CharlesR Lance

Charles R. Lance currently lives in Charlotte, NC. Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and is home to the University of North Carolina as well as the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the acclaimed U.S. National White Water Center. Charlotte is known as a financial, banking hub and is the second largest banking center in the United States. Lance lives in a neighborhood just north of Uptown Charlotte known as “NoDa.” This neighborhood is known as an eclectic part of town, home to musicians and artists. It has multiple charming boutiques and eateries as well as bars and music venues.

Charles R. Lance is currently in a touring band called “Mickey Jones and the Firecrackers.” The band has a large local following and performs at least once a month at one of the many music venues in Charlotte. The band is currently working on a new album, which they plan to release in the fall of 2013.

Lance lives with two rescued dogs, Milo and Ralph, and one cat, Max. He spends his free time with dogs and loves taking them to the park to play Frisbee. When Lance is not on tour with his band, he volunteers at a local spay and neuter clinic sponsored by the Charlotte Humane Society. As a volunteer, he prepares dogs and cats for spay and neuter surgeries and provides them with post operation care. Lance is a huge animal lover and has a passion for helping homeless cats and dogs find forever homes.

Charles R. Lance is a native North Carolinian. He was born is Pinehurst, North Carolina, and lived there until he left to go to college in Charlotte. Lance loved growing up in Pinehurst, as it is a beautiful resort town located just two hours from the coast. Growing up, Lance was home-schooled by his mother. He says that though the experience is not for everyone, he really enjoyed growing up in a home-schooling environment. Because his mother was a teacher in the past, she was able to provide him with the academic skills he needed to prepare him for high school. In addition, Lance was exposed to many social situations, as he took piano and voice lessons with other children and was always part of a competitive swim team.

In ninth grade, Charles R. Lance was enrolled in The O’Neal School, a private coeducational school. The O’Neal School is located in Southern Pines, NC. Southern Pines is another small town that neighbors Pinehurst. The School typically enrolls around 450 students, in order to keep class size small. O’Neal instructs children from Pre-K3 until 12th grade. Its mission is to provide students with a well-rounded education for college preparation.

The state-of-the-art school features a library, computer center, art rooms, laboratories, commons, two gymnasiums, indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, a theater, baseball fields and soccer fields. School sports include soccer, tennis, volleyball, cross-country, cheerleading, golf, swimming and more. During his time as a student at O’Neal, Charles R. Lance was a member of the swim team. Lance has always enjoyed swimming and has taken lessons since he was a toddler. He swam competitively, even during his home-schooling days. In high school, Lance received a scholarship to swim at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He went on to swim competitively through all four years of college and was a five-time N.C. State Champion as well as a National’s qualifier. His best event was always the free stroke, though he also enjoyed back and breast stroke, too. Lance was a regional and national qualifier during all four years of college.

During his time on the swim team, Lance worked at a local YMCA as a lifeguard and swim instructor. He greatly enjoyed teaching young children how to swim. He has mentioned that working as a swim instructor was one of the most fulfilling jobs he has had thus far. Before becoming an employee of the YMCA, Lance took classes in CPR and became qualified in swim instruction. The YMCA is a worldwide nonprofit organization that provides healthy living tools for men, women and children, regardless of age, income, race or other factors.

Charles R. Lance received an Economics degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. During college, he interned with Bank of America and was eventually offered a full-time position with the company after graduation. However, after college, Lance decided to pursue his true passion of music. Before graduating, Lance studied abroad in Amsterdam, Holland. While he was there, he lived with a Dutch family. He loved living abroad and had the chance to travel to multiple cities in Europe including Paris, Barcelona, London and the island of Sicily. Out of all of the cities he visited, Lance loved Amsterdam the most. He says the city has the best food, friendliest people and most exciting things to do.

While Lance was in Holland, he learned to speak conversational Dutch. His host family was very kind and helpful in his pursuit to learn the Dutch language. After leaving Holland, he stayed in touch with his host family and plans to visit them at some point in the near future. Since returning to the United Sates, his host family came to North Carolina to visit.

After returning from studying abroad, Charles R. Lance joined a band with a few college buddies. The band, “Mickey Jones and the Firecrackers” has quite the local following and has performed numerous times throughout Charlotte. In addition, the band has made a Southeastern tour across the United States. Mickey Jones and the Firecrackers has also performed at multiple music festivals and special events including Bele Chere in Asheville, NC as well as Austin City Limits and South by Southwest in Austin, TX. The band has already produced two albums and plans to release another one in the fall of 2013.

It wasn’t surprising that Lance chose to pursue a career in music. From a very young age, he was exposed to all things musical. His father introduced him to music when he was just a little boy. Lance grew up listening to bands and artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson. He took piano and voice lessons for years and picked up guitar as a teenager. Since then, music has always played a significant part in his adulthood. He has always enjoyed going to see live music and has travelled to many music festivals around the world. Throughout high school, Lance would go to music camp during the summer in the mountains of North Carolina. It was there that he learned how to play the acoustic and electric guitar as well as the bass.

Last year, Charles R. Lance adopted two dogs, Milo and Ralph, and one cat, Max, from the Charlotte Humane Society. Lance has always loved animals but has never had the time and resources to commit to pet ownership. In addition to owning his own pets, Lance fosters dogs and cats from various humane societies until he can find them forever, loving homes. Since adopting, Lance realized that there are many unwanted dogs and cats that live in shelters across the United States. Thus, he decided to get involved volunteering for local spay and neuter clinics that provide affordable surgeries for pet owners and animal shelters. Charles R. Lance is committed to encouraging his friends, family and the public to adopt pets, rather than purchase.

For a young man, Lance has done and seen a lot for his age. He has travelled to multiple countries and has performed as a musician for thousands of spectators. Charles R. Lance hopes to continue pursuing his passion for music and travel, while making time for his family and pets.

Charles R. Lance hopes to pursue a successful career in music. Though he has a finance degree to fall back on, his passion is music and he hopes performing can serve as his full-time job. His band, Mickey and the Firecrackers, plans to release their next album in the fall. They also hope to perform again this year at Austin City Limits and South By Southwest in Austin. Their long-term goal is to have the chance to complete an international tour in Europe.

Lance hopes to have the chance to go back to Amsterdam this year, either with his band or by himself. Since studying abroad there, he has wanted to return to visit his host family and see all of his old professors and friends. Lance hopes that one day, he will have the chance to own a vacation home in Amsterdam. So far, it is his favorite city he has ever visited.

Though Lance already has two dogs and one cat, he hopes to adopt one more pet before next year in 2014. In addition, he wants to remain committed to serving as a volunteer for the Charlotte Humane Society. He also says that he will continue to foster local dogs and cats in the area that are looking for forever homes.

Charles R. Lance wants to continue travelling in the future and has aspirations to make it to Asia and Australia, where his grandparents are originally from. He hopes the rest of his life is filled with music, travel and animals, as they are his three most significant passions.