Grove, Saturday August 30 - 1.00pm

Blues, Saturday August 30 - 6.40pm

BILL CHAMBERS

Bill "father of Kasey" Chambers is one of those growling singers who owes a substantial debt to both Bob Dylan and John Prine. Perhaps it's a result of those early weathered years he spent "roughing it" in the outback with his family. "My kids Nash and Kasey grew up listening only to the music I played on cassettes or on my guitar around the campfire. Songs of Hank Williams, the Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Jackson Browne and John Prine"…Remembers Bill. "I'm entirely self taught, guess that's why I sound like I do."

There's much more to Bill Chambers than "just being Kasey's dad." The patriarch of the Chambers Clan is considered by some to be Australia's premier alt-country guitarist. He can be a master of delicate picking on Dobro or Lap Steel and a demon on Slide. Along with producing albums for the likes of Catherine Britt, Audrey Auld, Becky Willis (co-produced with Kasey) and the Dead Ringer Band, Bill has still found time to write most of the songs for both his albums. The Aria nominated "Sleeping With The Blues" and his recent "Frozen Ground."

FROZEN GROUND
" My new album is on Nash's label Essence through EMI, They've put so much into promoting it, its up to me now to get out on the road and perform the songs, actually that's what I love the best. I still play in Kasey's band when she's on the road and the gigs take us all over the world. That's where I get many of the stories for my songs.

"The Courier Mail" Described "Frozen Ground" as "A rough diamond of an album, honest and uncontrived" giving it a four star review. It covers different styles from classic country to blues, rock and points in between. From the fiery kiss of the first single "Chasing Rainbows" to the back against the wall fighting spirit of "This ain't your town" through the sweet tenderness of "Little Man" and the modern gospel track "Stranger", Frozen Ground bears testament to both his influences and his vision.
"The Flood's" Kevin Bennett appears on a swampy version of Cash's "Big River" in an arrangement that puts a turbo charge under the original boom chicka boom. "We knew we didn't want to do it straight. We ended up with something that was like Johnny Cash meets Tony Joe White" Bill says.

Richard Jinman from "The Sydney Magazine" called Frozen Ground a "Fine collection of country blues songs with dirt under their fingernails. A lifetime of bitter experience's in the sweetest melodies. Sonically the album is reminiscent of Daniel Lanois' eerily spacious work; all elongated guitar phrases, shuffling drums and ambient rumbling, and the combined effect is as seductive as hell."