Photo: Sean Chambers by Alain Broeckx
Guitarist/Singer Sean Chambers’ Quarto Valley Records Label Debut Album,
That’s What I’m Talkin About, a Tribute to Hubert Sumlin, Moved to July 9
First Single and Video for “Hidden Charms” Will Hit June 11
WOODLAND HILLS, CA – Quarto Valley Records announces the release date of the label’s debut album from acclaimed blues-rock guitarist/singer Sean Chambers, That’s What I’m Talkin About (a tribute to legendary former Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin), has been moved to July 9. The date change will accommodate the release of the disc’s first single and video for the track, “Hidden Charms,” on June 11, when the album will also be available for preorder.
Recorded in March 2020 just before the coronavirus shut everything down, the Florida-based Chambers went into Showplace Studios in Dover, New Jersey, for the sessions of his 8th album. That’s What I’m Talkin About was engineered and produced by Showplace owner Ben Elliott, who suddenly passed away shortly after the album was recorded. In addition to Sean Chambers (guitar, vocals) and members of his band, That’s What I’m Talkin About also features guest appearances from lauded keyboardists Bruce Katz and John Ginty. The 11 tracks on the new disc include 10 songs Sean regularly performed on the road as a member of Hubert Sumlin’s touring band, as well as “Hubert’s Song,” a Chambers original saluting Sumlin. The music showcases a tour-de force of Sean’s blazing guitar pyrotechnics.
“This album is a tribute to my mentor, and friend, the late great Hubert Sumlin,” Sean Chambers says. “Back in 1998, I got a call asking if my band and I would be interested in backing up Hubert at ‘Blues Stock’ in Memphis. Of course, I was honored and said yes. The band and I woodshedded the songs for a month or so and went to play with Hubert for the first time in October of 1998. It was a magical night for me, and the chemistry between us and Hubert worked really well. After that show, Hubert asked if we would become his full-time group. My band and I continued to play and tour with Hubert for over four years. I look back on that time with Hubert as my ‘college education in the blues’.
Chambers continues, ‘That’s What I’m Talkin About’ was a phrase that Hubert used to say a lot, so we thought it would be a fitting name for this album. Ben Elliott, who engineered and produced the album, sadly passed away suddenly shortly after this session, and it would turn out to be his last project. The picture in the album package of Ben and I behind the mixing board was the last one of us, as we listened back to the tracks we had just recorded, hoping that Hubert would be proud. My previous two albums, Trouble & Whiskey and Welcome To My Blues were also recorded with Ben Elliott. He was a great friend and partner in the business and will be sorely missed by everyone that knew and worked with him. I will always be grateful to both Hubert Sumlin and Ben Elliott and will never forget all the work we did together, as well as all the lessons that I learned from them both. The music will always live on, and I hope that you enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Sean Chambers will begin a post-COVID tour in support of the new CD with his band throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He currently resides in Southwest Florida with his wife Karen, who handles his merchandise sales while on tour.
“I am bringing back my old bass player, Todd Cook, who played bass on Trouble & Whiskey and Welcome to My Blues. New touring drummer Andrei Koribanics was the drummer on the new album, That’s What I’m Talkin About, and played percussion on Trouble & Whiskey,” Chambers says about his new touring band.
Band Members:
Sean Chambers – guitar/vocals
Todd Cook – bass
Andrei Koribanics – drums
Rick Curran – Hammond B3/keyboards
Sean is proudly endorsed by: GHS Strings, Eminence Speakers, DiMarzio, and Celestial Effects.
About Sean Chambers
“Guitarist Chambers achieves the distinctly American blues/soul/country/rock sound that the Stones used to aspire to long ago.” – Jerry Shriver, USA TODAY
Florida- born Sean Chambers began his career in the blues back in 1998 when he toured with the legendary Hubert Sumlin as his guitarist and band leader until 2003. During Sean’s tenure with Mr. Sumlin, Britain’s Guitarist magazine named Chambers as “One of the top 50 blues guitarists of the last century.”
In 2009, Chambers released his critically-acclaimed album, Ten Til Midnight, which garnered rave reviews and also appeared on the Living Blues chart for the first three months after its release. It received steady airplay in 45 states around the U.S, as well as many markets overseas. The title cut was featured on “The House of Blues Radio Hour” as a “Blues Breaker;” and the album also generated significant airplay on Sirius/XM Radio’s blues channel as a “Pick to Click.”
Sean Chambers released Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse in 2011, which featured 10 tracks of mostly originals, along with Sean’s distinctively searing takes on “Full Moon on Main Street,” a highlight song from an early album by The Kinsey Report; as well as a blistering version of Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom,” which recalls Johnny Winter in its approach. Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse appeared on the Sirius/XM Blues Chart as a “Pick to Click” for six weeks in a row, as well as 15 weeks on the RMR Weekly Blues Roots Chart and 11 weeks on the House of Blues Radio Chart. The album was voted “Best Live Blues Album of 2011” by Canada’s Blues Underground Network and ranked as one of the Top 3 Live CDs in Germany by the magazine, Wasser Prawda. In addition, it was nominated for a Jimi Award for “Best Live Blues Album of 2011.” Both Guitar Player Magazine and Vintage Guitar Magazine ran feature stories on Sean in 2012.
In 2013, Sean released The Rock House Sessions, on Blue Heat Records. The album received great reviews and was nominated for a Blues Blast Music Award in 2014 for “Best Blues Rock Album of the year.” The album was recorded at Rock House Studios owned by acclaimed keyboardist, Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton Band).
Sean Chambers released his 6th album, entitled Trouble & Whiskey, in 2017 on the American Showplace Music label. Trouble & Whiskey hit #11 on the Billboard Blues chart, reached #7 on the Living Blues chart during the first week of its release, and was nominated for a Blues Blast Music Award for “Best Blues Rock Album of the Year.”
2018 saw the release of Sean’s Welcome to My Blues album on the American Showplace Music label, reaching #9 on the Billboard Blues charts in the first week, and was also nominated for a Blues Blast Music Award for “Best Blues Rock Album of the Year.” Both albums were produced by Ben Elliott who recorded classic artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, and Steve Miller among others.
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