Kelly Strayhorn Theater\u2019s Marvin Gaye tribute show, titled \u201cA Tribute to the Prince of Soul.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m super excited about it,\u201d he said, calling Gaye a \u201cstaple\u201d in soul music. \u201cHis story, his songwriting \u2014 everything he did for music was intentional, and I think now, especially with everything going on in the world, we just need intentional music \u2026 rooted in love and feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chambers said the Gaye concert will bring people together to have a good time, sing songs and reminisce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for newer people that don\u2019t really know what he did, but it\u2019s also for people who experienced it live when he was alive, and they can remember,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Alongside solos, there will be duets and group numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bring a twist to some stuff \u2014 it\u2019s not going to be all the way the same, but it\u2019s going to be rooted in what it was,\u201d he said. \u201cExpect some creativity, too. Everybody\u2019s going to bring their own flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chambers has over a decadelong relationship with the Kelly Strayhorn, located on Penn Avenue in East Liberty. Previously, he performed in a Prince tribute show there.<\/p>\n
In the span of five years, Chambers also has performed in two other tribute shows \u2014 for Pharrell Williams and D\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n
Ryan M. Tedder, one of Chambers\u2019 friends and collaborators, is a music producer with Serenity Projects in East Pittsburgh. They have been working together on music for the past few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cCam\u2019s a very passionate and hardworking person,\u201d said Tedder, 36, of Verona. \u201cHe\u2019s very committed to who he is as a person and as an artist. I think that makes him special \u2014 he has a lot of fire to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tedder said Chambers has collaborated with all types of musicians in Pittsburgh, impacting many. He\u2019s respected as a vocalist, musician and drummer.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI love that he is a student of the game,\u201d he said. \u201cHe really does a good job of studying the greats beforehand and having integrity as he pays homage to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Talent like none other\u2019<\/span><\/p>\nPhillip Thompson, known as DJ Big Phill, is a Pittsburgh-based DJ, producer and curator who has known Chambers for several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe respect I have for him goes beyond the music,\u201d said Thompson, 54, of Penn Hills.<\/p>\n
Thompson and Chambers have a project coming out this year, and the two have collaborated via producing and various shows.<\/p>\n
He called Chambers \u201ca talent like none other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson said Pittsburgh needs to embrace Chambers even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis impact outreaches the city limits,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen an artist like Cam locally or nationally in years. \u2026 Cam is different, and he cares about the music, he cares about his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singing since age 3<\/span><\/p>\nChambers said he started singing when he was 3 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was talking, I was singing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were putting me at church singing songs \u2014 I was in an all-white suit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
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When he was around 11 or 12, he picked up the drums.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey needed a fill-in at my church,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cMy cousin thought I had rhythm, and they just threw me up there and I learned as I went.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he was a student at the former California University of Pennsylvania, he started a band in 2013 with his friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe traveled around the city, played at different colleges,\u201d Chambers said. They were his first professional gigs. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of how my name started circulating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in college, he was singing in a cappella groups as \u201cthe beatboxing guy\u201d; he also was a gospel choir director.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing it all \u2014 I\u2019m not ashamed of any of it,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cIt looks hilarious but, at the same time, it elevated me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, he has played numerous local jazz clubs, both singing and playing background for older musicians, and played drums on tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just learned in music, you have to be diverse \u2026 to have a chance at any kind of career,\u201d Chambers said. <\/p>\n
And right before the pandemic shutdown, Chambers was just getting started with his own tunes, which became hard to promote amid the global health crisis.<\/p>\n\n
\u201c(My) first real show was literally a week before the shutdown, at Mr. Smalls (Theatre) \u2014 all original music,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just been about patience and resilience, my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust embody what you hope to be and what you hope to see \u2014 that\u2019s what I try to put in my city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Conversation starter\u2019<\/span><\/p>\nAs a teaching artist for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Chambers has a curriculum and designs after-school and in-school programs for drums and creative work in general, mainly to kids from second grade to fifth grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach just pretty much who I am and what I do,\u201d he said. \u201cI use drum circles and different elements of writing. \u2026 I teach kids soul, and they use their drums.<\/p>\n
\u201cI use drums and music as the conversation starter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he has worked with kids in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Chambers\u2019 programs are open to any district that wants to work with the Cultural Trust.<\/p>\n
Music offers a message everybody can understand, whether it\u2019s through the words or sound, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of life is the little things, and I think music to me is such a reminder of the small things and the way that the world is going right now,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cZoom out and love what\u2019s around you and hold something close \u2014 play your favorite song, listen to your favorite lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n
For him, listening to music through headphones provides a feeling of safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want people to feel safe any way they can,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cIt just becomes my oasis. Creating moments for people to have an oasis in music is what I feel that my purpose is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n