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 African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

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 advertise ...

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

Biography

Chambers was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

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 album ...

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned seven decades. She has won 11 Grammys in addition to Dove Awards and Stellar Awards; Caesar is kno ...

Dottie Peoples Dorothy "Dottie" Peoples (born August 12, 1950) 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 Atlan ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

. She enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, 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 n ...

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

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. 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, Alb ...

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 Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

with Larry Fulcher (of

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

'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, and the 9th-largest eco ...

, 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 Amarillo TX southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he has played with ...

, keyboard player

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

, 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 Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...

'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 Musicians from Houston Songwriters from Texas Singers from Texas 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers African-American songwriters

Biography

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links