THE DEAD RINGER BAND

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. They released their first album 'Red Desert Sky' in 1993 on the Larrikin label. 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. Two more albums followed, 'Living In The Circle' (1997) and 'Hopeville' (1998). The group ended as Bill and Dianne divorced in the late 1990s, with Diane moving to Norfolk Island and Bill to Sydney. After the split Kasey, at the age of 22, travelled overseas on a rites-of-passage voyage of discovery. She came back ready to start her solo career. The resultant album, 'The Captain' (1999) remains one of the most extraordinary and lauded debuts by an Australian artist in any genre.

Members

Kasey Chambers (vocals guitar), Bill Chambers (vocals guitar mandolin), Dianne Chambers (bass),

Nash Chambers (vocals guitar harmonica)

References

Craig Harris