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The Davidson Brothers aren't just Australia's hottest young bluegrass stars, they're right up there with the best in the world. The guys are smart, funny and outrageously talented and it's fantastic to see them  starting to make an impact outside of the country and bluegrass worlds.

They've already won 2 Australian Country Music Awards (Golden Guitars) for Instrumental of the Year, showcased our band at the 2009 World of Bluegrass in Nashville, been presentors on both the 2010 International Bluegrass Music Awards (USA) and the 2011 Australian Country Music Awards but now they're gunning for a new audience. We asked Lachie Davidson to write us a blog about recording their new album.

Davidson Brothers - My Heart Can't Believe My Eyes

Hamish and I both started violin lessons at school which lead to playing a bunch of acoustic string instruments. Our family drove to many folk festivals around NSW/VIC, before making our first major overseas trip in 1997 where we discovered the high energy of bluegrass music.

Hamish had just started the banjo before that trip, and I bought my first mandolin with busking money we'd earned along the way. Within months of returning we recorded our first CD, headed to our first Tamworth Country Music Festival and did our first TV appearance (Hey Hey It's Saturday).

Now, more than 10 years later we've recently been in Nashville, Tennessee recording our 4th studio album. We've had top 10 hits on Australian Country Music Radio as well as the Country Music Channel (CMC).

At the end of April 2011, we flew directly to Nashville to record our latest album. We'd made the choice that we wanted to record with some of our favourite musicians in the world. We always track the album live which means all the musicians turn up, some-one counts in and the red light is on! These are laid down with no vocals (like Karaoke bluegrass) before we start overdubbing any extra instruments and vocals.  wnt home after recording and mixed via email with our producer and engineer.

It's a thrill for us heading there, as we feel we've had the same musical upbringing as the guys we hire in the studio and this is something extremely rare to find in Australia. All the guys we work with are sessions pros, which allows us to cut tracks in one take! We rarely play a track more than three times before they get it nailed.

Each session we do in the USA we learn so much, from microphone technique, to getting the best sounds from your instrument and voice.

The biggest reaction we get at bluegrass festival in the USA is they say "we didn't know you were Australian until you spoke"! We've been made welcome and invited back everywhere we have performed across America. We're starting to get recognised around Nashville and various festivals due to our web presence and marketing ourselves in the world bluegrass scene. Just last week we had a parking ticket inspector in downtown Nashville ask, "Are Ya'll the Davidson Brothers?", he's seen some of our YouTube videos and so he gave us free parking! We have a growing audience in the USA, we have fans connect with us weekly and they are spreading the word since our last major tour there in 2009.

Our plan with our upcoming album is we want to reach out for music fans in our age bracket who may not have been exposed to Bluegrass or High Energy bluegrass music. Everytime we play we have people let us know they didn't like country or bluegrass until they saw us play. So for us this album is about taking our music to streets, getting in front of new young crowds any place they will let us on stage. We want to expose the buzz we get on stage to draw a bigger, younger crowd who love live music and aren't affriad to make a noise about it.

The music we play is great because it can be played in a bar, a large outdoor festival stage or a parking lot and still deliver the same energy. You can turn any song into bluegrass by adding a banjo and it'll get you dancing. We spent many years busking in the heart of Melbourne which lead to all sorts of exposure including winning the Victorian State Final of the University Band competition in 2003 to full house at the Corner Hotel! We even came runner up in the National Final, second to Kate Miller-Heidke. More recently the Davidson Brothers were named as finalists in the Melbourne Prize for Music "Most Outstanding Musicians" which was an open field, with many genres of music being represented.

It must have been spooky for Jordie Lane at the Joshua Tree Inn. Late, by candle-light, a half empty empty bottle, a four track recorder and a cheap guitar in the corner. He was writing and recording music while channelling a hero in the very room that hero died almost 40 years ago. Jordie travelled accross the world so he could write music in this place, so he could walk into the desert late at night and burn his guitar in homage to Gram Parsons.

In the middle of the Californian desert. Freezing at night and scorching hot by day, room 8 at the Joshua Tree The Inn is known as the Gram Parsons Room, where the 'cosmic american music' hero died from an overdose of morphine and alcohol. The furniture and wall hangings remain the unchanged to this day, a shrine to the alt-country psychadelic troubador who changed country music forever. The influence and spirit of Gram Parsons permeates Jordie's latest album Blood Thinner. A breathtakingly beautiful take on the best that American folk and country music have to offer. It is hushed and reverential, melodic and textured, revealing itself over many listens.

Jordie Lane has always been a man to whom balladry seems to come naturally but this album is just something else. Gorgeous. Co-produced and mixed by multi Grammy Award winner Tom Biller, (Beck, Kanye West, Karen O), and mastered by Grammy award winner Reuben Cohen, Blood Thinner is out through Vitamin Records.

Do you like horror?

Do you like country music?

Do you like community radio?

If the answer is yes, yes and yes then you'll be rather excited but probably not all that surprised that Horror Country band Graveyard Train was named PBS FM's number one album of 2010.

If the answer is no, no and no, then you'll probably think "WTF"?

Now is the time to learn.

Melbourne's Progressive Broadcasting Service plays a phenominal variety of music, all of it "little heard", none of it playlisted and all of it spun by presenters that live and breathe their chosen niche. It's a big deal when the station chooses an independently recorded, independently released and distributed album by an Australian band ahead of artists as diverse and universally acclaimed as Flying Lotus, The Black Keys, Tame Impala, Mavis Staples and Justin Townes Earle. Great stuff.

What may or may not have started out as a bit of a joke between some rather excellent musicians ("hey, here's an obvious idea, can't believe it hasn't been done before, let's start a blue-grass country band that sings about horror n' stuff") has taken a life of it's own, much like the mummies and zombies that populate their songs... ahem. Here's "Mummy", Graveyard Train's latest single, out through Spooky Records and MGM.

Also, honorable mention needs to go to the other 100% independent album to make the list, the  brilliant  "On A Clear Day" by JAMIE OEHLERS & PAUL GRABOWSKY.

Australian singer-songwriter Amber Lawrence [pictured right] is nominated for Best Country Album at this year's Jagermeister Independent Music Awards for her LP When It All Comes Down. The music video for her track 'Women Like Me' is embedded above.

Ahead of this year's awards night - more details on that at the bottom of this post - we briefly caught up with Amber to talk independent music.

What's your favourite musical moment of 2010 so far, Amber? 

I'm still waiting... the Caboolture Urban Muster was good fun though!

Favourite song of 2010 so far by an Australian artist? 

Ami Williamson’s re-recording of her Dad’s (John Williamson) song ‘Truckie's Wife’ - she’s made a trucking song sound so so beautiful.

What does being independent mean to you?

It means working very hard, spending lots of money and believing in yourself!

What's the biggest challenge you face as an independent musician?

Getting mainstream recognition and finding the money to do big things!

Conversely, what's the best thing about being independent? 

Being able to make decisions and action them straight away – do what you want when you want!

As a musician, what would you ultimately like to be known and remembered for? 

Writing songs that make people happy and make them feel something! And putting on a good live show.

What's the best thing about being associated with AIR and the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards? 

These days so many artists are independent, so it really is a great thing to be nominated for the AIR awards. They have cred!

Finally, who do you think is going to win your category this year? Who deserves runner-up? 

I think Kasey Chambers will win...and well, hopefully I’m runner up, cause that’s still pretty cool!

Thanks for your time, Amber! For more info on Amber Lawrence, visit her website.

The 5th Annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are held at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne on Friday October 1st, 2010, featuring live performances from British India, Cloud Control, The Amity Affliction, M-Phazes, Sally Seltmann and Joe Chindamo. Doors open at 8:00pm; tickets are $29+BF and available now via Ticketmaster.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com.au/

Australian country group Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and The Little Hillbillies [pictured right] are nominated for Best Country Album at this year's Jagermeister Independent Music Awards for their debut album, Lost Music Blues - music video for the title track embedded above.

Ahead of this year's awards night - more details on that at the bottom of this post - we briefly caught up with Poppa Bill (better known as Bill Chambers, Kasey's father) to talk independent music.

What's your favourite musical moment of 2010 so far, Bill?

Playing around the campfire with Rohan Powell and Jo Ahern on The Great Australian Cattle Drive. It took me back to where i started singing with Nash and Kasey around the campfire years ago.

Favourite song of 2010 so far by an Australian artist? 

'The Great Divide' by Kim Cheshire, from the album Dead Man's Shoes. The song is great, and so is the production.

What does being independent mean to you? 

It means having the freedom to perform and record the music you want. 

What's the biggest challenge you face as an independent musician? 

Getting the music heard for music's sake, rather than who you are associated with.

Conversely, what's the best thing about being independent? 

I'm my own boss.

As a musician, what would you ultimately like to be known and remembered for? 

Having songs that meant something to the listeners.

Favourite music video of all time by an Australian artist? 

'To Her Door' by Paul Kelly, because it tells a story and Paul Kelly is great. [embedded below]

What's the best thing about being associated with AIR and the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards? 

It's helping Independent artists get recognition.

Finally, which Australian independent act deserves to be the 'next big thing'? 

Kevin Bennett.

Thanks for your time, Bill! For more info on The Little Hillbillies, visit their website.

The 5th Annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are held at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne on Friday October 1st, 2010, featuring live performances from British India, Cloud Control, The Amity Affliction, M-Phazes, Sally Seltmann and Joe Chindamo. Doors open at 8:00pm; tickets are $29+BF and available now via Ticketmaster.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com.au/