Kasey Chambers:

Adding Australian Flavor to American Country Music

By David Chiu

Associating country music with Australia is as improbable as Arab-Israeli peace or spotting Elvis at the 7-11. After all, Down Under's contribution to music has mainly been in the realm of rock and pop: AC/DC, INXS, Men at Work, Olivia Newton-John, and Natalie Imbruglia. But can you name even one Australian artist in the genre of country music?

Well, if you can't, meet Kasey Chambers, a twenty-four year old singer and songwriter whose specialty is making music of the heartland, both American and Australian. Chambers possess a nasally singing voice that has that distinctive southern twang a la Iris DeMent and betrays her usual Aussie accent. That voice lends credence to her blunt and heartbreaking songs, which make up her debut The Captain. The Captain is a huge critical and commercial hit in Australia and has recently been released in America.

One cannot pigeonhole the material with the trendy gloss coming out of Nashville these days-songs like "Cry Like a Baby," "These Pines," This Flower," "Mr. Baylis," and the title track more likely falls into the category of alternative country championed by the likes of Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Steve Earle. The music on The Captain is rich and melodic augmented by simple, traditional playing and honest lyrics that would make Hank Sr. proud up there.

Kasey Chambers is not one of the musical prodigies out of the blue, nor is she the product of someone's hype machine. Born to working class parents Bill and Diane and growing up in the Australian outback, Chambers initial introduction to country music was through her father. Later in life, she and her brother Nash joined their parents to form the musical group The Dead Ringer Band. That group recorded several albums and won an ARIA (the Australian Grammy). Since Chambers was the focal point of the group, it only seemed natural for her to step out on her own. Her family was still involved, however-father Bill played lead guitar on The Captain, brother Nash produced the record, and mother Diane handles the merchandising chores.

Chambers has not only performed in Australia but also in Europe, opening for Bryan Ferry for one date. In Nashville, she played with Lucinda Williams faithfully attending her gigs. She also met and sung with her hero Steve Earle. She is planning to come back to the States to play some showcase gigs.

It was 10:30 AM in Sydney and the very affable and gregarious Chambers took the time to discuss her career, music, and her love for a particular American TV sitcom.

What was your earliest expoure to country music growing up and who did you listened to?

My dad listened to a lot of country music. He brought my brother and I on country music. I can't really remember the first time I heard it-I was obviously young. I was lucky he really liked good music. It could've been worse-he could have been listening to Neil Diamond (laughs).

My dad listened to a lot of Gram [Parsons] and Emmylou [Harris]. It was mostlya lot of the alternative stuff.

How popular is country music in Australia? What is the scene like there?

It's very small but it's getting bigger all the time. It's nothing like how it is in America. We don't have many country radio stations. Country music at the moment is drifting over to the mainstream.

In an interview I read, you were somewhat critical of the country music scene today, particularly the Nashville scene.

I think everyone to their own. It's not really my thing. It's a little disappointing where country music has gone in the last few years. It's starting to get a little better at the moment. Everything sound pretty much the same to me. Everybody wants to be a country star but no one wants to be a country singer or musician, which is a little sad. The people who are into the really good country music end up finding it anyway. If it's worth finding, they'll find it.

How would you describe your songwriting? What is the process involved?

Everything inspires me. I don't really have a pattern right on how I write. Sometimes I write a song for a few months and sometimes I write ten in a week. It's kind of frustrating-I wish I had more control over it. It comes out when it wants to.

What comes first, the words or the music?

It's different every time. Sometimes I think of a line and I write a song around it, and sometimes I write a melody and write a song around that. I'd be a terrible lecturer on songwriting because I have no idea what's going on (laughs). It just comes out.

One of the songs on the record, the autobiographical "Southern Kind of Life," does not refer to the American South, but growing up in south of Australia?

I grew up in the South in Australia and live a lot further north now. I wrote that song when I first moved away from my hometown. We don't have a big difference between the north and south as you guys do as far as accents don't change and things like that.

Your album The Captain has really taken off.

It's done really well here. It's gone platinum in Australia, which is nothing like platinum over there. The night before we had our big Australian music awards like the Grammies. I picked up Best Female Artist in the pop scene, nothing to do with country music. It was a huge thrill just to be able to cross over because country music hasn't been very big here. That's cool.

It would be an understatement to say that your family has been involved in your career.

Since I was nine, I've been in the Dead Ringer Band. My family band. That's pretty much the only band I've ever played in a part doing this solo project. My dad plays guitar with me in the band, and my brother [Nash] produced the album. My mom sells all my merchandise on the tour, so they all come with me wherever I go, and all have a lot to do with the album and all of the decision making. I'd be so lost without the-they do a lot more work than I do. I just get to take the credit for it (laughs_.

They are such a big part of my life and the album was pretty much my life story. I'd still like them to be involved in the next album until they get sick of me (laughs).

I heard that Lucinda Williams is a huge fan of yours and faithfully attended your gigs.

She has been so supportive. I met her years ago when she came out to Australia but didn't get really get to know her [until now]. She's been great-she followed me to all of my gigs when I played in Nashville. It means the world to me. It's such a huge thrill. We go out every now and then and have a drink, which is really cool but it's still hard to get over the fact that it is Lucinda Williams. I find it hard to kick back and chat with her like You're Lucinda Williams.

And you had an opportunity to meet with Steve Earle too?

He's been really good too. I've met him a few years ago at the Blues and Roots Festival. I was singing backup for Buddy Miller. Steve was there at the shows and he said, If you want to do a duet with me tomorrow, and I was like Oh my God! He said do you know these songs, and I said Yeah, yeah I know that really well. I didn't know what it was. But if I said no, he might not let me do it, so I listened to the songs over and over again (laughs). I got to sings with him the next day. It's been really good too.

Is it true that Kasey Chambers' favorite television show is Seinfeld?

I am the biggest fan in the whole wide world. I have all of [the episodes] on video. When I go on tours, I take a video player with me and all of my Seinfelds. That is the first thing I do when I go to my hotel room and watch a few Seinfelds (laughs). Jerry is definitely my favorite one. It's my little relief from the music industry-I either write songs or watch Seinfeld.

Do you think that America is ready for a country singer from Australia?

Well, anywhere really (laughs). We're certainly not getting over there and take the world by storm. We're just going to have some fun.

You will be coming to America soon to do some live gigs. Do you thrive in playing in front of people?

I'm probably more of a live artist. There are certain things you cannot get out of an album that you can get live. It's more fun for me too.

What do you think you'll be in doing in the next ten years as far as your career goes?

If I am still doing this, I'd be happy with that. This album in Australia has done so much better that I h ever even hoped to do. All I wanted to do is make an album 'cause I had a whole lot of songs sitting here. Even getting a record deal in [America] was a bonus for me. I've got a few trips over there and gotten to meet some great people. It's all been worth it already. You make the most of it.