HEY, EVERYONE! THIS IS BILL AND IT'S BEEN A GOOD WHILE SINCE I WROTE ANYTHING TO YOU GUYS. I'M HOPING ALL MY FRIENDS HERE ARE STAYING SAFE AND HEALTHY. I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THE VIRUS THAT'S HERE, BUT YOU'VE HEARD IT ALL—WAAAAAY TOO MUCH ALREADY. I THINK WE CAN AT LEAST TALK ABOUT MUSIC AND HOW MUCH WE MISS SEEING FRIENDS AT SONS' GIGS. THE SHUTDOWN IS HURTING MUSICIANS REALLY BADLY AND EVERY PLAYER/SINGER I KNOW IS CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO PLAY LIVE AGAIN. TAMARA AND I ARE PLAYING WITH A HANDFUL OF GREAT MUSICIANS AT PALA CASINO, OUTDOORS, IN OCTOBER. THAT'LL BE OUR FIRST LIVE STUFF IN WHAT SEEMS LIKE AT LEAST A YEAR. I FIND MYSELF WONDERING IF I CAN STILL PLAY LIVE. I'M SURE I CAN, BUT IT'LL BE A MATTER OF SHAKING OFF THE RUST.
SINCE I WAS STUCK AT HOME A LOT I SAID TO MYSELF, "OK BILL, IT'S TIME FOR A SOLO ALBUM." I HAVEN'T DONE A SOLO ALBUM SINCE "NO PLACE LEFT TO FALL" IN 2008, OR SOMEWHERE AROUND THAT TIME. I FIGURED THAT SINCE I WAS LOCKED DOWN ANYWAY I SHOULD UTILIZE THE TIME MAKING MUSIC. WELL, I GOT A 14 SONG ALBUM READY TO BE MASTERED NEXT WEEK. THEN I JUST GOTTA' FIGURE A WAY TO GET IT OUT THERE. I'M SURE WE'LL HAVE SOME AVAILABLE AT GIGS, IF THEY EVER HAPPEN AGAIN, AND PROBABLY AT THE MERCHANDISING PAGE WHERE PAST CD'S HAVE BEEN MAIL ORDERED SO, EVEN WITHOUT A RECORD COMPANY IT'LL BE AVAILABLE TO YOU GUYS. BELIEVE ME, THIS ONE IS GONNA' BE AS GOOD AS ANYTHING I'VE EVER DONE. I'VE GOT GUEST MUSICIANS INCLUDING: BRUCE GAITSCH, VINNIE COLAIUTA, GEORGE HAWKINS, JR, LENNY CASTRO, MARC RUSSO, GREG MATHIESON, ABRAHAM LABORIEL, STEVE PORCARO, GORDEN CAMPBELL, ALAN HERTZ, TAL MORRIS, CARMEN GRILLO, ANDREAS CARLSSON, TAMARA CHAMPLIN, GARY FALCONE AND A FEW OTHERS APPEARING IN SPOTS ON THE RECORD. THEY ALL BROUGHT THEIR "A" GAME TO THIS PROJECT. I DON'T HAVE A TITLE FOR THIS YET, BUT I THINK IT'S MY BEST RECORD SO FAR. I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT. AS SOON AS IT'S DONE I'LL SEND OUT A BLURB AND A "WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT" THING. TAMARA KINDA' HANDLES THE ONLINE STORE AT: billchamplin.com/shop AND I'M GUESSING THAT'S THE PLACE TO GET IT. BELIEVE ME, YOU'RE GONNA' DIG IT.
BY THE WAY, WILL CHAMPLIN'S ALBUM, "GREAT DIVIDE”, IS OUT AND AWESOME. IT’S AVAILABLE AT ITUNES, ETC. HERE'S A LINK TO GET IT: https://ffm.to/greatdividewc . THERE'S A GREAT SONG ON IT CALLED “HOLLOW", AMONG OTHER GREAT SONGS AND PRODUCTIONS. WILL'S AN AWESOME SONGWRITER/SINGER/PLAYER/ PRODUCER/PROGRAMMER. IT GOES ON AND ON AND I'M REALLY PROUD OF HIS WORK.
THE SONS ARE LOCKED DOWN AT THE MOMENT, BUT WE'RE FOR SURE PLANNING ON COMING BACK ROARING. ONCE GIGS START TO HAPPEN AGAIN WE'LL PICK IT UP WHERE WE LEFT IT OFF. I MISS THE HANG WITH THOSE GUYS. I GET TIME TO WORK WITH CARMEN GRILLO, ALAN HERTZ, AND TAMARA CHAMPLIN, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS NEW ALBUM, SO WE GOT SOME OF THE BAND KICKIN’. WE'LL GET THE REST GOING AS SOON AS IT'S A BIT SAFER.
THE CWF (CHAMPLIN, WILLIAMS, AND FREISTEDT) 2ND ALBUM HAS DONE REALLY WELL IN SCANDINAVIA, EUROPE, AND JAPAN; OR AT LEAST IT'S DONE WELL CONSIDERING THE CRAZY STUFF THAT'S HAPPENED TO THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. CWF 2 IS OUT ON SONY RECORDS IN JAPAN AND THEY'VE DONE A GREAT JOB GETTING IT TO THE MUSIC FANS OVER THERE. I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THERE'S AN AMERICAN LABEL, BUT PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN IMPORTS FROM JAPAN AND SWEDEN. THERE'S BEEN NOTHING BUT GREAT REACTIONS TO THE RECORD. MICHAEL MCDONALD APPEARS ON 1 SONG THAT WE WROTE AND PRODUCED, WHICH HAS GOTTEN GOOD REVIEWS, TOO. BTW, MICHAEL MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST SINGERS ON THE EARTH, BUT YOU KNEW THAT ALREADY, HUH? I'VE KNOWN MICHAEL FOR YEARS AND IT'S ALWAYS A THRILL TO BE IN THE PHONES AND LISTEN TO THE COOLEST STUFF FLY OUTTA' HIM. WOW!!!! HEEEEE BEEEEEE BAAAAAD.
ANYWAY, I'M PURPOSELY AVOIDING ANYTHING POLITICAL OTHER THAN THIS ONE THING: VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER TO ANYTHING!! NUFF SAID ON THAT. IF YOU WANNA' HEAR/SEE OPINIONS JUST OPEN UP FACEBOOK AND THERE'S NOTHING BUT OPINIONS. MY FRIEND CARMEN CALLS IT: HATE BOOK. BOTH HE AND I CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION AT THE SAME TIME ON THIS STUFF: "GET INTO YOUR MUSIC AND LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY." MY DAD RAN FOR OFFICE YEARS AGO AND TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE OFFICIALLY ENTERED SOME RACES ALL KINDS OF VERMIN CAME OUTTA' THE WOODWORK TO "HELP", CONSULTANTS OF ALL KINDS. HE SAID HE'D NEVER MET ANY PEOPLE LESS HONORABLE OR EMPATHETIC IN HIS LIFE. SOMEONE ASKED ME IF I WOULD EVER RUN FOR ANY KIND OF OFFICE. I SAID, "OF COURSE, THE DENTIST'S OFFICE NEXT TUESDAY" THAT'S ABOUT IT. 'NUFF OF DAT STUFF.
I'M HOPING EVERYONE OF YOU GUYS ARE HEALTHY AND SAFE. BE SAFE, BE GOOD, BE BAAAAAAAD. LOVE YOU ALL, BILL