Amber Williams' name is synonymous with success when one looks at the history of Bakersfield women's basketball. The four-year letter winner started over 100 games in her career while scoring the most points at the Division I level with 1,538.
She was a brilliant three-point scorer as well, shooting over 34% from the arc during her career, and that included a transition to a deeper-three pointer in 2011.
All along her teammates knew she could sing. Not just in the locker room pre game while listening to headphones, she could really sing. Songs everybody knew, songs she wrote herself.
Music stayed in the background during Williams' basketball career during the 118 games played as a Roadrunner and the four years it took her to earn her degree in English, but upon graduation in 2013, that music hobby became a profession.
Amber Williams is now known as Amber Renee, that's the new Los Angeles music-scene version of the smiling CSUB sweetheart that once drilled three-pointers while flashing that memorable grin. Her latest accomplishments have nothing to do with jump shots or assists, she's about to release her first solo album 'More of Me' with the independent label Insane1 Records, a compilation of songs she wrote herself over the past several years.
“While I was still playing basketball and still in school I was getting my songs together, so I was trying to do everything at once,” she said. “I've been doing music since I was little but now that I'm done with basketball I've been able to just focus on it.”
Along with the album, Amber is also going through the trials of a becoming a new artist in an always-crowded Los Angeles music scene. Thus far she's booked a few gigs, including an appearance at the famed House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. as part of an emerging artists showcase.
While she knows it won't be easy to simply make it in the competitive world of music, her time as a student-athlete provided more than memories and a degree; it provided tools the tools needed to pursue success.
“It's really just about balancing your time,” she said. “Going to school and playing basketball as well you have to learn how to balance your time and focus on what's the most important thing you need to do.”
“So when you focus on what you need to do and what you need to get done, you excel.”
Amber Renee will be working to excel in music now like she did in basketball at CSUB. Her new album, although independently produced, has a lot of support behind it with original tracks that sound like something produced at the corporate level. She has her own website www.AmberReneeMusic.com which is full of press clips and photos trying to market the one-time darling of the dribble as backwards-hat-wearing R&B entertainer.
Her relocation to Los Angeles has also provided a small bit of culture shock. She grew up in Fontana, California before moving to Bakersfield to play college basketball. Small-town environments have been her norm, especially in Bakersfield, a town she still holds dear.
“Bakersfield is calm, it's quiet, everyone is nice so the difference is drastic, she said. “People are everywhere here (in Los Angeles) they're moving like crazy but it's a good thing, I like both areas.”
The hoopster-turned-headliner hopeful is also keeping close to her Roadrunner roots. When asked about returning to Bakersfield as Amber Renee and putting on a concert her answer was instant.
“Of course, that's my school, it will always be my school.”
