Annika Shattrelle Chambers (born August 7, 1985) is an American

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by artists s ...

singer and songwriter. Chambers has released three albums, and she won a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

in 2019 in the 'Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year' category. Her sophomore release, ''Wild & Free'', debuted at number 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Blues Albums Chart. Her third album, ''Kiss My Sass'', was released in August 2019.

Biography

Chambers was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, United States. As she stated "I grew up singing in the church", and was inspired by the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

musicianship of

Yolanda Adams Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albu ...

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (Birth name, née Caesar; born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American Gospel music, gospel singer. Her career began in 1951, when she signed to Federal Records at the age of 12. Thro ...

Dottie Peoples Dorothy "Dottie" Peoples is an American gospel singer from Dayton, Ohio. After completing high school, she toured with gospel pioneer Dorothy Norwood, a member of the Caravans. After a stint in jazz, she relocated to Atlanta in 1979, and returned ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

. She enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and spent over seven years in armed service. During her two

tours of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

Chambers was invited to sing the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

at a ceremony, which led to her performing for the troops as part of a touring band in both

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. In 2011, Chambers returned to Houston, and formed her own band, Annika Chambers and The House Rules Band. The ensemble entered the

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, ...

in late 2012, and, despite not proceeding beyond the final qualifying round, her talents were noticed by two of the judging panel. She recorded what was to be a demo with Larry Fulcher (of

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

's Phantom Blues Band) and Richard Cagle, but this was released as her debut album. ''Making My Mark'' (2014), credited to Annika Chambers & the Houston All-Stars, reached number 16 on the ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' chart. Chambers was nominated in 2015 for a Blues Music Award in the 'Best New Artist Debut' category. This initial success was brought to a temporary halt. In 2015, Chambers worked as a recruiting assistant for the

Texas National Guard The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest population and border in the United States. The Texas Military Forc ...

, and she became involved with others in claiming fraudulent bonuses for acquiring new recruits. Chambers received around $17,000. She pleaded guilty and served six months in prison. Her second album, ''Wild & Free'' (2016), debuted at number 7 on the ''

'' Blues Albums Chart. The album saw Chambers backed by the guitarist

Johnny Lee Schell Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the late 1960s, he first recorded with producer Norman Petty in Group Axis. In the 1970s, he joined the Amarillo, Texas-based southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he h ...

, keyboard player

Mike Finnigan Michael Kelly Finnigan (April 26, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his specialty being the B3 Hammond organ. Working primarily as a freelance studio musician and touring player, he played with a wide variet ...

, bassist Larry Fulcher and drummer

Tony Braunagel Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...

. Guest artists included the pianist

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

. The twelve-track ''Wild & Free'' contained Chambers self-penned song "Reality" plus her cover of

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi, Georgia and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of composer ...

's " Piece by Piece". Subsequently, Chambers appeared at music festivals in South America, Europe and the US (the latter including Minnesota Bayfront Blues Festival, Las Vegas Blues Bender, Gloucester Blues Festival, and the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival). In 2018, this led to her being nominated again for a Blues Music Award. Chambers won a Blues Music Award in 2019 in the 'Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year' category. Her third album, ''Kiss My Sass'', was released on August 9, 2019. On December 7, 2019, she performed at the Bradenton Blues Festival.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official websiteFebruary 2018 interview transcription
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Annika 1985 births Living people Soul-blues musicians American blues singers 21st-century African-American women singers Singers from Houston Songwriters from Texas 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers African-American songwriters

Biography

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links