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from cmaa
KASEY CHAMBERS has debuted at number one on the mainstream ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart and, of course, on the Australian Country charts, with her third solo album Wayward Angel.

And the album has already been certified Platinum for sales of 70,000 or more.

"I never thought in a million years that I'd have an album that would debut at number one," Kasey said, "and I can't believe it. I'm thrilled that so many people enjoy my music as much as I enjoy making it and I thank everyone for their support."

Kasey's previous album Barricades & Brickwalls debuted at number four on the ARIA chart and then went on to win three ARIA Awards ­ for Album of the Year, Best Female Artist and Best Country Album.

Kasey went on to break an ARIA record in 2002 by becoming the first Australian country artist to simultaneously hold both the number one single (Not Pretty Enough) and number one album (Barricades & Brickwalls) positions.

Barricades & Brickwalls, meanwhile, after selling more than half a million copies to date, has re-entered the ARIA Top 100 at number 64 and bounced back to the number two position on the Country Charts.

Kasey's first solo album ­ The Captain ­ has also re-entered the ARIA Top 100 at number 89 and has hit the top five again in the Country Charts.

All three albums together total 11 Platinum certifications by ARIA (the Australian Record Industry Association) giving Kasey total album sales to date of more than 750,000.

Kasey and her band hit the road in mid July for an extensive tour through both capital cities and regional towns (see Who's On Tour for details).

To celebrate the launch of Wayward Angel Kasey will be taking part in an exclusive webchat with ninemsn.com next Monday (June 14) and will be appearing on Rove on the TEN Network the following night (June 15).

Fans of Kasey should also stay tuned to MAX (Foxtel/Austar) in early August to see a live and intimate performance filmed at the Sydney Opera House. The first episode of the Max Sessions: Australian Collection will feature Kasey and her band performing songs from Wayward Angel as well as some classics.
 
NANCY Sinatra has recorded a version of Kasey's hit song Barricades & Brickwalls with Lee Hazelwood
"Nancy & Lee 3"  This was co-written by Kasey and her dad Bill Chambers
Kasey and Kevin Welch
 
Kasey with Jeff McCormack 
Kasey Chambers Named CMA's Global Country Artist
Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers has been awarded the 2004 Global Country Artist Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) in Nashville. Chambers' music video "Not Pretty Enough" received significant airplay on CMT in 2002, and she is a multi-platinum act in Australia with her two albums, The Captain and Barricades & Brickwalls. The CMA also recognized the accomplishments of two fellow Australians, country music advocate Meryl Gross and longtime country star Slim Dusty, with international awards.
 
2003
KASEY CHAMBERS has taken out the 2003 Country Australian Live Music Award announced in Adelaide on Friday night.  http://www.ausmusic.org.au/.

Kasey Chambers and Carter & Carter named Australiašs
top country music entertainers for 2003

Kasey Chambers and Carter & Carter have been named Australiašs top entertainers at this yearšs Australian Country Music Achiever Awards in Sydney.
In a repeat of last yearšs presentations,   Kasey was named Toyota Entertainer of the Year for the second year running,

CMAA SALUTES KASEY CHAMBERS
The Country Music Association of Australia, the nation's peak country music industry body, has paid tribute to the achievements of Kasey Chambers, one of its newest and brightest stars.
Last week, Kasey won three APRA Music Awards, which, together with other awards over the last few years, give her a tally of more achievements than most artists gain in a lifetime.
Kasey dominated the APRA Awards with her song Not Pretty Enough which won three... Song of the Year (considered the top honour), Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Country Work. She now has five APRA awards, more than any other female Australian artist.
In addition, Kasey has won four Golden Guitars and five ARIA Awards and both of her albums have sold well over platinum status... The Captain three times, Barricades & Brickwalls six times.
"These are remarkable achievements," said CMAA President John Williamson. "Kasey is an amazing talent and wonderful songwriter and deserves all the awards she has received for songwriting, recording and performing in recent years.
"The CMAA salutes Kasey Chambers - a shining light for Australia both here and overseas."
KASEY CHAMBERS 2003 APRA Music Awards 
Kasey's  "Not Pretty Enough", won three awards.   
 Song of the Year (most prestigious)  
Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Country Work.
By winning five APRA awards, Kasey has now won more than any other female Australian artist.
Kasey sang Silverchair's "The Greatest View" was also nominated for Song of the Year.   Alex Lloyd (who wrote last year's Song of the Year "Amazing") sang Kasey's "Not Pretty Enough"
From Blues Festival Web Site 2003
Suffice to say, we have a big-old soft spot for Kasey Chambers! She was the darling of Bluesfest 2001 - remember her performance with Emmylou Harris?(...gush!) and Bluesfest 2002 - eight months pregnant no less!
And not only is she a new Mum but she is also now the holder of three shiny 2002 Aria Awards: Best Australian Female Artist, Australian Album Of The Year and Best Australian Country Album for Barricades & Brickwalls.
It's turning out to be one of the most captivating stories in Australian music history. The girl raised beneath the remote sunsets of the Australian outback to the tunes of Hank and Gram, takes her unique blend of country/folk/blues/rock/pop to the world. With the help of her musically gifted family, she shatters mainstream preconceptions of country music both at home and in country music's American heartland. By blatantly defying the stringency of commercial radio format and every imaginable industry stereotype, she winds up simultaneously holding the #1 album and single on the Australian mainstream charts. Welcome to the story of Kasey Chambers. "I didn't set out with big dreams to ride the charts or play to packed venues or anything like that. I thought even if I just get to play my music in little pubs my whole life - I'll be really happy".
Enough said! We will be welcoming the whole Chambers Clan back for Kasey's fifth headline appearance at the 2003 Bluesfest
Chambers OffersTwo New Songs
Now on tour in the United States, Australian country star Kasey Chambers ("Not Pretty Enough") offered two new songs to a Nashville audience on Thursday (Feb. 13 2003). Presumably titled "You're Still Gone" and "When I Grow Up," Chambers also brought out singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan to harmonize with her on "A Million Tears." Ryan, who lives in Nashville, also appears on Chambers' most recent album Barricades & Brickwalls. Other highlights included a full-throttle cover of Lucinda Williams' "I Changed the Locks
 
Family reunion: Austin fans welcome Chambers back
By John T. Davis
Monday, February 10, 2003

It seemed like Family Night at La Zona, thanks to Kasey Chambers, who played a sold-out show. Chambers, who grew up in a family band in Australia, travels with an entourage that includes her husband; her infant child; her dad, Bill (on guitar and vocals); her brother (working the sound board) and her mother (selling her daughter's T-shirts and CDs).

The homey atmosphere seemed to spill over to the audience, which included a large contingent of kids and toddlers.  As a demographic, Chambers' audience was a lot closer to the crowd you'd find at Sesame Street Live than at Ozzfest.  Chambers herself worked with deft authority from a set list that embraced the high points of her two U.S. albums, 2000's "The Captain" and the year-old "Barricades and Brickwalls."  Beginning with the second album's title track, with its formidable tale of obsession ("I'll be damned if you're not my man/ Before the sun goes down"), the evening eventually yielded to the measured sadness of a solo version of Iris DeMent's "No Time To Cry," which marked Chambers' surprise second encore.

The crowd was insistent on that little lagniappe.  Chambers is clearly beloved here, and from the way she waxed rhapsodic over La Zona, radio station KGSR and Waterloo Records, it was evident the feeling is reciprocal.   During his short solo set at the beginning of the evening, Bill Chambers debuted a song, "Dreaming 'Bout Texas," written in the wake of the family's La Zona gig a year ago.

Austin has, after all, a proclivity for embracing rootsy female singer-songwriters.

Comparisons to Lucinda Williams have dogged Chambers, and songs like the bluesy, brooding "Runaway Train" help underscore the similarities (as did Chambers' Xerox-perfect cover of Lucinda's "Change the Locks"). Williams lives in L.A. and Chambers still resides Down Under -- talk about alt. country -- but it is clear that Austin regards them both as temporarily misplaced homegirls.

Though she lacks much in the way of showbiz dynamics (as a reviewer once noted of Willie Nelson, Chambers seems eternally in search of a comfortable place to stand onstage), she has an embracing persona and a good sense of pacing. Every time during her 15-song set when things would threaten to go treacly (after a just-the-family version of Townes Van Zandt's 'If I Needed You," for example), Dad would strap on a Les Paul guitar and wake up the drummer, or Kasey would launch into an insanely catchy signature song, such as "If I Were You."

Chambers was preceded onstage by Robinella Contreras and her Memphis-based Ccstringband (that was Robinella's dad in the back, selling her indie CD). Mixing jazz (and even some scat singing), bluegrass and string band country into a frothy whole, the group passed an agreeable 45 minutes or so.  Their musical hybrids likely seem more striking in cities that don't already boast Toni Price as a resident

Congratulations! to Nash Chambers and his partner Veronica as they have had a baby boy named Eden.   
 
Report from Carol Young in Austin Texas
(Part of Carol's email)
In case you were wondering, yes, Kasey is the Queen of Austin, not a person in town doesn't know of Kasey and her dad Bill, they just love em here.
 
Congratulations!  Kasey winning the Country Album, Best Female Artist and Album of the Year "Barricades & Brickwalls" at the 2003 ARIA Awards.   Kasey had 6 nominations and also performed.
 
Kasey's "Behind The Barricades"  DVD release date 14th October 2003- EMI Music
 This DVD is a fascinating look into her life and the spectacular way her solo career developed.
 
Country ARIA Finalists 
ARIA (The Ausralian Record Industry Association) 2003 award finalist have been announced and Kasey Chambers has 6  nominations and will also perform at the awards on 15th October .   
Not Pretty Enough
Single of the Year 
Highest selling single of the Year
Barricades and Brick Walls
Best Female Artist 
Country Album Award, 
Album of the Year 
Highest selling Album of the year 
 
 EMI MUSIC will release Kasey Chambers' first DVD ­ Behind The Barricades ­ on October 14 2003.
 
Kasey and Co. help Kaleb's  wish come true.
Dream come true....Kaleb French meets Kasey Chambers at Ettalong Beach Memorial Club 
Kaleb French and his family will fly out to Disneyland next Wednesday thanks to Country Music stars and a community dedicated to helping a boy with cancer realise his dream
Teena's 
Report on Concert
IT WAS THE GREATEST CONCERT I HAVE SEEN...  Kasey's  boyfriend had there baby Talon dancing on the speakers... Becky had her son there... Gina was well and truly pregnant and this was the first time she had sung in public for sometime.. as she had promised herself a year off.... but she was loving being on stage.. and the way she was jumping round the stage I thought she would have the baby there and then..lol
the warmth and love in that room that night.. was just something so special... A BRILLIANT NIGHT WAS HAD BY ALL!...
Written by Teena (co-founder of The Keith Urban Fan Club) 

Kasey appeared on Rove Live on Tuesday Night, very happy with Cory and baby son, Talon who is so cute especially in his little red boots.  She revealed that one of her songs will be on Days of Our Lives and they also showed a photo from a magazine with Cory kissing her very pregnant belly.   Also they did a cross to Ronan Keating and he wants Kasey to sing a duet with him.  

KASEYS' Barricades & Brickwalls has been certified four times Platinum for sales now of more than 280,000.
Country APRA Awards
Great 26th birthday present (4th June) for Kasey Chambers winning the APRA prestigious Songwriter of the Year title and Gina Jeffreys was named winner of the Most Performed Country Work for Angel, co-written with Rick Price and shared with publishers EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music Australia.    The award for Most Performed Foreign Work went to LeAnn Rimes' Can't Fight The Moonlight written by leading American songwriter Diane Warren (EMI Music Publishing .    
Click here for more information http://www.apra.com.au/

Its a boy!
Kasey Chambers and partner Cori Hopper are the proud parents of healthy baby boy Talon Jordi 6lb.6oz on Wednesday 22nd May.  Congratulations to all.   Cori is an actor from Perth who moved to Sydney a few years ago, he has started making short films and video clips for up and coming acts, he did a video clip for Audrey Auld that won awards at the Quick Flick Festival.   They met through Kym Warner who is one of Country music's finest mandolin and guitar players.
 
Kasey Chambers' terrific year of well deserved achievements continues, scoring two nominations at the APRA Awards.  "On a Bad Day" and Runaway Train" both for Song of the year. Fantastic.   Her current hit "Not Pretty enough" did not receive a nomination.    The APRA Awards will be on in Sydney on June 3rd.   Kasey's album "Barricades & Brickwalls' is Number 4 on the Australian Album chart and "Not Pretty enough" is no. 10 on the Singles Chart.

"Barricades & Brick Walls" is the # 1 album on the Americana Roots Chart.   You'll always find a link to the Americana chart on the front page of    www.ClubNashville.com/americanachart   

MELITA Hodge, formerly EMI's Label Manager, has been signed up by Nash and Kasey Chambers.    She will be  Kasey's manager as well as be involved in all aspects of Nash's production work with the new Essence label.

Kasey's second album, Barricades & Brickwalls, has just passed the triple platinum mark for sales of more than 210,000

Kasey is still number 1 with Barricades and Brickwalls on the Album Charts and No 1 on the Single charts with Not Pretty Enough..   Kasey is the first Australian Country Artist to have the Number one position on Single and Album Charts.

What a huge week for Kasey Chambers with her first top 5 single and now her very first #1 ARIAnet album – Barricades and Brickwalls.     The last Aussie country artist to do this was John Williamson with Warragul back in  October ' 89
Kasey had to leave the stage 
Kasey is on her way back to Australia after collapsing on stage in the U.S. last night during a performance. The mother to be is doing fine, co-incidentally there were 2 doctors in the audience (one from Adelaide!) so they looked at her straight away.   
Kasey Chambers was on her fourth number at Bimbo's in San Francisco  on  (Wednesday) when she leaned into her father and her legs gave way. She was helped off the stage and couldn't return.    Kasey is  six months pregnant and Bill Chambers told the crowd that she'd been doing real well on the tour but had "felt crook" earlier in the evening.   
 
"#1 US BILLBOARD TOP NEW ARTIST / HEAT SEEKERS ALBUM CHART DEBUT   February 21, 2002
 
On the last legs of her U.S tour to promote the album release, Kasey & Nash called last night to deliver the fantastic news that Kasey's album has come in at the top spot on the 'Heat Seekers' Billboard Artist Chart.    With a Gold selling Top 10 single back here at home with Not Pretty Enough and the album still firmly sitting at #5 in the charts, Kasey's star continues to shine."   This is absolutely wonderful for our Aussie Sweetheart
Kasey Chambers, Fred Eaglesmith and Audrey Auld
Photo Courtesy of Bob Dickie

RED DESERT SKY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE CHAMBERS
FAMILY.
 by John Lomax III 
Please find below some information on a new book about Dead Ringer Band,
Books will hit stores in Australia from 27 September - to purchase, please
go to your local Australian or New Zealand bookseller, or check out
www.allenandunwin.com.

All best wishes, Rachel
RED DESERT SKY:
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE CHAMBERS FAMILY
by John Lomax III
(Allen & Unwin 5 October 2001 rrp $24.95 pb inc GST ISBN 1865084255)

In RED DESERT SKY, the Chambers family - Bill, Diane, Nash and Kasey - share
their extraordinary tale of family survival, life on the Nullarbor and
remarkable success as country and western group, Dead Ringer Band.

In 1976, hoping to earn a living hunting foxes, Bill and Diane Chambers took
their two year-old son Nash and newborn daughter Kasey into the Nullarbor.
The four Chambers lived there for ten years before returning to -
civilisation - full-time. In 1986, Bill and Diane re-launched musical
careers, performing as a duo in pubs, with Kasey, then Nash joining to form
a group soon dubbed Dead Ringer Band. By 1992, they had become musicians
full-time, playing nationally to big city music lovers as well as rural and
outback audiences.

During the '90s Dead Ringer Band members released seven CD's and
collectively earned two ARIA's, five MO Awards and seven Gold Guitars at
Tamworth. In May of 1999, lead singer Kasey Chambers stepped out as a solo
artist, issuing The Captain, now certified for double-platinum sales. She
was winner of Best Female Artist at 2000 ARIA Awards.

JOHN LOMAX III is a freelance writer, providing features and columns to
publications in Australia and overseas, and the author of Nashville: Music
City USA.  He has almost 30 years experience in the music industry, and is
the manager of Dead Ringer Band and of Kasey Chambers. He lives in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Rachel Fergus
Publicist
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
PO Box 8500
St Leonards NSW 1590
Australia
Tel: +61 2 8425 0100
Fax: +61 2 9966 0065
rachelf@allenandunwin.com
http://www.allenandunwin.com
 Kasey in USA
 
Scroll down for gigs  
DEAD RINGER BOOK SET FOR
 OCTOBER RELEASE
Courtesy of CMAA
 
THE AUTHORISED biography of the Dead Ringer Band--Red Desert Sky--is set for release this October.
Written by John Lomax III, who has been associated with the band and the Chambers family since 1996, and published by Allen & Unwin Ltd, Red Desert Sky tells a story which starts from the time Bill and Diane Chambers ancestors arrived in Australia during the 1840s, right up to events happening last May.
Sub-titled The Amazing Adventures of the Chambers Family, the book is capped with daughter Kasey's rise to mainstream stardom and the release of her debut album in the United States and Europe.
In 1976, hoping to earn a living hunting foxes, Bill and Diane Chambers took their two-year-old son Nash and newborn daughter Kasey into the Nullarbor.   Here, the book's cover notes say, the four Chambers lived for much of the next 10 years amid snakes, dingos and feral cats, camping in a different spot on the parched Plain after each night's hunting.   "Gathering their supplies from the Indian Pacific Tea & Sugar Train, the family endured seven to eight months annually on the Nullarbor, relocating to a small fishing village during the hottest months.
"After returning to 'civilisation' permanently in 1986, Bill and Diane re-launched their musical careers, performing as a duo in pubs with Kasey then Nash joining to form a group soon dubbed Dead Ringer Band.    By 1992, they had become musicians full-time, pulling a small trailer behind their four-wheel drive and playing nationally, to big city music lovers as well as rural and outback audiences.
"During the 1990s, Dead Ringer Band members released seven CDs and collectively earned two ARIA Awards, five Mo Awards and seven Golden Guitars at Tamworth. In May of 1999, lead singer Kasey Chambers stepped out as a solo artist, issuing The Captain, now certified for double-platinum sales and subsequently released in Europe and the US. Nash produced The Captain as well as Barricades & Brick Walls, Kasey's second solo album (due for release in September).
"Red Desert Sky is a remarkable story about four courageous, determined Australians whose give it a go philosophy has brought them worldwide acclaim."
Single - Runaway Train in stores - 13 August in Australia
Album - Barricades & Brickwalls - 3rd September in Australia
Atlanta Georgia pictures of Kasey. 
 Photographers Ed White and Sherrod Baden

 

Kasey Chambers gets under the skin
Hollywood, Cal., The Roxy, March 22, 2001
By Dan MacIntosh


HOLLYWOOD, CA - Southern California alt.-country music fans are probably more convinced now than ever that Australians can (should?) teach Americans a few things about making real country music. Especially, after hearing the bright young voice of Kasey Chambers, who matched inspired cover songs with equally inspiring originals for a fully satisfying concert experience.

Although she apologized for it, many of her originals, such as "Cry Like A Baby" and "Don't Talk Back," are infused with an overriding sadness about them. But her perky between song introductions never failed to offset these depressing tunes, and insured that this night would not become a sob fest.

With that said, it should come as no great surprise, then, that Iris Dement is a big influence on Chambers. She chose Dement's "No Time To Cry" as one of her encores and sang it ever so slowly and painfully, with only her acoustic guitar.

The evening's other Dement-related selection was a duet with her bass player on the slightly naughty "In Spite Of Ourselves," which John Prine wrote and recorded as a duet with Dement.

You never knew what Chambers was going to pull out of her bag, as she sang a jumping "Cow Cow Boogie," in addition to covers of both Woody Guthrie and Lucinda Williams songs.

Chambers' best compositions came at the end when she sang the desperate "Don't Talk Back" and the devoted "The Captain." What she lacked in originality in her lyrics, she more than made up for with focused singing and natural charm. One suspects that more mature writing will more than likely come with age.

Her four-piece band was perfectly synchronized to her singing, and this was probably due in part to having her dad - who originally introduced Chambers to hardcore country music - playing guitar with her. Her brother, who chipped in on bass for one song, also ran the sound, making this truly a family affair.

You were only reminded of Chambers' national origins when she spoke, because whenever she was singing, this bright young talent sounded about as pure as country gets as she skilfully got down under your skin.

Jeffrey B. Remz, Editor & Publisher

Kasey Chambers at Variety Playhouse
Kasey's Name in Lights in America 
 
  Mandy Barnett  
Information supplied by Mike D'Arcy and photos taken by Ed White and Karen       
 
 Kasey played the Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, Georgia, as the main support act to Mandy Barnett, with Paul Thorn as the other act.  
Their is a book on the lives of the Chambers Family called "Red Desert Sky". This is a story about their life on the Nullarbor Plain and how the "Dead Ringer Band"  rose to the top of  Country Music in Australia.  The story would make a great movie script, (imagine the sound track).   
 

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