Blues in the spotlight at Lake County museum

Steve Peterkort was quick to react when he found out the latest exhibit at the Lake County Discovery Museum allows visitors to take the stage and belt out the blues.

“I ran home and got my own guitar,” said Peterkort, who lives five minutes away in Hawthorn Woods and on Saturday played the song “Stormy Monday” on a mock stage set up as part of the Lake County Discovery Museum’s new exhibit: “The Blues: From the Heart and Soul.”

In addition to the stage — which comes equipped with a karaoke machine, drum set and guitar for those who aren’t inclined to bring their own — the exhibit showcases a wide array of blues memorabilia collected by “Barrelhouse Chuck,” a blues pianist from Libertyville who has played with blues great Bo Diddley and opened for Willie Dixon, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters.

From 1970s concert playbills to funeral programs for blues greats like Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins and even a checkered shirt worn by Little Brother Montgomery on the cover of his 1972 album, the exhibit is a testament to Barrelhouse Chuck’s love for the blues — and a treat for any blues lover, said Ken and Rhonda Gentrup of Mundelein.

“It’s really done well, the videos especially and the headphones where you can listen to great music and his (Barrelhouse Chuck’s) voice explaining things,” Rhonda Gentrup said.

Jim Egan, a blues musician from Mundelein who goes by “Jimmy Blue,” said the exhibit is awesome. “It’s like going downtown into a real exhibit. You can tell they put a lot of effort into it,” he said.

And for those who wish they, too, had a cool blues moniker, there is a nifty computer program that will create one for visitors based on their initials.

Lynn Brown of Libertyville and his friend, Greg Kaifer, who was visiting from North Carolina, turned out to be “Pretty Fingers McGee” and “Ugly Bad Boy Smith,” respectively. Both said they are music lovers and really enjoyed the exhibit.“I didn’t even know about Barrelhouse Chuck,” Kaifer said. “He was obviously a huge collector.”

Barrelhouse Chuck, whose real name is Charles Goering, was too ill to perform as scheduled on Saturday at the museum. He is scheduled to perform for an evening of blues songs and stories at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 3. The exhibit runs through Aug. 19.

As for the little ones, on March 28, the museum will feature a program called “Making Music” as part of its Small Discoveries series where children can try a variety of instruments and perform onstage.

The Lake County Discovery Museum is on Route 176, just west of Fairfield Road and east of Wauconda in Lakewood Forest Preserve. For more information about the exhibit, call (847) 968-3400 or visit its website, www.lcfpd.org/discovery_museum/