Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson were supposed to perform at the Cactus Café last September. Then Hurricane Ike happened, flights were canceled, and they were unable to make it to Texas. Monday evening the Australian couple made up for it with two sets and although I only caught the late show, it was surely worth the wait. Joined for most of the performance by Kasey’s father Bill on a variety of stringed things, they turned the already intimate Cactus into their “lounge room.” That’s Australian for living room.
For more than 90 minutes, they ran the gamut of Americana, concentrating on the bluegrass feel of last year’s Rattlin’ Bones (Sugar Hill) but also offering sides of their own work and even previewing a couple of children’s tunes from an album that Kasey and Bill are getting ready to release.
Sitting between Chambers and Nicholson was a small table set with photographs of their children and their chemistry was magical, at times conjuring another great singing couple, Buddy and Julie Miller, and at least once bringing to mind the honeyed harmonies of the Everly Brothers. As always, Kasey was especially animated, telling stories about growing up living in a car in an extremely isolated part of Australia and relating the back stories to songs with quips about the duo’s relationship.
She was especially enchanting on a soul-filled rendition of Cindy Walker’s “You Don’t Know Me,” while her offering before “The Captain” (“I still find something new in this song every time I sing it and I’ve played it every night since I wrote it”) was poignant.
Towards the end they stomped through “Last Hard Bible,” evoking Ralph Stanley’s mountain music, final proof of their affection for American music that left them, and the sold-out crowd, nearly breathless. I’ve spent many nights at the Cactus, and Monday’s show was one of the venue’s most engaging.
The Australian invasion of the Cactus continues tonight when Bill Chambers performs on his own with Austin’s Sam Baker. Bill promised that his old singing partner, Audrey Auld, another Aussie, will join them, so it should be a special night as well.
This article appears in June 19 • 2009.