(Bill Champlin | Photo courtesy of Bill Champlin)
Bill Champlin rose to national attention with his funky horn band out of the Bay Area known as the Sons of Champlin, releasing their first double LP in 1969 titled Loosen Up Naturally. In the following years the band played Champlin’s material and released another twelve albums to date. The band toured nationally and played at the Sky River Festival in Olympia and dates at U of O, PSU, the iconic D Street Corral as well as Portland’s Paramount Theater. After going solo and releasing several albums in the 70’s, Bill joined the group Chicago in 1982 where he remained for 28 years as a vocalist and keyboardist. In 1988, Chicago released its biggest-selling single and their last No. 1 hit, Look Away, featuring Bill on lead vocal. As a songwriter, his credits are impeccable: Champlin won a Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song in 1980 for co-writing the Earth, Wind and Fire’s hit song After the Love Has Gone and a second Grammy Award in 1983 for co-writing the song Turn Your Love Around made popular by George Benson. He wrote and sang the theme for television show In the Heat of the Night and his songs have been recorded by a wide variety of entertainers including Average White Band, Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick and the Pointer Sisters. He will perform songs from his long career on guitars and keyboards.
Joining Bill for this intimate show will be wife, Tamara Champlin, a songwriter with great credits of her own (Leon Russell, Elton John, Paul Rogers). Their latest CD with the WunderGround (including Champlin, Gary Falcone & Tamara Champlin) was released in April 2018 and titled Bleeding Secrets.
August 21st @ 7:30pm
The Old Church
TOC Concert Hall
1422 SW 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97201
Tickets: theoldchurch.org
$30 General Admission
$60 VIP (preferred seating & Meet & Greet with Bill)
billchamplin.com • 503-222-2031