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Smokestack Lightnin' Home Page -- The Blues Profile Page
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One of the few Chicago blues pianists to have studied under Sunnyland
Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Lafayette Leake and Little Brother Montgomery,
Barrelhouse Chuck draws on this distinguished lineage
to create a blues, boogie-woogie and barrelhouse piano style that places
him at the forefront of this celebrated tradition. Born in Ohio
(Columbus, OH - July 10, 1958) where he first learned to play the drums
at the age of 5, Chuck spent the next 10 years studying with the living legend, who Chuck called "the great-granddaddy of all the blues piano players". Through Sunnyland he met all the great blues musicians in Chicago, and often ended up playing with and hanging out with them. People like Pinetop Perkins, Lafayette Leake and Little Brother Montgomery took Chuck under their wings, invited him into their homes and made him feel a part of their families. During that time Chuck developed his immense mastery of blues piano and went on to perform and record with most of the notable blues musicians in Chicago-people like Louis Myers, Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Dawkins, Billy Boy Arnold, Hubert Sumlin, Henry Townsend, S.P. Leary, Detroit Jr. and Big Smokey Smothers, among others. During the past two decades Chuck has played all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and tours Europe regularly. He has also appeared more than a half dozen times at the Chicago Blues Festival.
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