Kasey Chambers: “I’ve always wanted to record in Studio 301…it was just a bonus that we got to work in Byron.”

Australia’s favourite country music singer is no stranger to Byron Bay – and she’s a regular at our beloved Bluesfest.  Most recently she visited the north coast to record her latest album with the illustrious Nick DiDia at Studio 301.  Verandah Magazine caught up with her to chat about Bittersweet, her first album in four years.

Kasey Chambers is no stranger to Byron Bay. “I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years,” she says, “and apart from the odd holiday it’s always been related to music.” Certainly for regular Bluesfest goers, Chambers is always a welcome addition to the program.

“We started playing the area a long time ago with The Dead Ringer Band,” she says, “and I’ve been lucky enough to play Bluesfest more times than I probably deserve, but I’m certainly grateful for it. Even in years when I don’t play I always go to the festival, I just love it. I feel like it’s been a big part of my life and career – I first started playing Bluesfest back when nobody knew who I was and Peter Noble took a chance on me. This was before The Captain album – I was singing with Buddy Miller and I got to sing a couple of songs with Steve Earle, and it just happened that Peter Noble was in the audience and he said ‘we’ll give you a gig next year’.”

Chambers most recent visit, however, was a bit of a departure from her usual gigs. This time she was here to record her sixth album, Bittersweet. It’s four years since Chambers released her last album, Songbird, and on first listen Bittersweet retains her classic signature Emmylou Harris-influenced feel – with spots of wilder abandon, and some overt musings on religion and spirituality on a couple of tracks.

In the time since Songbird, Chambers and the father of her two youngest children, singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson have divorced, and Chambers has continued to mother her three young children. Perhaps it was her change of circumstances that created a desire for a different approach to recording and different personnel, but whatever the reason, Chambers decided to make use of Studio 301 in Byron Bay where producer Nick DiDia works. The rationale was that she wanted a “leap of faith” in embracing the unknown: it was the first time she had not worked with brother Nash as producer, and she had heard great things of the illustrious DiDia (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine, Powderfinger).

“I’ve always wanted to record in Studio 301,” she says. “My brother recorded there a few years ago and raved about it and said one day I should make an album there, but it was really because of Nick. I wanted to work with Nick and Nick works out of there, and it was just a bonus that we got to work in Byron.”

Chambers desire to spread her wings worked out well. She recorded a new album, in a different studio, with a different band and producer. “As soon as they said ‘Nick works out of 301 in Byron Bay’ I was like ‘Oh, awesome, this is what I’m meant to do’,” she says, “and hey, a week in Byron – it doesn’t matter if the album’s crap I was happy just to hang out there for a week!”

Fortunately for Chambers’ legions of fans the album is testament to her decision to step outside her comfort zone, and no doubt she’ll back this way again soon – gracing a Bluesfest stage.

Paul Smith

Bittersweet will be released on August 29

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