The John Chambers Band Plays Tonight at Stubb’s
Looking at John Chambers’ musical experiences is like checking out a roller coaster ride. Plenty of ups, downs and surprises around the corner. But through it all, music proved to be the number one survival mechanism for Chambers.
After the Lubbock native left the University of Colorado and then later graduated from UT Austin, he found opportunities to write music for television shows in Los Angeles. And he wrote for some biggies, including NYPD Blue and Law and Order: SVU. It was a good run for a few years, but it came to an end, and Chambers had to make the move from California back to Texas before his money ran out. He made his way to Austin and found a temporary job as a day laborer, but even with such back-breaking work, he never lost sight of his musical goals.
Chambers got together with producers Brian McRae and Alan Crossland and shared his idea: After playing solo for so long, he wanted an album of songs that an entire band could play on. The result was Simone, pop-rock with a distinctly 70s feel that Chambers poured heart, soul and personal experience into.
Making his own music is a great thing for Chambers, although he really sees a similarity between it and writing music for TV. “It’s all about telling a good story,” he says. “I’ve heard the point made that it’s better to be a good storyteller than a good writer. I think that’s true in music, too. Clever lyrics, well-crafted lines, a spin of a phrase…all that’s good stuff, sure, but you want to tell a good story, a compelling story, something that sticks with you after you’ve heard it. I shoot for that, anyway. The songwriters I admire, they hit that.”
You can see the John Chambers Band perform tonight at Stubb’s indoor venue, 801 Red River. Opening the show is Austin singer-songwriter Lee Simmons, at 10:30 p.m.
