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INTERVIEW: Australian Blues Master Headlines Vandarde Arts Harvest Blues Fest

Michael Charles

The Vangarde Arts Harvest Blues Fest takes place this weekend with a performance Saturday night from Australian blues master Michael Charles.

Charles took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer about his upcoming Sioux City appearance and how his music transcends the blues genre.

* Special thanks to Jane Rogers, publicist for Michael Charles.

Biography:

Michael Charles musical pilgrimage started over six decades ago in his birth place Melbourne, Australia. While enjoying a successful musical crusade of touring, recording, and numerous television and radio appearances in his homeland, Michael received an invitation from Buddy Guy’s management to appear at the infamous Legends in Chicago, Illinois USA. Graciously accepting the honor, Michael Charles traveled the twelve thousand five hundred miles and took the stage with Mr. Buddy Guy. After numerous trips back and forth, Michael Charles made the monumental and life changing decision to make America his home. Charles worked the whole Chicago blues circuit performing with Mr. Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, James Cotton, Eddy Clearwater, Junior Wells, George Baze, as well as touring with blues legend, Jimmy Dawkins.

Through the next twenty years, and now a nine times Grammy elected artist, Michael Charles enjoyed being featured in numerous television and radio broadcasts and several music magazines, along with gracing countless stages and pages including Chicago Blues Fest, Philadelphia Jazz and Blues Fest, Windy City Live Television, WGN TV, JBTV, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun Times, and The College Music Journal. In In 2015 Michael Charles received the extreme honor of an induction into the Blues Hall of Fame. Michael has received endorsements from Vertex and LR Baggs and in Canada from Godin / Seagull Guitars. Michael Charles’ discography is comprised of thirty-eight releases including a double CD thirty year anthology released in 2014 and the live CD “Concert at the Nest”, released in the winter of 2015.  In 2016 Australian film producer started work on a documentary chronicling the musical career of Michael Charles.  The Documentary was released in March of 2018 and the DVD in 2019.  "Soundtracked", the CD soundtrack to the documentary was also released in 2019.  In 2020 Moonlight Label released “The Early Years" , a CD of the complete 45 r.p.m. singles released 1984-1988 by Michael Charles in Australia before he moved to the U.S.A. in 1990.  Also, in 2020 “19”,  the downloadable album of all the Alone and Acoustic songs recorded during the pandemic became available. Soon to be released will be a 2 CD and 1 DVD Box set chronologizing the entire pandemic experience from the recording studio.

At this time Michael Charles is traveling his fourteenth consecutive tour, the No Hindsight 2021 tour, which will once again take him to the far corners of the USA, Canada, and Australia. The 2021 tour promises a multitude of concerts and publicity appearances as MC performs a whole new list of cities, festivals, and music venues and revisits some favorites from the last thirteen tours.

 

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