands as Grandaddy, Tilly and the Wall, Oakley Hall, The Constantines, Damien Jurado, Okkervil River, The Mountain Goats, Manishevitz, Shearwater, Denison Witmer, Tapes-n-Tapes, Danielson, The Sadies, Drums and Tuba, and Neva Dinova.

Johns lives in Brooklyn, NY and his bandmates of late, Matt Ricchini and Michael Heinzer, live in Philadelphia. The new Charlemagne album We Can Build An Island was released September 11, 2007 on SideCho Records.