Hall of Fame blues musician returning to Penticton
It’s official, seven-time Grammy-elect and Chicago Blues Hall of famer Michael Charles is coming back to Penticton.
The transplanted Aussie who now calls the Windy City home, first performed here in October 2019 at the iconic Dream Café. He is returning Saturday, May 7 for one show only at one of the Okanagan’s most intimate musical venues.
“I’m just so looking forward to it,” said Charles in a telephone interview from his Chicago studio where he has spent much of the last two years.
“The one thing I remember most about my visit to Penticton and the Dream Café were the people. Everyone was just so kind and so nice and when I walked off stage it was just like everyone was old friends and I hope to see some of those faces again.”
Having grown up in Melbourne, Charles was just seven years old when his dad taught him his first chords and he’s never looked back, having played around the world for the last half century.
His current Western Canadian tour includes both large and small venues and even some new locations: “Just to keep that edge,” he said with a laugh.
While 2019 was his first official trip to Penticton, he’s long had a connection to the city through his dear friend and fellow bluesman Gerry Pearson who joined him on stage the last time around at the Dream and likely will again this Saturday.
A self-confessed “Michael Charles groupie,” Pearson met his blues buddy more than a decade ago in Edmonton after Charles agreed to let him play harmonica on stage for one song.
“We got on like a house on fire,” said Charles about that meeting. “He is literally like a brother, I just consider him part of my Canadian band.”
Charles believes the blues have evolved over the years, coming from way back in the cotton fields for people trying to better themselves to now where it is a genre instead of a style.
“The real blues come from the person playing it,” said Charles. “The inspiration for me is just day-to-day life. As human beings, the more things we go through there’s always something to write about, there’s always a mood to create music.
“I think music is very powerful and it all comes from emotions and life.”
About what the audience can expect when he plays the Dream this time around Charles said: “What they will see is a guy doing the best he can to entertain everybody who turns up and who will share a little bit of that emotion that comes from deep down in his soul and keeping his fingers crossed they will enjoy it.”
Tickets are selling fast and if any remain they can be found at: thedreamcafe.ca
On the net: michaelcharles.us