Dead Ringer Band

Biography

Tiring of the fast pace of city life, Bill Chambers and his wife, Diane, moved to the remote Nullabor Plains area of Australia, where they raised two children, Nash and Kasey, who they fed by hunting foxes and rabbits. Returning to "civilization" more than a decade later, Bill and Diane Chambers began performing as a duo in the pubs and clubs near Sydney. Kasey joined the group in 1987, at the age of ten, while Nash, two years older, joined shortly afterwards. The success of the Dead Ringer Band was swift. The recipients of a prestigious Golden Guitar Award (Australia's equivalent of the Country Music Association Awards) as Best Group of 1995, they received a Mo Award as Best Country Group a year later. Their second album, Home Fires, which included the chart-topping country song "Australian Son," received an ARIA Award as Best Australian Country Release in late 1996. While they honed their sound by singing country songs by American songwriters (including Hank Williams, the Carter Family, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and Johnny Cash) and Australian songwriters (including Slim Dusty, Tex Morton, and Reg Lindsay), the Dead Ringer Band incorporated an increasing number of original tunes by Bill Chambers, who received a Song of the Year award for his song "Things Aren't the Same on the Land," recorded by Australian country singer Slim Dusty in 1992. Kasey Chambers has grown into one of Australia's top female vocalists, launching a highly successful solo career with two impressive solo albums, The Captain and Barricades & Brickwalls. Billboard praised her for her "crystal bell of a voice with a million dollar catch in it that will melt your heart." With Kasey taking time off to raise a family, Bill has remained active with outside projects, including the Bill & Audrey duo, a shared project with Audrey Auld. Together with Auld, he launched the Reckless Records label. He also played on Catherine Britt's debut album, Dusty Smiles and Heartbreak Curves. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide