Matraville singer Dani Young and country music legend Warren H. Williams in bid for Golden Guitar

Rebecca Franks, Southern Courier

MOVING to Alice Springs was a gamble that paid off for Matraville singer Dani Young, who met and recorded an album with Aboriginal country music legend Warren H. Williams.

The pair have been nominated for Duo of the Year at the Country Music Awards of Australia, known colloquially as the Golden Guitars, after recording album Desert Water that debuted at number two on the ARIA country music charts, beaten only by Keith Urban.

Young said she moved to Alice Springs as a radio journalist and saw first-hand the conditions experienced by Aboriginal communities in remote areas which was a shock for “a young girl from the city”.

“Moving to the middle of the outback was a crazy idea in the beginning,” the 24-year-old said. “A lot of the stuff I saw was quite confronting.

“There are huge groups of Aboriginal people living in these remote parts of Australia and I saw the conditions these people lived in.

“I saw elderly grandmothers living in shacks made of rubbish, tin, scrap metal, prams or chicken wire in 40-degree heat and you think, ‘how have they been doing this for so many years?’

“They were dealing with a lot of demons; alcohol abuse and being trapped in a system that is hard to get out of.

“There was amazing landscape and spiritual connection between the history and the people.”

She said her experiences inspired some of the songs on Desert Water which she recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with Williams who helped to shape her music career.

“In Alice Springs I was singing around town, singing jazz,” Young said. “I performed with James Morrison.

“Then Warren said to me: ‘You are singing the wrong genre’.

“He gave me music by amazing female vocalists in the traditional style of country music ‒ I got a country music education. He was right.

“Warren took me under his wing and mentored me.”

Young said the duo had a huge year ahead with a string of concert and festival dates.

Mascot country music star Amber Lawrence has also been nominated for Female Artist of the Year in the Country Music Awards of Australia.

Winners will be announced at Tamworth Country Music Festival on January 28.

Read the full article here

Norfolk Island Country Music Festival 2017

Wow what a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the beautiful Norfolk Island to play at their annual country music festival! We sold out all our merchandise, and had a ball playing shows throughout the week with a stellar band. The Aussie half of the lineup included Shane Nicholson and Drew McAlister, while we were joined by Kiwi Jodi Direen and Trans-Tasman NeilyRich.

We also popped into the Norfolk Island radio station and learned some of the local language! Can’t wait to revisit this magical part of the world.

#1 song of 2016: Two Ships!!!

Fantastic news from Tamworth, the Country Music Capital of Australia. Our first single, Two Ships, has been announced as the “#1 Song of 2016” on 88.9FM Tamworth Radio!! This is just the icing on the cake of what has been an incredible year for us.

Highlights include:

– Signing with ABC Music

– Releasing our first album, Desert Water

– Debuting at #2 on the ARIA Country Albums Chart

– Two Ships spending 6 weeks at #1 on Tamworth Radio

– Two Ships spending 4 weeks at #3 on Europe’s Hotdisc Top 40

– Nomination for ‘Best Group or Duo’ at the 2017 Australian Country Music Awards (Golden Guitars)

– Touring around Australia

– and now the #1 Song of 2016 on Tamworth Radio!!

We wish you all a fantastic new year, and hope to see more of you in 2017 as we continue doing what we love… making great country music!

“A classic vibe, heavy on the pedal steel, the ballad and the heartache.”

“The eagerly awaited collaboration between established country singer Warren H William and rising star Dani Young proves to be a solid one.

As far as production, songwriting and delivery go it sticks with a classic vibe, heavy on the pedal steel, the ballad and the heartache. William and Young have voices that complement each other impeccably — Young with higher, desperate tones and William with lower, morose harmonies — delivering stellar levels of emotion and symbiosis. Australian country and western fans will enjoy this album immensely.”

Lukas Murphy, themusic.com.au

"A classic vibe, heavy on the pedal steel, the ballad and the heartache."

“The eagerly awaited collaboration between established country singer Warren H William and rising star Dani Young proves to be a solid one.

As far as production, songwriting and delivery go it sticks with a classic vibe, heavy on the pedal steel, the ballad and the heartache. William and Young have voices that complement each other impeccably — Young with higher, desperate tones and William with lower, morose harmonies — delivering stellar levels of emotion and symbiosis. Australian country and western fans will enjoy this album immensely.”

Lukas Murphy, themusic.com.au

CMAA GOLDEN GUITAR NOMINATION!!

Incredible news! We’ve been nominated for a 2017 CMAA Golden Guitar for Best Group or Duo for our album Desert Water!!!

The Australian Country Music Awards, affectionately known as the Golden Guitars are Australia’s highest honours, and we are amazed and grateful to have made the final 5 nominees.

We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us this far, its been an unexpected and thrilling journey in 2016 with the release of our first album, first single, first music video, first major festival performance and now our first major awards nomination!!

Of course, Warren H is a seasoned pro at these awards, having won a Golden Guitar 11 years ago for his song ‘Australia is Another Word for Free’ with John Williamson and Amos Morris. This is Dani’s first nomination (and first album!!), so Warren will be giving her lots of advice before they take to the red carpet.

Fingers crossed for awards night, we are so honoured to be named amongst country music royalty such as Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daly, The Wolfe Brothers, Sara Storer, Travis Collins, Alan Caswell and more!

UK Country Music People reviews Desert Water!

Who knew Desert Water had found its way into Europe?

Duncan Warwick, the editor of Country Music People magazine gave us a fantastic 4 star review in the September 2016 issue!

We’re so excited for the positive feedback and have decided to release our singles into Europe… so keep an eye out!

“Good country music can come from anywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s the US, Europe or Australia. It’s not that long ago we had a country album from Brazil, but I don’t think I can remember ever hearing an Aboriginal country singer.

Warren H Williams is just that and has teamed up with emerging singer and fellow Aussie Dani Young to make an album of traditional country duets in Nashville. With the ever reliable Billy Yates producing you know you’re onto a good thing and with a guest spot from Jim Lauderdale the good got even better.

Warren Williams’ voice has a nice lived-in quality with hints of Kenny Rogers meets George Jones that works well with the younger and cleaner vocals of Dani Young. The songs are strong and as you might expect the production is sensitive to a traditional sound.

The track featuring Yates and Lauderdale is the honky tonk singalong killer, two-stepper, My Friend Bottle. This track alone would justify the purchase of this album, but throughout, with Yates at the helm, it’s a delight.

Almost as good as My Friend Bottle are Nothing Left to Burn and These Eyes which are both similarly uptempo and laden with fiddle, steel and honky tonk piano, whereas Dusty Ute is the only thing that hints that they are Australian.

Desert Water is stone country and fabulous and One Lifetime could have been a hit in the 90s. I could imagine it being cut by any number of singers back in the day, gentle, catchy and positive and instead of “One lifetime ain’t enough for loving you,” I might have preferred the lyrics, “One month is 29 days too long for loving you!”

On Two Ships the Rodgers quality of Williams’ voice really comes out and the song itself seems to have aspirations of being a Kenny Rogers crossover type song. It might be the least best song on here but it’s still more palatable than some big names I could mention who have dragged their unsuspecting other halves into the studio.

The influence of Billy Yates cannot be underestimated but I get the feeling that these two could make a good album anywhere. However, I’m glad they went to Nashville to cut this, I’m delighted they chose Yates to produce it and I’m even more delighted at the brief guest appearance of Jim Lauderdale. Desert Water is sure to quench your thirst for traditional country with catchy songs and a production that could have come from any time in the last twenty years.”

Duncan Warwick

Warren H Williams and Dani Young confirm they’re heading to the 2017 Tamworth Country Music Festival

Haley Sheridan, AUGUST 22 2016 – 8:10PM

The Northern Daily Leader

IT’S no secret that the voices of Warren H Williams and Dani Young are a match made in heaven, but their songwriting talent and vocals have gained new fans with the chart-topping success of their latest offering.

The duo are celebrating the success of their album Desert Water which debuted at number two on the ARIA Country Album chart.

The pair also set another milestone on the journey after Desert Water became the first album recorded in Nashville by an indigenous and white duo.

But according to Young, they didn’t set out to break records or become a first at anything – it all just happened along the way.

“We are really excited about the album, it feels like we have been keeping it to ourselves for a while,” Young said. 

“We have [had] a lot of support from everyone who has been buying the album, we are hearing a lot good things, which is encouraging us to organise a tour.”

“When Warren and I start writing it flows really naturally and really quickly, we could write a song in half an hour to an hour and then write another one after that.”

The duo’s newest single Two Ships took an hour to write and flowed the way they wanted the first time they put pen to paper, Young said.

However, it wasn’t until Williams got in touch with friend and award-winning singer songwriter Billy Yates that more magic began to happen.

”He [Williams] was friends with Billy Yates over Facebook and they had been talking to each other for a while then Warren decided to ask, if we record the album in Australia, can we send it over to mix and master in Nashville,” Young said.

“And [Yates] said: “Why don’t you come over and do the whole thing here.’

“We got into the studio and recorded everything, the band just in one day and all the vocals the next day.”

“For me it’s my first album and it was electric being in the studio, completely overwhelming.”

As for future plans, the pair are already booked in to perform a gig at Tamworth’s The Family Hotel in January’s festival but not before taking the stage at the Gympie Muster this weekend.

Read original article here

Desert Water ARIA #2!!!

Wow!!! In our first week since the album launch, Desert Water debuted at #2 on the ARIA Country Albums chart!! Couldn’t quite knock over Keith Urban but we are still so happy!

Plus the album came in at #71 on the ARIA Albums chart across all genres and countries… A result we are incredibly proud of. We want to thank all our fans who preordered and purchased our albums, and our incredible record label who got the album in every major CD store in Australia. We’ve got a great team behind us making our dreams come true!