Bill Chambers


www.myspace.com/chambersbill

Produced by Bill chambers
Small Song Sample - Frozen Ground CD
Small Song Sample of Sleeping with the Blues CD

Bill and his partner Kate are expecting a baby this September.: All the best Bill and Kate.

Sunny Sweeney - singer-songwriter from East Texas scheduled for Tamworth 2008

The Lost Dogs Thursday 21st June 2007

"The Lost Dog Sessions"

Kasey Chambers Shane Nicholson Bill Chambers Chris Haigh Mick Albeck Plus a different special guest every week Every Thursday Night (from April 19) Avoca Beach Hotel 8 pm $12 Cover charge Bookings: 02 4382 3899
Guest Artist coming
May 17th Glenn Cardier May 24th Jessica Belle May 31st Bec Willis & Ben Crick June 7th Kim Cheshire June 14th Sarah Humphries June 21st Tribute Night to Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie & Jimmie Rodgers June 28th Shanley Del & James Gillard July 5th TBC July 12th Tom Cooney (Brisbane Singer/Songwriter) July 19th Camille Te Nahu & Stuie French July 26th Daxton Monaghan (Sydney Singer/Songwriter)
BILL CHAMBERS - FROZEN GROUND Bill �father of Kasey� Chambers is one of those growling singers who owes a substantial debt to both Bob Dylan and John Prine. Perhaps it�s a result of those early weathered years he spent �roughing it� in the outback with his family. � My kids Nash and Kasey grew up listening only to the music I played on cassettes or on my guitar around the campfire. Songs of Hank Williams, the Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Jackson Browne and John Prine��Remembers Bill. �I�m entirely self taught, guess that�s why I sound like I do.� There�s much more to Bill Chambers than �just being Kasey�s dad.� The patriarch of the Chambers Clan is considered by some to be Australia�s premier alt-country guitarist. He can be a master of delicate picking on Dobro or Lap Steel and a demon on Slide. Along with producing albums for the likes of Catherine Britt, Audrey Auld, Becky Willis (co-produced with Kasey) and the Dead Ringer Band, Bill has still found time to write most of the songs for both his albums. The Aria nominated �Sleeping With The Blues� and his recent �Frozen Ground.� � My new album is on Nash�s label Essence through EMI, They�ve put so much into promoting it, its up to me now to get out on the road and perform the songs, actually that�s what I love the best. I still play in Kasey�s band when she�s on the road and the gigs take us all over the world. That�s where I get many of the stories for my songs. �The Courier Mail� Described �Frozen Ground� as �A rough diamond of an album, honest and uncontrived� giving it a four star review. It covers different styles from classic country to blues, rock and points in between. From the fiery kiss of the first single �Chasing Rainbows� to the back against the wall fighting spirit of �This ain�t your town� through the sweet tenderness of �Little Man� and the modern gospel track �Stranger�, Frozen Ground bears testament to both his influences and his vision. �The Flood�s� Kevin Bennett appears on a swampy version of Cash�s �Big River� in an arrangement that puts a turbo charge under the original boom chicka boom. �We knew we didn�t want to do it straight. We ended up with something that was like Johnny Cash meets Tony Joe White� Bill says. Richard Jinman from �The Sydney Magazine� called Frozen Ground a �Fine collection of country blues songs with dirt under their fingernails. A lifetime of bitter experience in the sweetest melodies. Sonically the album is reminiscent of Daniel Lanois� eerily spacious work; all elongated guitar phrases, shuffling drums and ambient rumbling, and the combined effect is as seductive as hell.�
Bill and The Huckleberry Swedes @ The Wheatsheaf Hotel Adelaide.

Vicka & Linda & Jodi Martin (c) Bill, Johnny Irion, Sarah Lee Guthrie, @ Port Fairy Folk Festival

Bill, Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie @ Port Fairy Folk Festival

Bill & Huckleberry Swedes busking in Tamworth 2006


Bill & Michael Muchow in Tamworth 2006.

http://www.americanmusic.tk/ (discography - Belgium music online site)
RecklessRecords.com music with the dirt left on PO Box 298 Marrickville NSW 1475 Australia
"The Lost Dogs" (Name change was Harvest)
The Lost Dogs are Bill Chambers, Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, Mick Albeck and Chris Haigh, playing a bunch of songs by their favorite songwriters. PS: A Melbourne band is already working under the name 'Harvest', hence the name change to Lost Dogs. Hope to see you there! Bill Chambers Reckless Records.com
* BILL CHAMBERS NEWS Bill Chambers has finished recording his 2nd solo album. It will be released on Nash Chambers' label, Essence Records, through EMI in Australia. The release date is yet to be determined. THE most anticipated album release in a long time!
Bill and his daughter Kasey, along with her partner, singer/songwriter Shane Nicholson, have formed a band called 'Lost Dogs'. Chris Haigh (bass) and Mick Albeck (fiddle) join them on songs from their favorite writers, including John Prine, Steve Earle and Fred Eaglesmith. Bill works with many singer/songwriters, either as a mentor, co-writer or producer. He has a wealth of experience and offers loads of encouragement and advice to artists young and old. Ben Crick is an artist Bill and the Dead Ringer Band have known for a long time. Many years ago Ben was the drummer in his own family band, Hot Diggetty, along with his sister and father. In recent years Ben has blossomed into a great songwriter with a very unique writing style and gravelly vocal sound reminiscent of early Tom Waits. Bill has produced Ben's debut album (also due out on Essence) and it's great with a wonderful 'Australian' sound to it. "Harvest" (Name Change to The Lost Dogs) Click here Photos at the Harvest Concert Central Coast 2005
Shane Nicholson Kasey Chambers Bill Chambers
Chris Haigh Mick Albeck Artist Report

Bill's second album is inching towards completion.... To view Bill's video of "I Drink" go to the Reckless Records site www.recklessrecords.com and click on the 'Bill Chambers' button. View his electronic press kit (EPK) including gigs, bio, and some cool new pics by Glen Hannah. There's also a couple of pics from the debut 'Harvest' show at Avoca Beach. For those of you who didn't receive the email re the 'Harvest' show last month, Bill, Kasey and Shane Nicholson have formed a band, along with Mick Albeck (fiddle) and Chris Haigh (bass). They play covers by their favorite writers including Tom Waits, Fred Eaglesmith, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle and John Prine. It's a fun side-project and an irregular return to the smaller, more intimate gigs of Kasey's earlier days. Bill reports their first show was excellent, with Shane and Kasey working up some great cover songs together. "No" the show was not recorded, but there may be plans to record a future show, and "Yes", we'll let you know when that occurs. Bill Chambers will be appearing at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, OK, July this year.


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Bill Chambers has plenty to smile about, and not just because he's one of Australia's most respected and well-liked musicians. His daughter, Kasey Chambers, is the hottest act in Australia and things are really warming up for her in the States too. His son Nash Chambers is Kasey's manager and one of Australia's most in-demand producers. Bill has a shelf filled with ARIA awards, Mo Awards, CMAA Golden Guitars and accolades from around the world. "Everything I know about music I learnt from my dad. He brought me up on Hank Williams and Emmylou Harris from when I was born. He has been my biggest influence and I would never have been able to make the music I do without him. I am his biggest fan." Kasey Chambers Bill's musical vision and determination have taken him from a small town in South Australia to theatre stages in America, England and Europe (including the Grand Ole Opry); from Australian TV's Reg Lyndsay's Country Music Hour (at the age of 16) to the Letterman show, Craig Kilburn show and Austin City Limits in the USA. His dream of sharing the stage with his idols has come true - Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Robert Earl Keen, Matthew Ryan, Kevin Welch and Kieran Kane to name a few. By now the history of the Chambers family is famous, and the story would be very different if not for the faith, persistence and talent of Bill Chambers. It's to her dad that Kasey dedicates her breakthrough solo album 'The Captain' . Bill has set-up his studio The Boneyard,

Kieran Kane and Billl Chambers
BILL CHAMBERS Bill Chambers has been out and about playing solo shows with his band. He's currently in Nashville co-producing Catherine Britt's album for RCA. His co-producer is Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, George Jones) and the musicians he's working with are awesome. He's finding the whole approach to recording there very relaxed and focused on creating the perfect conditions to capture the best performance. He's delighted to be working with a producer who has a great understanding and respect for traditional country music. Whilst in Nashville Bill was invited to perform with Mary Gauthier on her show, along with Tom Russell and Joe Ely as part of the Americana Music Assn. week. 'Sleeping With The Blues' has been released to the Americana stations in the US and in the first week of release is among theTop 5 Most Added new albums for airplay and is currently #66 on the AMA chart. Check out the Superstore page on the recklessrecords.com website for a pic of the new Bill Chambers ball cap. It's a copy of the original cap handsewn by Fred Eaglesmith during his first visit to Australia when he discovered his "unnatural love" for Bill. Fred embroidered the cap with Bill's name especially for his guest appearance on Kasey's huge show in the park during the Tamworth festival. Fred wore the cap all evening and a woman working the hot dog stand asked him if he was Bill Chambers. "Only tonight" was Fred's reply


Send your cheque/postal order for $32 ($27.28 for CD + $2.72 GST + $2.00 postage) made out to Reckless Records. Mail to PO Box 52 Woy Woy NSW 2256. Please include your name and return address. Or if you'd like to pay by credit card, email or fax the following details to 02 9906 5466 : Name on Card Card Type Expiry Date Card Number Address Phone You might say this album has taken a life time to make. It was worth the wait. Reckless Records PO Box 52 Woy Woy NSW Australia 2256 http://www.recklessrecords.com
FRED EAGLESMITH Fred Eaglesmith made his 3rd visit to Australia touring solo, supported and backed by Bill Chambers and I. The legion of Aussie Fredheads is growing and this tour was very successful. My face hurt each night from laughing so much. We played in Queensland, Victoria and NSW, and every show was different from the last. Singing harmonies with Fred is the best gig in the world. He's an inspiring musician and he encourages creativity in the people he works with. The final night at The Basement, Sydney included Simon Johnston on bass and BJ Barker on drums. It was awesome. The guys were thrown in the deep end and they really rocked. Fred was very happy and Bill called it the best gig he'd ever played! We even had some real live Freddys in the audience! It was lots of fun touring with Fred. His ethic is to make the 22 hours off stage as much fun as the 2 hours on stage. He's keen to return to Australia with his band, who are as mighty as Fred himself. It's sure to happen. MARY GAUTHIER (USA) Mary Gauthier is the songwriter of "I Drink" from Bill's album and "Karla Faye", a song I often sing in live shows. Both of these songs are from her 2nd album 'Drag Queens in Limousines'. Her latest album, produced by Gurf Morlix is 'Filth and Fire'. Both of these albums are amongst our most favorite albums of all time. All 3 of Mary's albums are available in Australia through Reckless Records. She's an amazing singer songwriter and a wonderfully warm-hearted person. Mary's keen to tour in Australia, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that this will eventuate in the future. Mary's albums : FILTH & FIRE DRAG QUEENS IN LIMOUSINES DIXIE KITCHEN

RECKLESS RECORDS GARAGE SALE : 1997 - 2003 A new release due in October is the Reckless Records Garage Sale : 1997 - 2003 CD. The 19 track album is made up of all the recordings Bill and I have had lying around the garage for way too long and have never released on an album, including 4 songs from my debut 1997 EP, tracks from The Yearlings, Mary Gauthier and a live song from Fred Eaglesmith recorded at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne. Guests include Camille Te Nahu and Rick Carey. TRACKLIST : 1. THE ANGELS REJOICED Bill & Audrey 2. FAKE LOVE WITH ME Audrey Auld 3. GOODBYE Bill Chambers 4. I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY Camille Te Nahu and Audrey Auld 5. HILLBILLY DADDY Bill Chambers 6. CRY Audrey Auld 7. TEX & BUDDY Bill & Audrey 8. THE WORLD CHANGED TODAY Audrey Auld 9. WILDER THAN HER Fred Eaglesmith and Audrey Auld 10. I'LL NEVER BE FOOLED AGAIN Rick Carey and Audrey Auld 11. MOUNTAIN HOME Audrey Auld 12. GOING CRAZY WITHOUT YOU Bill Chambers 13. 1800-GO-TELL-JOHN Audrey Auld 14. SANTA SPEND XMAS WITH ME Audrey Auld 15. HE'S A GOOD DOG Audrey Auld 16. YOU REMIND ME OF A BAD MEMORY Audrey Auld 17. HOBO'S MEDITATION Audrey Auld 18. OH, SUSANNA The Yearlings 19. CAMELOT MOTEL Mary Gauthier

AUDREY AULD Whilst I was touring the U.S. I posted Road Notes direct to both websites. Highlights include : * meeting Charlie Louvin (of the Louvin Bros) and singing harmony with him on "I Saw The Light" (with Jett Williams on lead) on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree show. I'm amazed at the amount of people who are not familiar with the Louvins' music. I find it hard to imagine life, and an appreciation of CM, without their music. * The Woody Guthrie Festival in OK was amazing, especially the finale where all the artists were invited on stage with Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie to sing along with the few thousand strong crowd. * Sitting on a haybale, under a blanket of stars, on a warm Okemah night hearing Eliza Gilkyson and Jimmie La Fave play live. Check out http://www.jimdirden.com/woodyfest2003/woodyfest_2003.htm for a photo of Bill and I that sums up the moment. * Bill and I were made very welcome in Austin. Any music lover going to the US must visit this town, and any food loving music lover must visit Threadgill's Restaurants whilst in that town. You'll be well-served, well-fed and well-educated about Austin's vibrant music scene. I was delighted to sing a duet with Colin Gilmore on his new album (a Terry Allen song). * In Nashville John Lomax III once again took great care of me, and my new best friend Mary Gauthier made me so welcome in her home. I've been told that if you can survive a gig in Nashville then you can play anywhere, so I'm proud to say I had a great gig at the Sherlock Holme's bar in Nashville - an attentive, responsive, CD-buying audience! Woo hoo! I've made it! * The Fred Eaglesmith weekend 'Roots on the River' in Vermont was a wonderful start to the tour. A big family of Fredheads. These Fred-oriented weekends are occurring in more and more places all over the world. There's bound to be one in Australia before too long. I've discovered that a press release is not necessary when the news is of enough interest. I'm happy to confirm the rumours... I married my life-long friend Mez (Daniel Mezera) on the eve of the Fred tour so we spent our honeymoon at the Gympie Muster. For non-Australian readers, it's a big music festival in Queensland and is quite a redneck affair with beer coolers on wheels and a leash, men with signs around their necks looking for quick love, and a uniform of cowboy hats and oilskins. Yes, when it comes to honeymoons it's at the white-trash end of the spectrum! It's been suggested that I'm too happy now to write a good country song. Sure enough I'm writing some sappy happy love songs and some are bound to turn up on my next album. But then... you never expected it to be like the previous albums, did you? THE YEARLINGS Here's some news from Bob & Chris... "Well The Yearlings have been busy little one-year olds. We haven't really stopped since our east coast tour, which started late June and took us from Brisbane to Adelaide in six weeks, with highlights including a house concert in Melbourne (at those beautiful Bonannos) and our launch in Sydney at Balmain in a gorgeous old church. We played to a sell-out crowd full of listeners. We were lucky enough to have Aengus Finnan play with us that night. He?s a folkie from Canada, reminiscent of early Don McLean. We got up at the end of the night to sing the Johnny Cash and June Carter song ?Wayfaring Stranger? with him and Gary Brown (on slide). We turned up to a busy little restaurant gig in Bangalow with no PA whatsoever and us jostling for the one vocal mic, which was going through a tiny guitar practice amp (lucky we like each other a whole lot). Chris was nearly taken out of the picture on the road to Melbourne when he suffered a stunning longboard injury (4 stitches plus battered surfing ego) at Bendalong. We got home to a very excited three-legged dog and an out-of control garden. We were asked to be a part of the Grand opening night of CLUB ACOUSTICA in Adelaide. It is an intimate all acoustic all original music night which has been successfully running in Sydney for years. We got to open this special occasion along with Jodi Martin (she was amazing), James Henry (Jimmy Little?s grandson who writes some beautiful songs + very sweet voice) and Gone to Earth (melodic pop with great harmonies). We?re VERY proud to have been on the Qantas in-flight radio station for the month of August. Community radio has been very good to us and our friends in Melbourne (3CR, RRR and PBS) have created some fantastic opportunities by getting us to play live on their shows. After one of these shows Melbournian Barb Waters got in touch with us and asked us support her at the Cornish Arms with special guests Cyndi Boste ,Kim Salmon and Ashley Davies. It was amazing to share the stage with these great people and musicians. It was after a Yearlings interview on PBS that Johnny Chester rang us and said he?d heard it and wanted us to support him on a tour of regional South Australia doing theatre shows. YES PLEASE! We got to play Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Port Lincoln and Whyalla (where we dedicated our set to Johnny Cash). We got very used to being introduced by Johnny every night and told some very bad jokes on stage just to keep up with the Chess Man. Playing these old theatres was amazing for us as we mic up our acoustic guitars and the crowd is so quiet that the music is alive. It was great to work with Johnny and maybe we can do it again sometime. Drove back from Whyalla so early in the morning in time to catch the red eye special to Melbourne so we could support Jimmy Little at the Corner Hotel for his album launch. It actually felt kinda nice to have some low level noise in the background (but most of the crowd listening), a bit like Tamworth they have rows of seating put in the for gig. Jimmy was in great form and played a stripped back set with Chris (Yearling) and Marty Haley from Sydney on guitars. We are really honoured that Jimmy has put a song of ours (Before You Fall) on his new album ?Down the Road?. Friday 26th September we will be playing at The Fad Caf�, Waymouth St, ADELAIDE, 9pm and coming up later in the year we?ve got Queenscliff Festival in Victoria. For the next few weeks we might just try and stay home and write some new tunes." On Friday 19th September we learnt of Slim Dusty's passing. To lose both Johnny Cash and Slim Dusty in such a short space of time is a heavy burden. Our love and thoughts go out to Slim's family, friends, all his Travelling Country Band members over the years and his agents, managers and record label. For such an enduring artist there's a huge group of people who will be affected by Slim's passing, but his influence and presence will be felt for many generations to come. There's a great pickin' session going on in heaven right now!

Audrey Auld Reckless Records PO Box 52 Woy Woy NSW Australia 2256
Bill and Jane had a son Jake, born on 13th March (6lb) . The future is looking good, perhaps we have a new "Dead Ringer Band" with the 3 little boys that have just entered the Chamber's family. Kasey and Cori's Talon, Nash and Veronica's Eden, and Bill and Jane's Jake.

Jake, born on 13th March (6lb) .

Bill Chambers New CD Bill Chambers "Sleeping with the Blues" Bill Chambers new album 'Sleeping With The Blues' was released last week by Shock and Reckless Records to stores Australia wide. Having toured Australia for many years with the Dead Ringer Band, Audrey Auld and now Kasey Chambers, Bill is well-loved and respected by many folk around the country. His much anticipated solo album is already getting a great response from fans, radio and press both nationwide and in the USA and Europe. "When he drops a killer line like "George Jones feels every pain you ever felt", you know that this is a guy who understands the blues." JEFF APTER, ROLLING STONE "Down Under charm, glinting musicianship and first-rate honky-tonk originals" JOHN NOVA LOMAX, HOUSTON PRESS, TEXAS "brimming with easy going country folk, the same type of music Kasey's mastered, yet the elder Chambers brings a ruggedness, a world weariness to it" JIM CALIGIURI, KUT FM, Austin TX "brings the rich traditions of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell into the Twenty First Century." MERV SCHAPEL, GREAT SOUTHERN FM 90.1 Whilst the styles and influences of his previous collaborations are evident, it's Bill's songwriting that sets this album apart. Where once he wrote of his place in this country, these great new songs reflect the landscape of his heart. This is a songwriters' album of raw emotion, vivid images, plus a little humour. Bill's voice is textured and from the heart. His talents on guitar, dobro and lap steel are showcased beautifully, without being overdone - a difficult feat to achieve for an album that's self-produced. His style is bold and soulful or wild and crazy, and it always enhances the song. There's also a duet with Kasey Chambers 'Stories We Could Tell' (her first recording since Talon was born), an acoustic track from the Dead Ringer Band 'Hold You In My Heart' and the honky tonkin' duet 'The Whiskey Isn't Working' with Audrey Auld. While most of the songs are Bill's own, there are exceptional covers of 'I Drink' written by Mary Gauthier and Fred Eaglesmith's 'Big Ass Garage Sale'. "WOW! I really, really love Bill's version of I Drink. I swear, I must have written it for him. His is the voice I heard singing it in my head when I wrote it. " MARY GAUTHIER "We absolutely love Bill's record. It plays night and day here." FRED EAGLESMITH "Sleeping With The Blues" is available from all good music stores. In the U.S. order from www.villagerecords.com or www.milesofmusic.com http://www.recklessrecords.com This year sees the long awaited release of Bill Chambers' solo album "Sleeping With The Blues" You might expect a hard-core hillbilly/honky tonk album from Bill but you'll discover there's more to Bill's songwriting and playing than strictly traditional country music. His musical influence on the Dead Ringer Band and Kasey's music will be apparent after listening to this album. But it's Bill's songwriting that sets this album apart from his previous collaborations. Where once he wrote of his place in this country, these new songs reflect the landscape of his heart. Bill's talents on guitar, dobro and lap steel are showcased beautifully, without being overdone - a difficult feat to achieve for an album that's self-produced. The album includes a duet with Kasey "Stories We Could Tell" (her first recording since Talon was born), an acoustic track from the Dead Ringer Band "Hold You In My Heart" and the honky tonkin' "The Whiskey Isn't Working" from Bill & Audrey. While most of the songs are Bill's own, there are exceptional covers of "I Drink" written by Mary Gauthier and Fred Eaglesmith's "Big Ass Garage Sale".
"SLEEPING WITH THE BLUES" by Bill Chambers
1. Dreamin' About Texas 2. I Drink 3. Devil's Bell 4. Sometimes 5. Gimme One More Chance 6. Stories We Could Tell (with Kasey Chambers) 7. Sleepin' With The Blues 8. The Whiskey Isn't Workin' (with Audrey Auld) 9. Promises' 10. Big Ass Garage Sale 11. Hold You In My Heart (with Dead Ringer Band) 12. The Last Thing I Expected Send your cheque/postal order for $32 ($27.28 for CD + $2.72 GST + $2.00 postage) made out to Reckless Records. Mail to PO Box 52 Woy Woy NSW 2256. Please include your name and return address. Or if you'd like to pay by credit card, email or fax the following details to 02 9906 5466 : Name on Card Card Type Expiry Date Card Number Address Phone You might say this album has taken a life time to make. It was worth the wait. Reckless Records
http://www.recklessrecords.com
Bill Chambers Sess. Tamworth Fest 2003 Fri. 1,2,3
Bill Chambers Band Tamworth Fest 20031,2,3,
Click here for The Bill Chambers Band Night Tam Fest 2002
Click here forBill Chambers Session 1 Tam Fest 2002
Click here for Bill Chambers Session 2 Tam Fest 2002