WEYBURN – Chicago bluesman Michael Charles will be making a stop-over in Weyburn at Pumpjacks on Friday, May 20, starting his show at 10 p.m.
Michael Charles began his musical pilgrimage over five decades ago in his birthplace of 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.
Graciously accepting the honor, Charles traveled the 12,500 miles and took the stage with Mr. Buddy Guy.
After numerous trips back and forth, Michael Charles made the life-changing decision to make America his home. Charles worked the whole Chicago blues circuit performing with Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, James Cotton, Eddy Clearwater, Junior Wells, George Baze, as well as touring with blues legend Jimmy Dawkins.
Through the next 20 years, and now a nine-time 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 2015, Charles received the 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 35 releases, including a double CD 30-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-rpm singles released 1984-1988 by Charles in Australia before he moved to the U.S. in 1990.
Also, in 2020 “19”, the downloadable album of all the “Alone and Acoustic” songs recorded during the pandemic became available. A two-CD and DVD box set was released on Aug. 1, providing a chronology of the entire pandemic experience from the recording studio.
At this time Charles is traveling his 15th consecutive international tour which will once again take him to the far corners of the USA, Canada, and Australia.
