First Instrument- Chuck Iken

What Chuck Iken's First Instrument?

"Technically, when I was 4 or 5, my great-grandmother had an old upright player piano (affectionately known in the industry today as a “boat anchor” because of its extreme weight)  I used to sit at the piano and pick out tunes.  By the time I was 10 in the mid-1960’s, my parents purchased a Lowrey electronic organ and I started taking lessons. If you ever watch “That 70’s Show” you get the picture of the organ in the living room like so many families had in that era.  I took lessons for about 4 years and also started in the summer before 7^th grade in the school band, playing the saxophone which I still play today. While I did not have any major accomplishments playing the electronic organ, I did play as house organist for the first Bart Starr’s Rawhide Telethon c.1966, playing fanfares for totals.  I also played keyboards in high school for my Chicago cover band, “The Approaching Storm”.  We marginally made enough money to pay for the equipment we used, which is not unusual for an 8 piece band.  I continued playing the sax, studying with Wayne Jaeckel and Lovell Ives at UW-Green Bay and recently finished my 38^th year as a member of the CP Telethon Orchestra.  A 13 year veteran of the Green Bay Packer Band,  I have also played dozens of shows for entertainers including The Manhattan Transfer, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Lou Rawls, Johnny Mathis and Shari Lewis to name a few."