Husband and wife team, Mike and Kathy Williams,  have shared their lives for over 30 years and now they share a love of music and performing with their duo Bawl 'n' Chain.          

They have been performing their own style of blues music since the mid-90's,  in venues ranging from coffee houses, corporate functions, fairs & festivals, to home concerts and nightclubs. The couple has also opened for many headliner acts, including Charlie Musselwhite, Joe Louis Walker, Joanna Conner, Tommy Castro, Coco Montoya, Sista Monica, Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo.

Mike and Kathy play guitar and bass respectively and both sing lead vocals. Based in Chico, California, Bawl 'n' Chain has developed an eclectic and well-chosen repertoire that audiences of all ages enjoy. In addition to playing the blues the way the blues is meant to be played, the duo is committed to bringing their fans great music from many styles, including jump blues, soul, rockabilly, jazz, swing, country, rock & roll, oldies and novelties.
 

Mike's lifelong love affair with the guitar is evident in the taste, tone, and touch of his powerful and inventive guitar playing. He's been playing & singing blues & gospel all his life and it shows, in the power of his heartfelt and impassioned vocals. As a child, Mike's mom taught him to play piano and sing. When he was 17 he picked up his first guitar. However, for many years, he was a closet musician, occupied raising his family and establishing his career as a building inspector,  only playing for family and friends. His early influences were Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, all the early British invasion bands, i.e. the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Yardbirds, The Who, etc, and later, T-Bone Walker, Brian Setzer, John Hammond, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Roy Buchanan, Elvin Bishop, and Dr. John.

In the early 90's he attended a local blues jam in Chico, Ca. and realized he had more to share and could have more fun strumming in public.  From an early age, Kathy also had a love of music, singing in the choir for many years and playing her grandmother's piano. Inspired by the bass players at the jam , Kathy decided to take up the instrument. She picked up a Fender P bass that Mike had taken in trade for a guitar and started teaching herself the bass. She had taken accordion lessons for five years as a child, and found the bass an easy transition. Kathy (a.k.a. Sassy) holds down the bottom end, mesmerizing the audience with the relentless pulse of her bass. Her influences were Tommy Shannon, (bass player for Stevie Ray Vaughn) and Buddy Guy's bass player, Greg Rzab. Her singing style is reminiscent of delta blues singers .

Since their first gig in 1995, Bawl 'n' Chain has been engaging audiences with their soulful rendition of American roots music.

Mike and Kathy also perform in their band Second Hand Smoke (www.Second-Hand-Smoke.com) and consider themselves blessed to have performed with so many talented musicians in their band. Band alumni include Randy Ahlswede, on guitar & vocals, Eric Raymond on guitar, Bobby Delgado on guitar, Jeff Horsley on guitar, Bill Struve on drums, Glenn Burns on drums, Jeff Forehan on drums, Jimmy Barnes on drums, Ed McDonald on drums, Franco Bastion on percussion, Jimmy Flint piano/organ, John Warner piano/organ, Britt Smith piano, Rebekah Snow on blues violin and mandolin, Will Fowler on saxophone, Eric Weber on saxophone, and Vera Laure, on vocals.