Chuck McCabe August 24, 1944 - July 23, 2010

Folk performer and songwriter Chuck McCabe passed away peacefully on Friday evening, July 23, in Santa Clara, California. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier in the year, and chose to walk through the final stage of his life privately with his wife Cindy, close friends and Blah Blah Woof Woof musical cohorts at his side. The aggressive nature of this disease made his last days blessedly swift.

Chuck McCabe's life began on the road. Born August 24, 1944 into a Navy family, McCabe's wanderings began early and continued through years of playing summers on Cape Cod, winters in Vail and every gin mill and Holiday Inn lounge in between. As a five-string banjo player he was part of Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Review. As a guitarist he played rock, blues, jazz and bluegrass from the trendy bars on the Sunset Strip to USO shows in the wilds of Southeast Asia.

All the while, McCabe gathered fodder for what has become a significant and important body of work. Ever since his song of the plight of the working class, "Minimum Wager," won the Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition in 2002, McCabe has joined the ranks of the master storytellers in the tradition of the great folk troubadours.

His songwriting also has been honored by the Boston Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, Napa Music and Wine Festival, Founders' Bluegrass Festival, Sierra Songwriters Festival, Wildflower! (Dallas) and the Tucson Folk Festival.

McCabe spent the majority of his adult life in the San Jose, California area where he lived with his wife, Cindy Costa. A popular performer, he could be found in Bay Area watering holes like The Cats in Los Gatos, listening rooms like the Espresso Garden & Café to house concerts, festival and fair stages appearing solo as well as with the his musical cohorts Jay Howlett, Steve Kritzer, Rolfe Wyer, Tim Siefert and the Blah Blah Woof Woof music collective.

Chuck was a sought-after songwriting clinician and frequent guest songwriting judge for the West Coast Songwriters and the Sisters Folk Festival. He has inspired hundreds, if not thousands of songwriters to push themselves that extra mile to do the re-write, to find the musical transition, to perfect the hook.

Living in service to his craft and his community, McCabe regularly performed more than 100 shows a year for the non-profit Young at Heart Project that provides a musical respite for seniors in care facilities. Most recently, he was a key force in the formation of the nonprofit organization Strumming for Vets, which uses music therapy, donated guitars and volunteer teachers to help veterans restore the feeling of joy and self-worth that can be lost after extreme trauma.

Chuck McCabe collected as many friends as he did stories, and he always had a kind and encouraging word.

He was fond of relating a quote by John Adams. "I am a soldier, that my son might be a poet." He added that his father lived to see that reality, even though he didn't like it much.

Chuck's spirit, wit and wisdom lives on through his songs, and through the friends he leaves behind. He was a gentleman and a husband, a son and a poet. He was a songwriter, a performer, a friend and mentor to all he touched.

And through his 65-plus years, despite numerous close calls, he managed to elude both fame and fortune.

Information about McCabe's life, where to purchase his recordings as well as an online guest book are available on his Web site at http://www.Chuck-McCabe.com.