Draft:Washboard Chaz

Charles Leary is originally from Queens, New York, and was drawn to music as a youth after watching “jazz musicians strut out the door in their fancy suits,” following poker games at local roadhouses. He discovered the washboard in Key West in the early 70s, and has made it his own, affixing a mix of tin cans, wood block, and a hotel bell with a bright “CHAZ” painted across the top in yellow on a royal blue background.{{cite web |title=NEXT STOP, GREENWICH VILLAGE |url=https://www.westword.com/music/next-stop-greenwich-village-5055818 |website=Westword |access-date=June 20, 2025}} He moved to Boulder Colorado in 1975, where he played with groups such as the Ophelia Swing Band, Prosperity Jazz Band, Judy Roderick and the Forebears, BBQ Bob & Washboard Chaz and Bleeker Street. {{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz |url=https://wwoz.org/acts/washboard-chaz|website=WWOZ 90.7FM |date=6 August 2023 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

After a brief stint in Kansas City, Chaz settled in New Orleans in 2000, where he has become a unique and well-regarded talent among the city’s vibrant music scene.{{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz Artist Review |url=https://www.thecountryblues.com/artist-reviews/washboard-chaz/ |website=The Country Blues |date=6 July 2017 |access-date=June 18, 2025}}

After moving to New Orleans, Chaz quickly formed the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, performing Piedmont finger-style, Delta, and Chicago blues. Their discography includes Courtyard Blues (2002), Dog Days (2004){{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Dog Days (Corrugated Records) |url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/washboard-chaz-blues-trio-dog-days-corrugated-records/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=December 1, 2004 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}, Hard Year Blues (2006),{{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Hard Years Blues (Independent)|url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/washboard-chaz-blues-trio-hard-years-blues-independent/|website=OffBeat Magazine |date=November 1, 2006 |access-date=June 20, 2025}} and Live at the Spotted Cat (2015).{{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Live At the Spotted Cat Music Club |url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/washboard-chaz-blues-trio-live-spotted-cat-music-club/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=July 29, 2015 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

In 2002, he joined guitarist and vocalist Alex McMurray and sousaphonist Matt Perrine, members of Royal Fingerbowl, to create The Tin Men. {{cite web |title=The Tin Men: a classic trio, with unorthodox instruments

|url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/the-tin-men-a-classic-trio-with-unorthodox-instruments/article_63fa838a-ddd3-594a-8daf-21ffbdbe1ec4.html |website=NOLA.com |date=Oct 21, 2015 |access-date=June 20, 2025}} Their discography includes “Super Great Music For Modern Lovers” (2003), “Freaks for Industry!” (2005), “Avocado Woo Woo” (2013), “Sing With Me” (2018), and “Hit It!” (2023). {{cite web |title=Tin Men Music Website

|url=https://www.tinmenmusic.com/music |website=Tin Men |access-date=June 20, 2025}} The Tin Men received praise from RollingStone following their 2018 Jazz Fest performance as one of “The Seven Best Things We Saw” with praise for Chaz’s rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” as well as McMurray’s “witty” wongrwiting.{{cite magazine |title=New Orleans Jazz Fest 2018: The 7 Best Things We Saw |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/new-orleans-jazz-fest-2018-the-7-best-things-we-saw-628984/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=May 3, 2018 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

Chaz formed Washboard Rodeo around 2005, driven by a desire to create a band rooted in Western Swing, a genre he was introduced to in Colorado. Inspired by 30's greats Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, and Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, Chaz gathered other local musicians and began rehearsing in 2006. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina displaced the band, but they reconnected following the storm and released their first CD in 2010. {{cite web |title=Washboard Rodeo CD Release Party at Maison Tonight |url=https://www.offbeat.com/news/washboard-rodeo-cd-release-party-at-maison-tonight/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=March 18, 2010 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

Chaz also formed the Palmetto Bug Stompers in the mid 2000s, featuring a heavyweight team of jazz musicians from New Olreans including Robert Snow on acoustic bass, John Rodli on guitar and vocals, Will Smith on trumpet and vocals, Paul Robertson on trombone, Bruce Brackman on clarinet and Washboard Chaz on washboard and vocals. Their discography includes “Palmetto Bug Stompers” (2003){{cite web |title=The Palmetto Bug Stompers, The Palmetto Bug Stompers (Independent)|url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/the-palmetto-bug-stompers-the-palmetto-bug-stompers-independent/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=April 1, 2005| access-date=June 20, 2025}}, “Ol’ New Orleans Home” (2006){{cite web |title=The Palmetto Bug Stompers, Ol New Orleans Home (Independent) (Independent)|url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/the-palmetto-bug-stompers-ol-new-orleans-home-independent/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=August 1, 2006| access-date=June 20, 2025}}, “Live @ D.B.A.” (2009), ”Sugar Blues'' (2016), “Stomping Our Way Into Your Hearts” (2019).

In 2006, Alex McMurray formed Chaz Fest in response to the increasing exclusion of local musicians from the city’s ubiquitous Jazz Fest. The festival was held on the Thursday between the two weekends of Jazz Fest in the Bywater neighborhood, and featured a mix of local musicians.{{cite magazine |title=Chaz Fest |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/new-orleans-journal/chaz-fest |magazine=The New Yorker |date=August 12, 2008 |access-date=June 20, 2025}} As the festival was named after Chaz (a mashup of Jazz Fest and Chaz), he would take a turn playing with each band throughout the day. The Festival ended in 2016 as the festival location was sold. The festival was named Best Neighborhood Festival by Offbeat in 2011 {{cite web |title=Offbeat Best of the Beat Award Winners: Complete List |url= https://www.offbeat.com/best-of-the-beat-award-winners-complete-list/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |access-date=June 20, 2025}} and came back for a couple of years in 2019 and 2024 featuring Washboard Rodeo among other local bands. {{cite web |title=ChazFest returns April 19 at the Broadside |url=https://www.nola.com/gambit/events/chazfest-returns-april-19-at-the-broadside/article_048118fa-f81a-11ee-93ab-87ba814d32c2.html |website=NOLA.COM |date=April 13, 2024 |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

Chaz’s New Orleans bands have performed annually at French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Crescent City Blues Fest.{{cite web |title=Chaz Blues Trio Still Top Blues |url=https://www.offbeat.com/news/chaz-blues-trio-still-top-blues/ |website=OffBeat Magazine |date=April 14, 2015 |access-date=June 18, 2025}}

Washboard Chaz has performed or recorded with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, John P. Hammond, Anders Osborne, Robert Cray, and Doc Watson. He appears on over 70 recordings, including John P. Hammond's Grammy-nominated Long as I Have You (1998).

Chaz has made television appearances on HBO's Treme (TV Series), NCIS: New Orleans, and in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Chaz was also featured in Playing For Change's "Stand by Me" video project, alongside Keith Richards, Keb' Mo' and other global musicians in Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" {{cite web |title=Playing for Change: Stand by Me |url=https://playingforchange.com/fr/videos/stand-by-me-song-around-the-world |website=Playing for Change |access-date=June 20, 2025}} and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" song. {{cite web |title=Washboard Chaz appears in a Playing for Change cover|url=https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/the_latest/washboard-chaz-appears-in-a-playing-for-change-cover/article_d48f7504-03b2-51c3-b34c-195378d95f8a.html |website=NOLA.com |date= June 1, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2025}} Chaz was introduced to the Playing for Change team by Roberto Luti, an Italian slide guitarist who was a member of Chaz's Blues Trio.{{cite web |title=Playing for Change: Washboard Chaz |url=https://playingforchange.com/artists/washboard-chaz |website=Playing for Change |access-date=June 20, 2025}}

== Instruction and Teaching ==

Chaz is a member of the faculty of the Centrum (arts organization) Acoustic Blues workshop in Port Townsend, Washington, returning annually to instruct aspiring and experienced musicians in blues, percussion, and the washboard. {{cite web |title=Centrum Acoustic Blues Workshop|url=https://centrum.org/program/acoustic-blues/ |website=Centrum |access-date=June 20, 2025}}