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  AMERICAN CHRONICLE Up from Down Under with Australia's Adam Harvey Adam Harvey has the look. Handsome, 6' 3", rangy, a little sultry, he projects a rugged-yet-sensitive charisma, brightened now and then with a grin that suggests a sly sense of humor. It's a look that says Country all the way. All the way, that is, back to Australia, home base to Harvey, winner of this year's CMA Global Country Artist Award. He's had a solid career there since 1999, when the Country Music Association of Australia gave its Golden Guitar Award for Best Vocal Collaboration to the young performer and another rising star for their duet single, "Drive Away." By 2002, he had found his own place in the spotlight, thanks to the CMAA's decision to name Harvey Male Vocalist of the Year and honor his album Workin' Overtime as Album of the Year. From the opening chord on track one, "The House That Jack Built," a Telecaster shimmer that melts into a sizzling, fiddle-and-steel-sweetened dance-floor groove, his feel is right on target. And when his baritone voice hits the first verse, its smooth timbre and relaxed way with a phrase make it clear that Harvey is an artist with a future far beyond his turf. Looks, then, are only part of the picture: Harvey's voice, songwriting talent and his lifelong love for Country Music are the real keys to his success. "I was 'brainwashed' with Country Music as a kid by my dad," Harvey said. "He had a great record collection and knew everything about the great singers of the '60s, '70s and '80s. I remember sitting next to the stereo as a kid, learning all those great old songs on my guitar." From the first time he heard Tom T. Hall's "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine," Harvey devoted his life to Country Music. He first topped the Australian Country Music charts in 1999 with "Gypsy Queen," one of a string of singles spun from his first album, Sugar Talk. His ascension was swift, leading him in less than a year to Nashville for his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. Since then he has recorded three more solo albums - Workin' Overtime, Cowboy Dreams and Can't Settle for Less, each of which has been certified Gold (35,000 units) by the Australian Recording Industry Association. Honors have come his way too, including two more CMAA Male Vocalist of the Year awards, in 2004 and '05, and an Australian Centenary Medal, presented by Prime Minister John Howard. Harvey returned to the United States in 2004 for another appearance on the Opry and gigs at other venues. The more he played, the more evident - and amusing - differences he noticed between American and Australian audiences. "The biggest difference is that America has 10 times the population of us, which means that the crowds are much bigger than we're used to," he said. "There are also words we use in Australia to describe some things, but in the States that word can mean something totally different. A 'thong,' for example, is a thing you wear on your feet back home - but I've found out it's something very different in your country." Crowds may be bigger in the United States, but the future for Country Music in Australia seems unlimited to Harvey. On June 9, at this year's CMA Music Festival in Nashville, CMA COO Tammy Genovese and Jeff Walker, President of AristoMedia and Chairman of the CMA Global Markets Committee, presented Harvey with his CMA Global Country Artist Award, at his performance on the Greased Lightning® Daytime Stages at Riverfront Park. "Adam Harvey's international outreach in recent years makes him a worthy recipient of this award," Walker said. "In addition to his huge success in his native Australia, Adam has been successful in recent tours in Canada and Ireland. His personal commitment to global outreach should only be enhanced by this well-deserved honor." On the Web: www.adamharvey.com.au © 2007 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc. |
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