Photo by Art Elkon via Linneman's
The Bill Camplin Band
The Bill Camplin Band
“I told myself when I turned 60, I’d get a snowblower. But I hate them.”
Bill Camplin still doesn’t have a snowblower. He can still shovel but admits, “I’m only one storm away from saying ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
In 1971 the band Woodbine, released the album Roots, documenting the songs of Camplin. The title could not have been more prescient. Well into his seventh decade, Camplin continues refining his craft. If at times he is his own worst enemy, the self-critique has only further honed his dedication to the ephemeral nature of songwriting while its roots continue.
Time seems to stand still at Café Carpe, the informal Fort Atkinson restaurant and listening room. At lunch it is a family affair with Camplin, his wife Kitty Welch and son Satchel working the kitchen and taking orders. In the evenings the small venue turns into one of the finest listening rooms you are likely to find anywhere. Camplin credits Satchel with dialing the room in sound wise. A few years ago, at a performance by Iowa legend Bo Ramsey the space felt as if the audience was inside a pair of old school Koss Pro 4a headphones.
So, it is a small wonder that Camplin ventures out to play shows, yet in recent years at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn he has been getting results he likes.
Coffee House Days
Camplin’s musical DNA is imprinted with experiences at long-gone legendary venues. The 1894 Palm Garden on Milwaukee’s South Side was a spot Camplin frequented and inspired visions of running his own venue 45 years ago. “It would have been a good move, but it would have taken $100,000 and we had zero. That makes a big difference.”
The Avant Garde Coffee House on the East Side offered key experiences. It was a place where Camplin would stop in no matter who was playing. The blues revival offered chances to see players like Magic Sam and as well as Yank Rachell and Sleepy John Estes accompanied by a young Jim Liban filling in on harmonica for Hammie Nixon on harmonica. “He [Liban] played within the pocket.” Some people can make it all about themself; Liban made it about the music,” Camplin recalls.
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Bill Camplin at Café Carpe
The Band
Performing solo, doubled over his Martin dreadnought guitar, Camplin is almost oblivious to an audience. With his favored dropped tunings, the strings resonate the hollow body and merge with the player. If you are tuned in, the communication is immediate.
In conversation, altruism and evolution are ideas that Camplin returns to. He speaks of a personal eureka moment when he learned about the Leakey family’s study of human origins.
And as applied to the music this certainly makes sense. Over four decades ago Camplin began playing with a core group of musicians that has changed over the years. Recording sessions for the album Cardboard Box took the group to Minneapolis’ Sound 80 recording facility. While they worked in Studio 2, music geeks will be pleased to note Bob Dylan was recording sessions with his brother that later became the album Blood on the Tracks—in the other room.
In 2016 the Cardboard Box lineup reunited to celebrate the 40-year legacy. In 2019, longtime drummer Bob “Hot Dog” Mueller died, and the group has occasionally played as trio of Camplin, guitarist Jason Klagstad and bassist Paul Wehrley. On Friday the trio will be joined by Semi Twang drummer Bob Schneider.
On Friday Dec. 6, the Bill Camplin Band plays Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7 p.m.
