the john chambers band
Eleven things to know about John Chambers:
1. He was born in Lubbock, Texas.
2. He went to the same junior high as Buddy Holly.
3. The banjo John plays on his latest album, dot dot dot, was a gift on his 12th birthday.
4. John played trumpet through his junior year of high school.
5. His 1966 Martin D-18 has been in his care for 37 years.
6. John was a page at CBS in Los Angeles. He wrote name tags for The Price Is Right.
7. John spent months working in a 750 square foot office with Carrie Fisher and Janis Hirsch. In those months, Carrie told John many stories, including the story of her breakup with Paul Simon. John thought them all surreal.
8. John worked at Westwood Music in Santa Monica, California.
9. John was the first staff writer hired on Law & Order: SVU, the longest running drama in television history.
10. John lived in Venice Beach for nine years.
11. John has three albums, all of which were recorded in Acuff, Texas.
And...
John Chambers’ parents divorced when he was nine years old, right in the sweet spot for damaging the human psyche. On his 12th birthday, to mitigate the pain, John’s parents got him a banjo. It’s impossible to be sad playing the banjo.
When he was sixteen, John’s mother moved to the Central California to teach college. That same summer, John’s father, who John moved in with, remarried.
Well-loved by his parents, John’s seemingly boundless whimsey, for better or worse, continued to flourish. He was, however, largely unsupervised throughout his middle and high school years. And if you haven’t gotten the memo, being unsupervised anywhere, but especially Lubbock, Texas, is dangerous business. Regrets? A few.
After high school, John enrolled at the University of Colorado where he skied, played gigs with high school band mate, Pace Conner, and occasionally studied journalism. After two years in Boulder, John headed to Austin, where he studied writing and film production at the University of Texas.
Leaving Austin, John moved to Los Angeles, determined to make it as a writer in Hollywood.
After ten years of paying dues (he’s got a few stories), John got his first job as a television writer. Look up his credits on IMDb. John’s the writer who birthed his career on the Emmy Award winning NYPD Blue, and killed his career on the “most-watched show on the planet,” The Bold and the Beautiful. In John’s two years at B&B, he was twice nominated for a Daytime Emmy for best writing staff. Little victories.
Out of work as a writer, John did the only thing any sane person would do – moved back to Lubbock, went to work remodeling houses with his childhood best friend, and started recording music.
John’s father always said if John were run out of town, he’d think he was leading a parade – and so it might appear. But secretly, John knows the mob is on his heals.
Since being run out of town, John has recorded three LPs: Simone (2009), Green from Gray (2014), and dot dot dot (2019). An EP with longtime collaborator, Maureen Murphy, is due out in early 2020 with a follow-up LP expected later that year.
John’s music spans from folk-rock bluegrass (“Beg, Steal and Borrow”/“Donuts”) to open-ended jams (“Blesses the Sky”/“Driving in the Rain”). His songs are often about breakup, fond remembrances, open admissions of guilt, and regret – though he promises to let a little sunshine in on forthcoming releases.
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