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ANNOUNCING
OUR NEW LITTLE ARRIVAL!
Just
letting you all know that Martin & I have a new little baby
boy!!, 'William Aaron Louis' came into the world on Wednesday
May 31st, 2006 and we are all doing OK considering the worldwind
we've been through in the last few days!.
Please
accept my apoligies for not letting you all know sooner !,..
he's very little and has had some feeding problems so we have
been through a period of regimented 3 hourly feeds and there's
still a bit of mucking around involved in his feeding at present
which has made it a 'round the clock' vigil that hasn't allowed
for much else to be done,... so please forgive me if you don't
hear much from me over the next few months (and that includes
answers to emails you've sent me in the last 2-3 weeks,.. there
are many to go through and they will take time),.. I'm told his
feeding should get better and all will calm down eventually.
(p.s he's 6lb 7oz & gorgeous!!)
Best
wishes & keep us in your prayers!
Karen Lynne (Louis) & Marty
GRAND
FINALISTS announced for the COOPERS GOLDEN SADDLE AWARD 2006
The
Rotary Club of Galston have announced the 2006 Grand Finalists
who will be appearing at the Galston Country Music Festival on
Sunday September 10th 2006, they are:-
AMBER
LAWRENCE SYDNEY NSW
SWEENEY
KILLEEN SYDNEY NSW
KAREN
LYNNE WENTWORTH FALLS NSW
These
three grandfinalists come from a pool of 12 talented finalists
who this year are as follows:- Paul Costa, Carol Donovan, Ronni
Rae Rivers, Amos Morris, Craig Stewart, Karen Lynne, Amber Lawrence,
Drew McAlister, Peter Pratt, Sweeney Killeen, The Atherton Bros
and John Stephan.
Each
year the decision in regard to the Grand Finalists becomes harder
for the Rotary Club of Galston as the standard is so high and
this year was no exception. The 2006 Grand Final looks set to
be one of the most exciting on record. Presenting the award this
year will be International Recording Star and Living Legend KEVIN
JOHNSON, (Rock And Roll I gave you the best years of my life,
Man of the Twentieth Century, Bonnie Please don't go etc). Kevin
will also be performing some of his songs for his many fans and
is looking forward to being part of Sydney's most successful
Festival.
All
three Grand Finalists, will come to Sydney on September 10th
to perform at Fagan Park, Galston, to compete for prizes which
include, a beautiful handcrafted Golden Saddle Trophy courtesy
of Coopers Brewery, Cash, a Certificate of Excellence, A Production
Package courtesy of Herm Kovac, Publicity for the next twelve
months and an invitation to come back to the Festival held in
2007 as a Special Guest Artist to perform.
Previous
winners have been DARREN COLSTON, Rob Wilson, Mark Tempany, Double-Decker
Dave, Michael King, Dave Debs, Colin Greatorix and Tracey Faith.
Please
contact Tony & Vikki Page (02) 9653 2483 e-mail tpage@ozemail.com.au
Festival
Organisers, or Helen Kay 02 9651 1741 e-mail helenkay2@bigpond.com,
Director Coopers Golden Saddle Award 2006 for further information
or Interviews.
Festival
Patron,
Frank Ifield
Apology
from Karen Lynne !!
Just
sending my sincere apologies out to all my friends and supporters
out there who have gone to the web site for information in the
last 6 months or so to find it not updated. 2005 was an incredibly
busy year what with an overseas tour, a new album and now a baby
on the way!,.. as a result I wasn't able to organise the regular
updates. We are finally getting 'back on track' and so if you
bear with us,.. and keep checking in on us now & then over
the next few months you should finally see the changes happening
that have been sorely due over the last few months. The most
important thing is that I have released a beautiful new album
and it is now listed on the album page and we will be endeavouring
to get the song samples up very soon. I'm so very sorry!,.. especially
if you've been a new 'listener' and have been looking for the
new album,.. but I thank you for your patience so far. of course
if you need any info on the new album,.. or just want to say
Hi!,.. email me on KarenLynne@bigpond.com
Karen Lynne wins "Female Vocal" Award
 Shoestring Records Singer/songwriter Karen
Lynne has taken out the Top Award for "Female Vocalist"
at the 7th Telstra Country Wide Southern Stars - Australian Independent
Country Music Awards at Mildura last weekend. These awards, held
annually in Mildura, are considered the most prestigious awards
in Australian Country Music of Independent Artists - being those
artists not signed to major recording labels. These artists of
whome it must be noted take total responsibility for all their
recording, promotions, sales and bookings etc and without management
or such assistance, this can be a formidable task.
In
additions to 4 finalist nominations in previous years, Karen
was also named as a finalist this year in both the "Single
of the Year" and "Heritage Track of the Year"
categories, giving her a total of 3 finalist nominations in all,
and came hot on the heels of the award win earlier this year
at the Victorian Country Music Awards for "Best Independent
Release" for her previous collaborative effort - a bluegrass
album with Sydney band "Acoustic Shock". Whilst strikingly
different, her new album, with it's mainstream country sound,
has been well received and has gained rave reviews to date.
Her
winning song "This Man I Love" was the first single
released from her latest album titled "Second Wind".
This single also recently achieved Top 5 status on the Australian
National Country Music Chart and following the song's release
in UK and Europe, the song remained in the UK/Europe DJ voted
Top 10 most played songs chart for nearly two months.
The
album contains a healthy share of Australian penned songs including
a choice few from Karen's own hand - cowritten with previous
collaborator Heather Field and also with Mark Selby, Ashley Gorley
and Keith Anderson. Produced by Herm Kovac, the album has a beautifully
warm and polished sound with compliments but does not overpower
the gentle vulnerability of Karen's superb vocals and extra richness
has been added by some great duets with well known Australian
Country artists, Bill Chambers and Grant Richardson, with an
equally pleasing result.
This
album is set to expand and consolidate her fanbase enormously,
it's a great Australian Country Music recording and is already
proving to be one of the major coutnry albums of 2003.
Karen
Voted to Perform at Prestigious CMAA Industry Awards Night.
Good
news totally shocked me a few days ago when I was told I have
been voted as the representative "Independent Artist"
to perform at the very high profile Annual CMAA "Australian
Country Music Achiever Awards" and yes, while both myself
and good friend/musical partner Pat Drummond are involved in
the CMAA membership committee please note we were NOT able to
vote. Congrats also go to Herm Kovac (my CD producer) and Shoestring
Records (our Aussie distribution company) who picked up final
nominations in "Producer" and "Indie Record Co"
categories respectively.
Shoestring
Records wins CMAA Independent Record Company of the Year 2003.
KASEY
CHAMBERS and Carter & Carter have been named Australia's
top entertainers at this year's Australian Country Music Achiever
Awards in
Sydney.
 In a repeat of last year's presentations,
Kasey was named Toyota Entertainer of the Year for the second
year running, as were Carter & Carter with the Independent
Entertainer of the Year title (Entertainer of the Year is for
acts signed to major labels or distribution while the Independent
award is for those without major signing or distribution).
Grenville
Turner, owner/operator of leading Australian music distributor
One Stop Entertainment, was named winner of the prestigious Industry
Achiever Award.
Dynamic
record label Compass Bros Records was named winner of the Capital
News Major Record Company of the Year award while Shoestring
Records won Independent Record Company of the Year.
ABC
Music Publishing took out Pages Event Equipment Publishing Company
of the Year, also for the second year running, while leading
record producer Rod McCormack was named Producer of the Year.
Cori
Hopper, a relative newcomer to the country music scene, took
out the Country Music Channel Video Director of the Year title
while Mike Smith,
owner/operator of NfS Publicity and Editor of Country Music Capital
News, was named winner of Media Achiever of the Year.
The
Brisbane-based Country Music Store took out the Retailer of the
Year award, also for the second time running, while Kasey Chambers
was named winner of the PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company
of Australia) Award for Most Broadcast Country Artist.
Winners
were announced during a gala presentation tonight (Monday, September
15) at the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club
Bluegrass
album wins "Best Independent Release" at 2003 Victorian
Country Music Awards
The
highly acclaimed bluegrass album Blue Mountain Rain from Blue
Mountains based singer Karen Lynne & instrumentalist Martin
Louis (along with his Bluegrass band "Acoustic Shock")
won the award for Best Independent Release in the National section
of the 2003 Victorian Country Music Awards.
The
prestigious Awards presentation night is held as a part of the
Whittlesea Country Music Festival. Released on independent record
label Shoestring, the album continues to receive an amazing response
and has attracted no less than 9 award nominations in its first
year of release. These nominations include the prestigious Toyota
Golden Guitar Awards, the Australian Independent Country Music
Awards, the Tamworth Independent (TIARA) Artist Recognition Awards
and the Victorian Country Music Awards.
The
award win has clearly reinforced the rising popularity of bluegrass
& other traditional/roots music in the country music genre
today led by the O Brother Where Art Thou phenomenon. In Australia
the success of Blue Mountain Rain has been quite extraordinary,
with enthusiastic reaction and unprecedented radio support that
has seen bluegrass featuring on the national country airplay
charts, with the first two singles reaching the Top 10, the third
reaching No.11.
Conceived
by Karen Lynne following her successful on stage collaboration
with Sydney bluegrass band Acoustic Shock, the album places Karen
as the first Australian female artist to present a wholly Bluegrass
album. Blue Mountain Rain is a collaborative effort from Karen
& Martin, stunning in its musicianship and primarily featuring
the multi-awarded talents of "Acoustic Shock" who are:-
Martin Louis, Banjo; Jim Rush, Flat Pick Guitar; Nigel Lever,
Mandolin; and Quentin Fraser, Double Bass & Dobro. There
are also a mix of great feature pieces from leading Australian
bluegrass players Ian Simpson, Kym Warner, Mick Albeck, Liz Frencham
& Andrew Clermont.
The
vocal harmonies are an absolute standout - mostly shared by Karen,
Martin & Jim, they are superb and seamless - and set against
the strong driving bluegrass instruments, take on a new strength
and richness. The material included on the album is expansive
in its variety which makes for a thoroughly enjoyable listening
experience as it wanders from the foot tapping songs and instrumentals,
through to the deep, full-harmony slower songs. This combination
in particular, however, is a truly complimentary and pleasing
one. The album boldly lacks any hint of crossover country pop,
and this in itself makes it refreshingly different. With more
and more country music fans searching for a little more credibility
in their music at the moment, this album was bound to be noticed
... and it was.
First
single sales into Top 10!
The
first single release from the new Second
Wind album This Man I Love” has proved to be a huge
radio favourite and after only seven weeks on the Australian
Country Tracks Top 30 Chart it reached the number 4 position.
Although it would have been nice to get a No.1 placing, it was
impossible to do as major signed acts Troy Cassser Daley, Lee
Kernaghen and the Dixie Chicks were juggling the Top 3 positions
for a number of weeks and it would certainly have been some mean
feat to knock them off! Regardless though, reaching No. 4 is
still a great achievement as it is officially the highest position
any of my singles have ever got on the Major Australian Chart.
Thanks go primarily to all those Radio Presenters who have been
playing the track over these last few months ... Thank you!
Singles
Released in UK & USA
As
part of our promotional plan we have also started to cross the
oceans (what a wonderful thing is the Internet!) in order to
try and gain interest for our music in other markets. This has
meant the release of 3 singles onto the overseas market with
great response and has helped to prolong the interest in the
new CD following the UK tour at the end of last year. Following
a June release via the UK Hot Disc Compilation of This Man I
Love” in the UK/Europe area, the song has made it into
the Top 10 DJ voted songs after only 3 weeks and has remained
in this position for a number of weeks to follow. Thank you to
all my UK & European Radio Presenter friends who have given
such support from so far away and voted it into this position.
Also
as a strategy to raise the profile of Australian Bluegrass we
have also released two Bluegrass singles "This Ring"
& "This Flower" onto the US Market and while we
are realistic enough to know that immediate chart success is
doubtful (as its an awfully big country and theres too many great
Bluegrass bands over there ... its their music after all!), we
have instead been using it as a way to introduce our Aussie Bluegrass
music to a whole lot of US Radio Presenters and so far the comments
have been extremely complimentary. The singles were issued by
a company called the HMG Compilations - part of the CCMA (USA).
They tabulate their own Top 100 Airplay chart which uses data
extracted from the feedback gathered on the singles released
through them and so far one of the singles is actually in the
Top 60 ... which is a bit of a giggle, but not a bad little effort
considering none of the Presenters would have known anything
about us and certainly wouldnt feel they had to support us with
precious airplay as our product comes from outside the US. Any
US Radio Presenters reading this - who do not know about our
music should contact me immediately to recieve a sample.
Second
Wind Album Release
Sydney
Launch a success - The new album "Second Wind" is slowly
getting out there. The Sydney launch was held in April at Canterbury
Hurlstone Park RSL Club and was a real success. Thanks go to
Bob Howe and his Hillbilly Heaven Band and all those that took
the time to come along.
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