Chuck Lettes

Staten Island Academy High School

Class of 1968

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Chuck Lettes - Class of 1968 - Staten Island Academy High School

First Name	Chuck
Last Name	Lettes
Graduation Year	Class of 1968
Gender	Male
Hometown	Staten Island, New York
About Me	Chuck Lettes has had a life-time love affair with the steel guitar, probably starting when he moved to Omaha, Nebraska in l968 to attend Creighton University. Originally trained to become a high school English teacher, during his Nebraska years Chuck taught himself how to play the pedal steel guitar and then worked in various local bands. Chuck eventually quit his “day job” and went on tour with Jon Emery and the Missouri Valley Boys and then with Sour Mash, a popular group that recorded several albums during Chuck’s tenure. Eventually the harsh Nebraska winters took their toll, and Chuck moved to sunny Denver, Colorado and later returned back to teaching high school. Since his move to Colorado, Chuck has shared the stage with many touring artists including LeRoy VanDyke, Doug Kershaw, Asleep at the Wheel, Vince Gill, Johnny Lee, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He was the staff steel guitarist for Denver’s longest running musical, “Always… Patsy Cline.” Chuck performs locally, often with the Jim Hyatt Band, as well as with Lannie Garrett. In addition to musical performances, Chuck Lettes was a featured writer for music magazines like the The Steel Guitar International and The Steel Guitar World. He has written for The Pedal Steel Guitar Association’s Newsletter since l984 and has earned the magazine’s Reader Appreciation award for his column, “New Instrumentals for the Steel Guitar.” A newly retired high school English teacher, Chuck frequently uses his teaching skills, but now he focuses on music rather than student essays. Chuck has presented steel guitar seminars and concerts at many of the steel guitar conventions across the United States, including St. Louis, Dallas, Augusta, Saluda, Phoenix, Denver, Joliet, Providence, and Norwalk, Connecticut. Playing music always has been a passion for Chuck and probably kept him fairly sane during his career as an English teacher. He continues to love and to further learn the steel guitar, but Chuck recently has taken up the tenor saxo...(read more)