Article about a seven times Grammy elected Australian blues artist Michael Charles

Jane Rogers, a publicist, loved my article about a seven times Grammy elected Australian blues artist Michael Charles so much that she gave me a beautiful review of it, which I gratefully put on my website. Here is the article:

Glen Ellyn welcomed a seven times Grammy elected Australian blues artist Michael Charles.

“New town, new song; guitar in hand – how can I go wrong; the crowd is yelling for my song; another night of feeling strong,” – these words from a song called “Cover Tunes” describe a day in the life of Michael Charles, a seven times Grammy elected blues artist from Australia, whose music for many years already touches people’s hearts and souls. Currently, this talented musician is giving his 2015 RIFF Tour around the United States, Canada and Australia. As part of the tour, Michael Charles gave two great concerts at Reserve 22 in Glen Ellyn – on Friday, June 19 and on Saturday, July 4.

Both concerts were a success. The public welcomed Charles with great enthusiasm. This great master of blues is using every performance as a unique opportunity to share his life story with the audience and let everyone connect with his music and be on the same wave. Energetic, yet sincere, Michael Charles opens a door to everyone’s heart – he lets every member of the audience find a song that matches their state of mind, mood, life story and situation. Whether it is a broken heart, finding a way to survive in our controversial world, or having a thoughtful night alone – all possible situations and feelings can be found in his compositions. His songs are all different, yet united by his great love to music, blues and rhythm.

Falling in love to music since his young age just by watching his father play guitar, Michael Charles never let his love to this instrument go away and over the years built a successful musical career. Nothing comes easy, and his path to triumph wasn’t the simplest one, but Michael Charles knew a way to success – being devoted to music and working hard.

“I’m just really at home playing my music,” said Michael Charles. Yes, and in this home Michael uses the international language of music to communicate with his audience. Being originally from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Michael Charles made his first musical steps on the soil of that beautiful and warm-hearted country. He was later invited to the United States by an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer George “Buddy” Guy, who has influenced Michael Charles to work further on his musical career and eventually live and work in America.

Over the years, Michael Charles has performed with Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, James Cotton, Eddy Clearwater, Junior Wells and George Baze and gave successful tours with blues legend Jimmy Dawkins. Every performance with those great musicians let him gain more experience and demonstrate his talent on a new level.

Recently, this great guitarist, vocalist, composer and producer celebrated a thirty year anniversary of his personal recording career with a diverse discography of thirty one releases. Over the years, Michael Charles has been featured in many television shows and magazines such as Windy City Live, WISH TV 8, WANE TV, NTV Nebraska, WGN TV, JBTV, The Other Sides, Rock My Ass, Canadian Breakfast Television, the Chicago Tribune, the College Music Journal, and Rock and Read. Michael Charles has been traveling non-stop for eight years already, and within his current 2015 RIFF Tour he is performing not just at his favorite venues from the last seven tours, but also at other cities, festivals and nightspots.

His performances at Reserve 22 in Glen Ellyn were as successful as the rest of his concerts and let the audience immerse in his energetic guitar music that was introduced in the form of Michael Charles’ original blues, blues based rock, inspiring ballads, as well as some well-known covers. “My music is an extension of me and who I am,” noticed Michael Charles.

Interestingly, Moonlight Label, Charles’ USA record label based in Chicago, shared that because through the years fans asked what CD has “Hey Joe” or “After Midnight” as well as other songs, the record label decided to put out a series of these singles in answer to the fans requests. These releases were made solely for the fans, and even the pictures submitted by the fans with full credit to them were used for the releases. Many of these compositions were performed at the concerts in Glen Ellyn and definitely did not leave anyone in the audience indifferent.

During two beautiful evenings the public had a great chance to experience touching blues music performed by a high level professional Michael Charles at the five-star dining Reserve 22 located at the heart of a golf course in Glen Ellyn. As many attendees noticed, that guitar driven journey was unforgettable!

Natalia Dagenhart

July 9, 2015