Tea musician Chuck Case honored for lifetime of musical achievement

By the time Chuck Case was old enough to drive, music had already become more than just a past time, it had become his calling. Picking up the violin at age six and playing until the age of nine. 

“I started playing the drums at age nine after being inspired by watching my older brother and first “drum hero” Dave play the drum solo along with the song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” Case said.

In that moment, Case took the leap from violin to drums beginning a musical path that would follow him through his lifetime. 

“I was influenced by so many great musicians, numerous famous rock and jazz drummers, and by the age of 15 I was playing with my first professional band job at the age of 15 with the band ‘Dave and The Gents’ and continued to play jobs with that band throughout my high school career,” he said. 

After graduation, the Watertown native attended South Dakota State University for Music Education. 

“After attending university, I served the country as a drummer/percussionist in the United States Air Force with the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Band at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, serving from 1985 to 1994,” he said.  

While a member of the SAC, Case performed as a drummer and musical director of the rock/country group “Night Wing” performing for military and government dignitaries and civilian audiences around the country. 

“My wife, Jennifer, and I are both former Air Force Strategic Air Command Band percussionists. We like to play traditional rudimental drum solos on our rope snare drums, which were the type of drums played during the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras,” Case said.

One of Cases’ favorite memories of his time serving with the SAC was having the pleasure of being a drummer for the late John Denver in 1991 for over 25,000 people in a televised concert at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.

 “We performed for distinguished civilian and military dignitaries on Offutt AFB and other military stations across the country including parks, auditoriums, and schools around the Midwest, but playing with John Denver is a memory I’ll never forget,” he said. 

After leaving the service, Case took his degree and passion to Sioux Falls where he was able to give private lessons and taught percussion at Dordt College and at the University of Sioux Falls. 

“I began to teach private lessons at Sioux Falls Music, and my number of students grew so quickly that in 2001 Jennifer, and I started Case Drum and Guitar Studio in the First Street Plaza in Tea. I taught the drums and Jennifer focused on the guitars,” Case recalled.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Case was forced to cut back his staff and move his business back to Tea to teach lessons online from home. 

“I have students from Tea, Sioux Falls, Harrisburg, Brandon, Watertown and Brookings so during the pandemic we really had to get creative and one way we found to still connect with our students was transitioning out lessons to an online format that our students truly enjoyed and were showing great improvements as they were in the comfort of their own home. Parents also enjoyed the ease of not having to fight through traffic to get their children to lessons. It was an extremely difficult time, but we all have made the absolute best out of the situation,” he said.

In 2025, Chuck was honored to be inducted into the South Dakota Rock & Rollers Hall of Fame. 

“I was inducted as a band member with Surfin’ Safari in 2025. We had been playing together for over 20 years and have built up quite the following, so we knew it would be a possibility that we would be inducted, but it was still an honor for all of us to be inducted,” Case said.

This year, the South Dakota Rock and Rollers Hall of Fame announced that Chuck would be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Honor through the organization. 

“I was very surprised to get the phone call telling me that I was going to receive this honor. This is an award that I would never have dreamed of receiving, but it is nice to be recognized, and I am very honored to be receiving it,” he smiled.

An induction ceremony and concert will be held at The District in Sioux Falls, Saturday, October 24 at 6 p.m. 

“I have been blessed to play and teach music for a living nearly all my life and I have greatly enjoyed seeing many of my former students excel as adults both musically and professionally. I am honored to receive this award, but I am most proud to have had, and continue to have, the support of my wife, Jennifer, because without her support I could not have accomplished what I have and I still enjoy making music with her to this day,” Case said.