Chuck Cheesman is a singer/songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and children's musician. Formerly an instructor at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, Chuck now makes his home in Flagstaff, Arizona. He has recorded two CDs of original songs, and he is currently working on his second recording of children's music. His latest recording, Campfire, has received significant airplay on public radio folk shows across the country.
I have always loved music.
I picked up my first guitar at the age of twelve. It was a red Conrad acoustic that cost five bucks. It was a typical first guitar for a kid motivated by all the things adolescent boys are typically motivated by - girls and the "cool" factor. The strings on my Conrad were rusted and stretched high above the fretboard. It was impossible to play. But I tried, and tried, and tried...
My friend Mike, a horn player from a family of talented musicians, tried to teach me to tune the thing, and I will never forget the experience. I couldn't identify whether a note was higher or lower than another. I couldn't match pitch. And I certainly couldn't get the thing in tune. It was humiliating. But I tried, and tried, and tried...
Now, more than twenty years later, I can tune a guitar and even get paid to teach others to do the same. If I were to write a book about the years in between, it would be an endless list of thanks to my friends, family, and the people who have stuck by my side and helped me in so many ways. Thanks for teaching me things. Thanks for having a bit of faith in me - enough to help my confidence grow.
The best thing I can say about my resume is that I spent several years as an instructor at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Hanging around OTSFM taught me much of what I know about music and brought me many of my best friendships.
These days I live in Flagstaff, Arizona with my beautiful wife and two amazing children. I'm making new friends and writing new songs. There are probably almost as many reasons to write songs as there are songs, but I often like to think of songwriting as an exercise in empathy. I've written songs about the Yellowstone wolves, an undocumented worker, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
My favorite, though, is a love song I wrote for my wife called "Campfire". I believe sincere love songs are the most difficult and most important to write.
I continue to try.
"Even if the moon won't sing,
there is not a thing on Earth I'd rather do
than sit and watch this campfire slowly die,
listening with you."
- from "Campfire" by Chuck Cheesman