SITTING around a campfire and listening to the voice of Emmylou Harris, Kasey Chambers never imagined she would one day collaborate with the legendary country music singer.
However, the 42-year-old Australian singer-songwriter’s dream became a reality when her biggest musical influence, Emmylou, made a guest appearance on her 12th studio album Campfire.
“I used to listen to Emmylou growing up, she was my biggest influence,” Kasey said.
“To have her actually sing with me on my new album is such a dream come true … it feels like an actual dream.”
Born in Mount Gambier and raised in Southend, Kasey will return to her roots this weekend and hit the stage as part of a nationwide tour promoting her new album.
Campfire is, as the title suggests, a collection of songs you would sing around a fire and is reflective of Kasey’s fairly isolated childhood in remote outback South Australia.
“Growing up, I spent a lot of my childhood in the outback of Australia,” Kasey said.
“My hometown is Southend so I spent half of my childhood there and the other half on the Nullabor in the winter where my dad worked as a fox hunter.
“I have so many fond memories around that area.
“We spent a lot of time living around the campfire, singing around it and cooking on it, so it is quite symbolic of my childhood and that’s where the inspiration for this album stemmed from.
“It was inevitable I was going to make this record and I wanted to bring the campfire concept into this tour and take it around Australia.
“I am particularly excited about coming back home because a lot of my stories have come from there … this gig will be extra special for me.”
While explaining her inspiration for the album, which poured out of her in a matter of months, came easy, choosing a favourite song from the album proved a more difficult task.
Kasey said Campfire was the “quickest” she has ever produced a record, adding she feels as if she has been subconsciously writing it her whole life.
“Usually I need a couple of years to write songs, but because I have always wanted to make this record I opened the flood gates and it came out so quickly,” she said.
“I feel like it has been in my mind forever.
“I opened a studio at home because I wanted that real homely vibe in the album and it was important I produced it in comfort.
“The song Campfire is the glue that holds it all together, so that one is extra special I think, I feel like the whole album revolves around it.
“My favourite song of all time though is The Captain, I feel like there is so much of me in that song.
“I feel such a comfort in it and it would feel really weird if I did not perform it on tour.
“It is symbolic in the way it was part of my first solo album and I did not really know what was going to happen in my career back then, there’s real innocence in that and it was such a comforting time.”
Juggling recording an album and touring as a mum of her three kids, Talon, 15, Arlo, 10 and Poet, 6, may sound difficult, but Kasey has learnt to remain creative despite the demands of mothering.
“I had to teach myself to write through chaos,” she said.
“I used to think if I had to write a song I had to write it in a quiet place, in the ambience of a room, but I have songs that write themselves.
“I go into this zone where the song takes over and I do not really feel like I am conscious at the time because I am really concentrating.
“My kids know when I am in song writing zone because I do not listen to them … I answer, but I do not register.
“I feel like songs come on and I cannot control them.
“Other times I go out of my way to write them because my life is so busy, but I cannot force it too much, otherwise they will not turn out as I would like.”
Above all for the multi-ARIA award winner, nothing compares to connecting with her fans through her music.
The smaller “more intimate” gigs are her preference, which she believes is suitable for her Campfire tour.
Kasey said she wanted fans to walk away from her gig feeling they had been sitting around the campfire with her.
“As part of this tour, we share many stories and I talk a lot about my childhood and growing up around the campfire,” she said.
“Already it has been amazing and is one of the most special tours I have performed in my career.
“People can really feel how special it is to me, and with plenty of sold-out shows it has been overwhelming.
“Campfire is a combination of old and new songs and I have had so much fun … I cannot wait to bring it back home and share the stories down there.”
Kasey, alongside her father Bill Chambers, will perform at the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre this Saturday from 7.30pm.
She invites fans to be part of her intimate acoustic experience, which includes songs from her new album Campfire and all of her much-loved songs from way back to The Captain and Barricades and Brickwalls days up until now.
Limited tickets are available.
