Raised on country music and fieldwork in Alabama, Gene Cash ditched his Southern roots at 16 to try his hand at rock n roll. He landed in Chicago in 1963 and barreled straight through the city's bitter cold and bleak job market, determined to carve out his own niche. Cash devoted every minute of the next 12 years to making a name in the Midwestern mecca. At 5824 W Division St. the man erected Cash Recording Studio, an institution wracked by bubbling racial tension but strengthened by the raw talent pouring through it's doors. Gsopel, R&B, and country singles came out in the Jade, Cash, Courtn', COin and CRA labels while CAsh juggled gigs with his own band, recording projects at local churchs, and a pub he managed in the suburbs. The round the clock grund almost broke the southern transplant, but not before Cash cemented his spot in the Chicago musical canon.