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Only one Australian is in the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame. Michael Charles has the bragging rights. The guitar hero was inducted into the hallowed halls in 2015.
Charles, who has been a Windy City staple since moving to Chicago in 1991, loves it there.
"There's no place like it," Charles said while calling from his Chicago home. "There's the music scene here and the city itself, and they're both wonderful. I learned so much about the blues since I started performing here."
The charismatic singer/songwriter started playing guitar when he was 5 years old, but received the brunt of his education in Chicago.
"I learned some chords as a little kid and I was on stage by the time I was 7 years old," he said. "Back then, there was obviously no social media, so I heard everything from my transistor radio. I loved listening to the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton and Santana.
"But there is something about the Chicago blues. I was a fan of Buddy Guy when I was in Australia, but when I moved here, I started playing with the real deal blues guys. It made such a difference rubbing shoulders with guys like (blues harmonica player) Sugar Blue. Moving to Chicago made me a much better musician."
Not long after relocating to Chicago, Charles trekked to Memphis to perform at the Crossroads Festival as the guest of legendary producer Sam Phillips, who recorded sessions with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins at his iconic Sun Records during the dawn of rock 'n' roll.
"Sam Phillips would record Elvis with a microphone hanging in the room and he would change the position of the microphone for every performance, and that was genius," Charles said. "Sam Phillips was one of a kind."
Charles misses the grit and candid tunes penned by blues pioneers.
"I love the honesty of the blues musicians from back in the day," he said. "Those guys wrote from their heart and soul. They meant every word. They lived what they were performing. But it's also a different era.
"Times have changed. The struggles of today are different than the struggles back then," he said.
The situations those musicians suffered through during the early days of the blues was severe.
"They dealt with poverty and horrific discrimination," Charles said. "Blues has no color, but it all starts with the African American musicians who all made our lives richer by making such incredible music."
Charles is working on a new album that he hopes will drop in 2025.
"I'm in the studio working on several projects," he said. "There's the new album, and I'm working on re-releasing my very first solo album that came out in 1985. I'm remastering it. I wasn't happy with the production of the first album, but I have an opportunity to make changes."
The decline of the blues has been a hot topic over the past generation. However, Charles believes the genre is in good shape.
"I think the blues is stronger than ever," he said. "The blues is just different than it was when Muddy Waters was around. The blues has changed, but that's to be expected. Things evolve and the blues is in a good state."
Charles is looking forward to returning to Cedar Rapids to perform Friday at CSPS Hall.
"I love being out on the road doing what I love most," he said.
It's been quite a career for Charles, who moved a long way from home thanks to music.
"It's been a great ride," he said. "Who knows where I would be now if I never picked up the guitar?"