Bill Monahan
On Friday, July 27, Chuck Jackson and The All Stars headline the second concert in the free Meaford Summer Concert Series, at Market Square in downtown Meaford (beside Meaford Hall).
Chuck Jackson, from his home base in Port Credit, has become familiar to fans of the blues in the Southern Georgian Bay area, where he has brought his talents to a number of different venues with different band line-ups. He is a highly respected blues singer and harmonica player, honoured in 2002 with a Blues With A Feeling Award from the Toronto Blues Society in recognition of his distinguished career. He’s also won Maple Blues Awards in 1999 and 2007 for Male Vocalist of the Year. Although he originally made his name as lead singer of the Cameo Blues Band, he joined the Downchild Blues Band in 1990, replacing their original vocalist Hock Walsh, and has been touring with the band ever since, along with contributing original songs to the band’s repertoire. His All-Stars line-up usually includes Michael Fonfara and Pat Carey from Downchild as well. He has often teamed up with Tyler Yarema, including a duo concert last year which packed the Gayety Theatre in Collingwood as a Chris Scerri Presents event.
In addition to his busy career as a performing musician, Chuck is the founder and director of Port Credit’s popular annual fall blues fest, called the Southside Shuffle, which has been running for twenty years. He relishes the opportunity through the festival to introduce some new acts to a devoted audience alongside the well-known headliners. In an interview last year with Mississauga News, he pointed out that he had introduced Jimmy Bowskill to the festival when he was just eleven years old, and since then Bowskill has gone on to win Maple Blues Awards and has become a member of the Sheepdogs.
It’s expected that Tyler Yarema will join the All-Stars for the show in Meaford, which starts at 7 p.m. and runs rain or shine.
Opening for the band will be Sophie Wensley, a rising local talent with an engaging R&B style.
