Bill Chambers: Sleeping with the Blues

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Judge the man by the company he keeps — Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris — and the fact he's country singer Kasey's dad. Bill may be leading the Australian singer-songwriter revival but (aside from references to Nullabor and the like) he sings like one of the moody Texas greats, full of yearning melancholy, a whiskey hangover, growling vocals, and a poetic turn of phrase. In fact you'd be forgiven for thinking he was Austin-born and raised in the wastelands of West Texas.

But he's an Australian whose heart holds affection for Americana, George Jones and universal sentiments of nostalgia, bein' lonesome and a lonesome railway track. Kasey guests, he astutely picks his covers (I Drink) and he's coming here this month. On the evidence of this debut solo album he's not to be missed.

Label:Reckless