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Barrelhouse Chuck Barrelhouse Chuck (*1958 in Columbus, OH) was a Chicago blues pianist, keyboardist, singer, and songwriter. He claimed to be the only Chicago blues pianist to have studied under Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Blind John Davis, Detroit Junior, and Little Brother Montgomery.   Chuck learned to play the drums by the age of six. He later graduated to the piano. He relocated with his family to Gainesville, FL. It was by listening to blues records that Chuck learned the techniques of blues piano playing. He formed his own bands in his teenage years, including the Red Rooster Band, Red House, and Barrelhouse Chuck & the Blue Lights, and followed Muddy Waters around the South, trying to pick up playing tips from Waters's pianist, Pinetop Perkins. In 1979, he drove from Florida to Chicago to introduce himself to Sunnyland Slim. Barrelhouse Chuck spent the next decade and a half studying his playing, along with that of other Chicago blues musicians, including Blind John Davis, Little Brother Montgomery, and Erwin Helfer. In the company of Montgomery for a long time, Chuck later remarked, "Little Brother was like a grandfather to me".   Chuck played or recorded with Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers. For a time in the late 1990s he played with Mississippi Heat, and he undertook a tour with Nick Moss and the Flip Tops.   In February 2008, Wilson asked Chuck to assist in recording the soundtrack for the film Cadillac Records. His other credits include numerous appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival.   As at 2012, Chuck maintained a full performance schedule in Chicago, around the United States, and occasionally abroad, including a regular solo appearance on Wednesday nights at the Barrelhouse Flat, a bar in Lincoln Park. In 2013 and 2014, Chuck was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Pinetop Perkins Piano Player. In 2014 Drifting from Town to Town was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Traditional Blues Album of the Year.   Chuck died in 2016.   from Wikipedia

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