Bill Champlin Interview - Part 2

Part two of this two-part conversation, Bill Champlin continues his fan-driven chat with Preston Frazier, digging into more career highlights and stories. Bill praises the Santa Fe/Fat City Horns for their tight, powerful live sound, spotlighting drummer Johnny Friday and bassist Roshan Westmoreland, and explains how he blends studio vocals into live recordings using Pro Tools' expanded track counts for rich vocal stacking. He then dives into his Chicago-era work, including the twisting backstory of "Please Hold On" from Chicago 17 (passed from David Foster and Lionel Richie to Champlin for completion) and producing anti-corporate anthems like "Plaid" with Peter Wolf. Bill and Preston trace several Chicago co-writes, including a song developed with George Hawkins Jr. that found its way onto a Chicago album, and Bill reflects on his recurring role in the band as the guy who brings distinctive, R&B-flavored material rather than the album's core songs. The conversation also touches on production choices and vocal takes, plus what Bill picked up watching David Foster's piano technique over the years. Bill wraps up with a look at current projects — new Tamara Champlin tracks mixed by drummer/engineer Alan Hurts — and shares news of remastered Sons reissues, available at billchamplin.com/shop.