Kym Warner

Kym Warner

Kym Warner in 2007
Background information
Birth name Kym Warner
Genres Bluegrass, Country music
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Record Producer
Instruments Vocals, mandolin
Years active 1990s–present
Labels Sugar Hill
Associated acts The Greencards

Kym Warner is an Australian musician and record producer, and a founding member of the American bluegrass band The Greencards. Warner was an aspiring bluegrass musician (which was unusual in Australia at the time) after inheriting the music from his father, an early Australian bluegrass pioneer.[1] The winner of the Australian National Bluegrass Mandolin Championship for four consecutive years, Warner had toured with country music artists Gina Jeffreys, and with Young again in Kasey Chambers's band.[2][3] Before the band formed, Carol Young and Warner both knew each other, and according to Warner had been drawn to bluegrass and American roots music through an appreciation of George Jones and Merle Haggard.[4] After meeting, Warner and Young made the decision to emigrate to America, to pursue musical careers there. Later, Young and Warner were living together in Sydney, and trying to find work in the moribund Australian bluegrass scene. After leaving Australia, they spent time in West Texas before relocating to Austin.[1]

The Greencards in concert

Warner and Young met the other founding member of The Greencards, Eamon McLoughlin, at a recording session.[4][5] Warner was producing an album for the recording artist Bill Atkins, and found they needed a fiddle player, which led to the recruitment of McLoughlin.[6] Initially the immigrants got to know one another through their mutual love of Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Fawlty Towers.[1] They began to have jam sessions afterwards, and according to Warner, there was evident chemistry between the trio, which led to their writing songs together.[4] They named themselves The Greencards, for the fact that all three band members carried United States green cards.[7] They eventually began to perform shows locally in Austin to finance the recording of what would become their debut album, 2003's Movin' On.[4] In the process, they became one of the most popular musical groups in Austin.[5] Representative of an emerging "newgrass" movement, The Greencards' acoustic sound was said to incorporate eclectic influences from Irish traditional, European gypsy, and Latin American sources.[8] [9]

Their first performance together as a band was at the Austin Irish pub, Mother Egan's. Given a noon to 3 pm time slot, they surprisingly began to fill the pub with patrons week after week, with fans there calling them the "Bluegrass Bunch". Several months later, The Greencards began performing an additional three to five times per week in Austin, in addition to their Mother Egan's Sunday show. Warner credited the frantic pace of their performance schedule during their Austin formation for their cohesion as a group and for driving them to create more new original music.[6] During their time performing locally in Austin, they toured with various local Texas musicians, including Robert Earl Keen.[7]

According to McLoughlin, Kym Warner's father, Trev, was instrumental in bringing bluegrass music to Australia.[10]

In 2005, Warner and The Greencards toured extensively with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. During the summer segment of the 2005 tour, Warner wanted to have the opportunity to pick Dylan's brain, but never had the chance. Warner did not get to spend much time with him, but Dylan told him at the end of the tour, "You’ll be fine from now on."[11] In December 2007, it was announced that their song "Mucky the Duck" from Viridian was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance at the 50th Grammy Awards, but ultimately lost to Brad Paisley's "Throttleneck". Written by Warner, "Mucky the Duck" was inspired by one of the band's favorite Houston musical venues, The Mucky Duck.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leroy, Dan (24 May 2005). "Greencards Meet Bob Dylan". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  2. ↑ Elder, Bruce (28 April 2007). "Viridian". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  3. ↑ "Waiting On The Night". OzTrax. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 April 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Iwasaki, Scott (15 June 2007). "Greencards drawn to American roots music". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  5. 1 2 Jones, Richard O (27 April 2007). "Bluegrass chart toppers perform at Southgate House". The Middletown Journal. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  6. 1 2 Miller, Jay N (24 February 2006). "Trio is going places: The Greencards are headed for Club Passim". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  7. 1 2 Graham, George (2007-02-07). "The Greencards: Viridian". The Graham Weekly Album Review. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  8. ↑ BMNN (5 September 2008). "The Greencards Sign With Sugar Hill - New Album Due Spring 2009". Cybergrass. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  9. ↑ Courtney, Kevin (2007). "Who the hell are? The Greencards.". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  10. ↑ Tarradell, Mario (2 November 2007). "The Greencards". WFAA-TV (Dallas-Fort Worth). Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  11. ↑ Gonulsen, Jason (30 May 2007). "The Greencards, The Lucas School House, St. Louis, Missouri". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  12. ↑ Cartwright, Keith Ryan (21 February 2008). "International musicians unite with ‘Greencards'". The Post and Courier. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
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