Australian-born, GRAMMY-elected, Blues Hall of Famer Michael Charles and His Band will perform at Hard Truth Hills on March 17.
Nine-time GRAMMY-elected artist and Chicago Blues Hall of Famer Michael Charles, backed-up by His Band, will take the stage at Hard Truth Hills this month as part of his 16th consecutive international tour, “No Detours” 2023, which is centered around performing in “far corners” of the USA, Canada and Australia.
According to a press release, Charles and His Band will take concert-goers on a guitar-driven journey through 38 years and 37 releases of original music, in the style of contemporary blues and soulful ballads.
Charles told the Democrat in February that he has not visited Brown County before, but he is looking forward to performing in the area.
“We’re always looking for new areas. I tour constantly,” he said.
“It’s just an area I’ve never had the opportunity to hit so I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Charles is a life-long musician, originally hailing from Melbourne, Australia. He said he has been playing music since he was five or six years old.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to take this path. It’s been my occupation and hobby — I live and breathe music.”
Charles said he loved listening to the radio at a young age, and was most influenced by artists like Eric Clapton, BB King and Elvis. He began writing his own songs around the age of 12.
Charles said that in his early years, he got a lot of criticism from audiences who told him his sound “did not fit in,” or that what he was playing did not sound right.
“For me, I always had this attitude that you’ve got to sound different, got to have different kinds of sounds,” he said.
Charles said he took the criticism to heart, and spoke with his producer about taking a different approach.
“He looked straight in my eye and said, ‘That’s a good thing, you’re ahead of your time.’ He was 100% right,” Charles said.
“Fitting in is not always the answer. You’ve got to have the strength to do what you do and believe in yourself.”
After making a name for himself through recording and touring in his homeland, he was invited to the States to appear at Buddy Guy’s Legends, a famous blues club in Chicago, in the 1980’s.
“I never thought about the genre my music was, but when I got to Chicago it hit me like a ton of bricks — I’m playing blues,” Charles said.
“The people that were my heroes were influenced by all the blues players. They’re passing it onto me.”
Charles traveled from Australia and back many times to perform in Chicago before deciding to stay permanently in 1990.
“Chicago was so welcoming to me. It was like a hub (for music),” he said.
Once an American citizen, he worked the Chicago blues circuit with other big performers including Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, James Cotton, Eddy Clearwater, Junior Wells and George Baze, as well as touring with Jimmy Dawkins.
“Two weeks (in Chicago) turned into 30 years later,” he said.
“You just got to go with the flow. You either take that plunge or you don’t move forward.”
In the years since moving to the U.S., Charles has also appeared in numerous television and radio broadcasts and several music magazines, 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 2015, Charles was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.
The show at Hard Truth is free of charge and is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 17. More information can be found at https://michaelcharles.us/tour.
