Chuck Cheesman

When seventh grader Chuck Cheesman got his hands on a cheap guitar, he began posing in front of mirrors in earnest. He was the kind of kid who needed a friend to explain that This is Spinal Tap was satire. Out of tune and having absolutely no sense of time, he had great hair.

Fast forward a quarter of a century: The hair is gone. Rock star decadence has failed to materialize. But an obsession with music has survived.

Chuck Cheesman’s latest recording, Imagining Dancers (2011), offers few hints at his “Tap-ish” beginnings. It is a showcase of earthy songwriting, a deep exploration of the parallel themes of enduring love and hope in the face of modern pressures. It’s a record that runs from tender, acoustic folk music to raw americana rock.

That teenage obsession eventually led Chuck to a bachelors degree in music, but it wasn’t until his mid-twenties and his discovery of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music that he found his musical path. With monthly songwriter circles, Tuesday night jam sessions at Big John's on Armitage, and the occasional gig at Uncommon Ground Coffee House, Chicago’s folk music community was Chuck’s home for more than a decade.

Out of those years grew a debut collection of original songs called Coming Home (2001) and also a children‘s music album, A Family Songbook (2003). Leaving the city behind, Chuck and his wife made their way west to the mountains. Reflecting that move, Campfire (2006) is a collection of songs steeped in the western landscape.

Imagining Dancers represents a return to more personal thematic material. A February CD release will be followed by shows on the West Coast and back home in the Midwest. Summer will see brief visits to California and Colorado, and there is another West Coast trip in the works for the fall of 2011.

A break in April brings drummer/producer Sam Zucchini to Flagstaff to collaborate on a new, all original recording for children.