We met Chuck just before a performance at the legendary Club Passim in Harvard Square to talk Wheatstraw, his collaboration with John Stewart, songwriting, and last but not least the importance of have a Folk Amerciana Roots Hall of Fame in Boston.
We first met Chuck at the Wang Theater at an event for all the board members of the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame. But Chuck’s story starts much earlier than that. Growing up in Dubuque Iowa, Chuck started playing guitar at a young age and never looked back. In 1963 while living in DC, Chuck was hit hard by the arrival of The Beatles. When he finally arrived in Boston he formed the influential country group Wheatstraw. Their two albums Last Straw and Follow the Music, drew critical praise from Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, the New York Times, Billboard, Variety and others.
Later moving to Los Angeles, Chuck met The Kingston Trios John Stewart, and began a friendship and musical collaboration that continued throughout John’s life.
Over the last few decades, Chuck has devoted himself to energy and environmental policy issues, working in government and the private sector, but he never turned away from music.
In 2015 Chuck was an inductee into the Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2017, Chuck released his album Gin & Rosewater.
We met Chuck just before a performance at the legendary Club Passim in Harvard Square to talk Wheatstraw, his collaboration with John Stewart, songwriting, and last but not least the importance of have a Folk Amerciana Roots Hall of Fame in Boston.