Kasey Chambers

On sitting down at my laptop to write this article, I was stumped on where to start. How do you capture such a person as Kasey Chambers in a mere 550 words? Kasey has been an inspiration to many, a mother of three and musically to many more around the world, an ARIA award winner but, most of all, she’s real.
“I don’t really live a famous life, I live quite a normal one – even on the road,” Kasey admits. “I don’t have much of a chance to get my head up in the clouds and if I ever do my kids bring me back down to earth pretty quickly.”
Proof that she’s just like the rest of us and with the desire to dance barefoot in the beaten down muddy earth, Kasey attended her 15th Bluesfest this year, though not as a performer.
“I have a lot of people saying you must miss playing when you go to Bluesfest but I get a whole different thing out of it when I get to go and not play. I get to just be an audience member and enjoy everyone else playing and I love that as well. I do love playing as it’s one of my favourite gigs to play and I’ve been lucky enough to play there quite a bit over the years, but I do love the audience side of it and I don’t have to worry about putting makeup on, you’ve gotta love that!” Kasey beams.
Whether she’s on the stage with the lights shining upon her and the crowd screaming her name, or a blank face in a crowd of thousands, Kasey lives and breathes music. As a seasoned musician and privy to musical talent, Kasey often makes time for the “little guys” and gives her time to the unknown, the young and emerging in the music world.
“Some of my favourite artists are ones that people have still never heard of, and that excites me about music too because it does show you that not everything has been done yet. It reminds me of me when I was first starting out in some ways too,” she says.
“I think being part of an industry where there’s a whole side of the industry that is so cynical and I’ve got these new young guys in my band at the moment who are 19 years old and two amazing musicians but having them on the road it makes me less jaded, it reminds me of how lucky we are to do this as a job. I just like that little reminder and it’s often the new people in music that remind you of that and bring it back to what it’s really about.”
Despite the hardships felt from life and the industry, Kasey Chambers is still the same at heart as she was as the blue-eyed 18-year-old we came to know through her family band the Dead Ringer Band. She stepped out as a 23-year-old on her own and while her father may hit the road with her like old times, she’s easily became one of the key faces of Australian music history of her own accord.
Written by Amanda Sherring
When & Where: Costa Hall, Geelong – April 30