Michael Charles lives his life with the blues

Australian blues man Michael Charles was raised with a guitar in his hand and has not stopped making music since. Charles will be in Yorkton on is All I Really Know tour at Holly’s Night Club Sunday February 26th at 7 p.m.

Charles’ life is one of constant music making, as he goes between touring and recording his next album in the studio.

“The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is pick up a guitar and fiddle on it. That’s just how I start my day. It truly has become part of my lifestyle... Obviously a passion and something I love doing, and hopefully something I can do for a long time to come.”

Fed by his surroundings, Charles’ interest in music came before he can even remember.

“There was always guitar around the house. All I remember was that I always played guitar because of that guitar sitting in the living room. It’s hard to even remember when I started because it’s like trying to remember your first baby steps.”

Getting into the blues was also a function of his environment, as he was “fed by the radio.” Blues artists were an influence on the musicians who inspired him as a kid.

The blues also discovered him, as Charles’ career in America began thanks to Buddy Guy bringing him to Chicago to play at Legends.

“In my eyes, it was like meeting God back then... At the time, Buddy Guy to me was one of my guitar heroes, he was everybody’s guitar here. To have the opportunity to go to his club, get on the stage with him and sit down with him, have a conversation and shake his hand, to me that was one of the greatest honours of my life. To this day I still feel very honoured to have this opportunity.”

A long career is also one that allows for reflection, and Charles’ most recent album – Live at the Nest – is, in his words, a new old album. It’s a recording from his last concert before going to Chicago, in 1989. Charles and his producer were struck by the quality of the performance, and decided it had to be released.

“That show was recorded live, and it was put aside... I put it on to see if there were a few tracks I’d like to put on a few tracks on my anthology. From the start of the show right to the end I was sucked into the whole show, which is rare for me.”

The album was also a reminder of Charles’ own songwriting process, and he was intrigued by what changed and what didn’t, as he wrote the songs that eventually became part of his later albums.

“There were songs on there that I had recorded for albums that had came out later on, and these songs were freshly written, but I was actually playing them live. What this album represents for me, there were all sorts of newer songs I had written in the late ‘80s that I was playing on stage that were in the experimental stages. Eventually bits and pieces of these songs ended up on different albums on the ‘90s.”

Charles’ career isn’t slowing down, he has a documentary in the works, a new studio album, and a new live album, recorded live in Calgary, which is the next release.

“There’s always something going on, and in the middle of all that we’re touring, so it’s a never ending battle of getting your work done.”