Kasey Chambers and the Dead Ringer Band

As previously stated, I recently purchased a copy of a Dead Ringer Band cd. It came in the mail last week. Much sooner than expected! It's the one in the photo above. TheDead Ringer Band was the family band of Bill Chambers and included wife Diane, son Nash and daughter Kasey. Kasey went on to become of one of Australia's most successful singer/songwriters. Kasey is the girl on the right in the photo. She started with the band when 11 years old and soon became the lead singer. She was a teen when most of the songs on this album were recorded and sings lead on all but 4 of the 18 tracks (I like that they were so generous as to include 18 tracks!). I also recently purchased Kasey's latest release, Little Bird. The 2 albums make a nice contrast between early and recent Kasey. Interestingly Kasey's voice has changed little over the years. She has what one critic described as a voice with a million dollar catch. It's very appealing and won't be mistaken for anyone else. I'll confine the bulk of this post to the Dead Ringer Band album, but let me say that I highly recommend both albums. The thing that really appeals to me about the band cd is that it's done for the most part in traditional country style(s). There's plenty of aucostic and steel guitar, fiddle and mandolin as well as classic country electric guitar like I remember from my youth. The musicianship is top drawer both vocally and instrumentally. This was an award winning band in its hayday and it's obvious why. This album makes it difficult to pick favorite cuts. The covers are tasteful and include songs from such notables as Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Michelle Shocked, Nanci Griffith and Slim Dusty. The originals are no less worthy. I found it interesting that this album leads off with Am I the Only One Who's Ever Felt This Way. This came about a year before the Dixie Chicks layed this song down as one of my favorite tracks of all time! Another testament to Bill and company's taste. Right up my alley! It's also fun to listen to these Aussies pronunce words like past and can't (pahst, cahn't). Not what you expect from country artists. So genuine and unaffected! I bought this partiular cd more out of convenience and cost than anything, but it really surpassed my expectations. It turns out to be a great choice, but whets my appetite for more. Some of their stuff is out of print and is getting hard to come by. Most of their material is going to cost more than you usually expect to pay due to where they're coming from I suppose. Life is difficult! The family band concept still continues in some fashion with Bill playing a major role in Kasey's  solo career. Nash also makes frequent appearances. Mom and dad divorced so I'm not aware of Diane having a significant role in Kasey's career of late but Kasey's husband, Shane Nicholson, is now a major part of her musical as well as personal life.They did an outstanding rootsy country album, Rattlin' Bones, that needs to be checked out as well.  Kasey has been to the states a couple of times where she's considered an alt folk/country artist, not quite as much in the main stream as at home. She came here with Lucinda Williams awhile back but I missed her as it was a Sunday performance. Too bad. I'd love to catch her live. I've been a fan for a number of years, but only recently caught on to the family band music. My local library has a number of her cds that I've enjoyed over the years. About time I got around to putting my money where my mouth is and purchasing a couple of cds. Check out Kasey and the Dead Ringers. You won't regret it!

Til Now - the Very Best of the Dead Ringer Band - 5 stars
Little Bird                                                                - 4 stars

Here's the band with a live performance of Already Gone, one of Kasey's self penned contributions to the band album:

Katherine Jenkins

Leading the pack for the first 2 weeks of  Dancing With the Stars this season is one of my favorite singers, Welsh beauty, Katherine Jenkins. I'm blown over by the absolute irony of this amazing classical singer finally coming into general awareness in America not as a singer but as a dancer! She may very well be the top selling classical/crossover singer in the world, but is a relative unknown here in the U.S. It's really odd that she isn't better known here, but apparently DWTS is about to change all that. The video above shows her debute performance. It tied for the highest scoring number on a first round episode, 26 points. She was totally elegant doing the Foxtrot. This last week she delivered a stunning quick paced jive number that earned the same score. Looks like multi-talented is going to be part of her resume from now on! I'm not really a fan of the show, but I've made sure to pick up on her performances and while I haven't voted on the show and probably won't in the future, I did vote with my wallet by ordering her latest album Daydream from Amazon. That makes 2 cds on order from the U.K. I also ordered one by the Dead Ringer Band last week. These could be a long time coming, so we'll see how that works out. First time experience for me. I'll report on both in the future. Katherine is another Pandora find. It's been some time ago, but I seem to remember having her show up when I made a channel for Sarah Brightman. Like Sarah she's a soprano, but she's the lower range Mezzo variety which suits me just fine!  You all know by now my preference for mellow sounding voices! That's not to say she can't hit the high notes. Girl can soar! She has an amazing range. This style of music isn't exactly my usual girl with guitar stuff, but she makes a great change of pace. Take the opportunity to check her out. The cd I ordered only came to just $9.07 including shipping from across the pond via the slow boat to China (hope that's not literally true!). Anticipation is half the fun, so I'm getting more than my share with this purchase. Here's Katherine's version of Time to Say Goodbye with Andrea Bocelli. It compares most favorably with the Sarah Brightman duet.

A Good Day

 

 

I had quite a musical day yesterday after being in a bit of a drought for awhile. Finally a live concert! First one this year! and earlier in the day I visited the FYE store in Orem that's going out of business and was able, in a fairly short time, to find 4 cds for purchase that were appealing to my finicky taste in music. More on that in an upcoming post or posts. The concert was a benefit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation held in the Mountain View High auditorium featuring Jessie Clark Funk, David Tolk, Peter Breinholt, Nancy Hanson and Cori Connors. They appeared in that order. Big Buddha, a local radio personality served as MC. The photos are roughly in reverse order of appearance. Jessie came on first followed by David with Peter, Nancy and Cori finishing with an "in the round" performance similar to what happens at the Bluebird Cafe. Very enjoyable evening. All did well in spite of the annoying echo of the auditorium. It affected Jessie's canned accompaniment more than the live instrumentation of the others. Don't know why something isn't done about that place. It's annoyed me for years. Wish I knew who to talk to! I hadn't heard Jessie in live performance before. She's a great solo artist. Very popular on the local and LDS scene. I had also never heard Cori in person before and was not disappointed by her performance. She came highly recommended and lived up to her rep. I got to meet her and purchase one of her cds afterward. Poor Nancy was sick and had to make a hasty exit during one of Cori's songs, but was able to return and finish out the set. Peter missed her harmony on Drive this Road, but that was the only major omission from the final trio's presentation. Peter is so well known, that he needs no promoting by me. Suffice to say he was his usual awesome self! David Tolk is a well known pianist who writes most of his own stuff. He has a day job as a lawyer, but could easily make it as a musician if he desired. He played his own set and accompanied the "in the round" group at the end. Glad I made it out on a blustery night. The attendance was a bit sparse. Wish more could have made it. They missed a fine evening!