It can be tough to have one of your favorite musicians be from Australia. Every new CD she releases raises the question: Do I buy this as an import at $35 or $40 or wait for however long it takes to come out in the US?
This time around, I waited for the new Kasey Chambers CD, Little Bird to come out in the US, which it did today. And since I'm particularly invested in celebrating its release so I focus on that good bit and not the fact that I was out of town when she played locally and therefore won't see her live for quite some time, it seemed like a celebratory/listen to this artist diary was in order.
Seriously. If you like country, but not like commercial American country, rather alt country or the old stuff, you should give her a listen.
The old-school tendencies aren't as much shown in the first single from this album, which is an arch refusal to remake herself for a lover who's left. Or maybe it's a refusal to remake herself for the music industry, as a previous song in this vein, "Not Pretty Enough," sounded like it was directed at a man but was in fact about, in her words, "all the radio stations that play Britney Spears and not me." So you'll have to make up your mind about "Little Bird":
And here's the title song from her previous album, "Rattlin' Bones," which she recorded with husband Shane Nicholson:
She has a couple shows left in the US. Having seen her live maybe 10 times over the years, and my parents having seen her on this tour, I can pretty much promise you a great show.
Meanwhile, I'll be here listening to the CD again.