1997 interview

      By Beverly Keel
      OCTOBER 20, 1997:
                                       Country music is coming up from down under--at least
      that's what a recent wave of Australian artist signings suggests. Although
      the signings were all made independently of each other, the effect could
      be similar to that of the recent Canadian invasion that brought Shania
      Twain, Terri Clark, Michelle Wright, Paul Brandt, and Lisa Brokop to the
      country charts.
       Among the Aussie activity of late: Arista Records recently released
      Words, the debut album by Sherrié Austin, who grew up in Townsville,
      Australia, before moving with her family to California; Capitol Records
      has been working with The Ranch, a trio featuring Australians Keith Urban
      and Peter Clarke (along with American Jerry Flowers); MCA Nashville has
      signed Olivia Newton-John, the '70s hit-maker who was born in England       and
      raised in Australia; and Atlantic is in negotiations to sign the Dead
      Ringer Band, a family of four that still lives in Australia. In addition,
      other antipodean residents are coming to town seeking some American
      exposure. Among those are Sherry Rich, who recorded her album, released on
      Australian-based Rubber Records, in Nashville.
      "I don't think there's anything other than a coincidence involved,
      really," says Arista Nashville president Tim DuBois. "There is a healthy
      country-music industry there, not nearly as big as ours, but the
      population as a whole isn't as big as ours. It's natural over time that
      people would find their way into our system, and hopefully we'll find our
      artists having more success down there."
      John Lomax III, a Nashville artist manager who represents the Dead Ringer
      Band, says, "It's because country music realizes it needs to broaden the
      scope of the music it presents." For her part, Sherrié Austin says the two
      cultures are more similar than many people realize. "Australia has
      cowboys, but they're called jackaroos," she observes. "They have ranches,
      but they're called stations.... I describe [Sydney] as a big suburb of
      Texas."
      Traditional Australian country music is a narrow, parochial genre that
      perhaps most resembles Irish folk music. Urban and Austin, however, were
      raised on American country music--in fact, they received a better musical
      education than many of the American acts singing today. Austin listened to
      her mother's Skeeter Davis, Loretta Lynn, and Johnny Cash records, and she
      sang "Jolene" and "Queen of Hearts" for her stage debut. By the age of 13,
      she was playing Australian country-music festivals, and two years later,
      in 1985, she opened for Cash's 1985 Australian tour.
      Urban's parents raised him on Charley Pride, Jim Reeves, and Don Williams.
      By the age of 7, he knew he wanted to move here, and he began preparation
      for his trip a year later by entering country-music talent shows. Like
      Austin, he made his stage debut with a Dolly Parton number, "Apple Jack."
      "I think we have achieved what we did because I was immersed in the music
      growing up," Urban says. "To some degree, that goes back further than I
      see in other people's music. In an interview, I'll be asked what influence
      Garth Brooks has had on me. I'm sorry to say, none. My greatest influences
      were Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb."
      Rather than using their nationality as a marketing and publicity hook,
      these singers, along with their labels, have chosen to play down their
      heritage. "I never think of myself as an Australian country singer,"
      Austin says. "I just think of myself as a country singer."

            Aussie country
            Sherrié Austin, who performs this Thursday at the Calsonic Arena in
            Shelbyville along with Tracy Lawrence and Trace Adkins.

      Urban says listeners will judge his music differently if they know of his
      background before they hear the music. "What I've done with my career is
      taken a similar approach to what Chet Atkins did with Charley Pride," he
      says, referring to RCA's refusal to release photos of the black country
      singer until radio stations were already giving his songs airplay.
      The analogy might seem extreme, but "it's difficult to get our music
      across if they know we're Australian," Urban insists. Early on, he
      wouldn't conduct interviews until after reporters had seen his show; that
      way, they wouldn't develop preconceived notions. "That's not to say we're
      not proud of where we're from, but we don't want it to hinder our music in
      any way."
      One wouldn't think that a simple question of nationality could hinder an
      artist's career, but Urban thinks otherwise. "In this day, being set apart
      from other acts is an obstacle. It really boils down to the familiarity of
      the music and the timing. Is what you've got to offer popular right now?
      If not, could it be, if you were to get support from the industry? We fit
      into the latter part of that."