AMBER LAWRENCE - Anger, Highlights & The President
Written by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Monday 1st August 2022
Talking Golden Guitars & Trump with Amber
Seven albums and five Golden Guitars into her career, Australian country singer Amber Lawrence has a lot to be happy about, but as the lyrical content of new offering Living for the Highlights indicates, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Having just played the album launch show, Amber spoke to SENSE from her home in Sydney about eyeballing the president and where she keeps her Golden Guitars …
The album has been out for a few days now. What have the reactions been like?
It’s been amazing, actually. I know that’s what every artist says [laughs] but this is my seventh album, and it’s probably been the best reaction in terms of people just really loving it. They’re almost surprised at how much they love it, which is really great, because it’s an album where I pushed myself a little bit harder in terms of not having any boundaries about themes, or not thinking “I need a song about this, I need a song about that.” I just wrote what was happening at the time, and I wrote it really raw and honestly, and really melodically, really hook-y, but if you look beyond that, and into the lyrics and what the songs are about, it takes you on a journey, and I think that’s what people are getting. They’re getting through the twelve tracks and saying, “I want to hear it again.” I love that. I’m just really excited that the feedback so far has been really good.
Of all the songs on the album, which were the easiest to write? I can hazard a guess as to which one would’ve been the hardest…
Do you mean in terms of “emotionally easy”, or as a songwriter – the time it took, and that kind of thing? I guess they’re two different things. Angry was really easy to write. It just flew out like a diary entry. It’s not about me, but it is about someone I witnessed firsthand have to get angry and have to get strength to become happy. But, of course, the content of that song is pretty tough and pretty emotional and pretty powerful, so yeah, some of the songs that were hard to sing or hard to put on the album were actually really easy to write because of the fact that they came from really real places.
You’ve said that it wasn’t written about you, but is Angry advice that you wish you’d got at some point?
I’ve definitely had moments where I needed the advice in that song, for sure. I certainly am not in a position now, thankfully, where I need to take that advice, but yes, as a younger girl, maybe ten years ago, I would’ve loved to have had the strength to get angry. Yeah … there are still opportunities in life where, as women, we still need to stand up for ourselves and know our worth, so I’m sure there will be a time where I do need to draw on that song again.
I’ve been on your Instagram. You recently [celebrated] three years married?
Yeah, I am!
Congratulations mate. You guys look very happy.
[Laughs] Thank you! We are.
On the subject of that, and I mean this in as broad a question as you would like to take it, what are you most grateful for these days?
I’m grateful for contentment, you know? I am in a happy relationship, I do have a beautiful child … yes, we’ve been through a lot of grief, but there’s a level of acceptance. Career-wise, I know that I couldn’t have done anymore, you know? It’s a nice feeling to know that. It sounds strange to say “it’s starting to pay off” … [Laughs] It should be paying off! I’ve been doing it for a while! But just in terms of now being able to tour my own shows as a headliner, and people coming to those shows, things like that. It’s just a really nice feeling of, “Okay, I’m happy in the place I am at the moment.”
You’ve won a couple of Golden Guitars. I’ve always wanted to ask this – where do you keep them?
[Laughs] Yeah, some people are lucky. They have music rooms and studios and pool rooms. I don’t have that. We live in a beautiful part of the world, but as a result, we don’t have a huge house, so my Golden Guitars, which were won before I had a child, they were kept in his room before he existed, and they are still there. [Laughs] So they’re on his bookshelf! That’s the only spot I’ve got for them! I think there will come a time where we either need to upgrade our living arrangements, or perhaps they’re going to have to go in the cupboard, because it’s really not fair to him that he has to look at my Golden Guitars! [Laughs]
That has to be the most mum thing ever … [Laughs]
[Laughs] It sounds horrible! … I know. I moved them recently because I had to do a shoot, and they wanted the Golden Guitars in the shot. I moved them, and my son said, “Hey! Where are you going with my awards!” [Laughs]
What’s it like to perform in front of the president?
Yeah, that was amazing. I mean, that’s a bucket list moment that you didn’t even know you had on your bucket list! It was incredible. We were part of the whole machine on that night, you know? High security, and Secret Service … Our table, being the musicians, we were actually right next to the stage, so we could almost touch [Obama] when he did his speech, and we could see the autocue, and just see everything that was happening. At any moment, it felt like the Secret Service could come up to you and say, “You’re not singing. It’s been canned. Everyone’s leaving.” It was just like that. And finally, when I did get to perform, I was nervous, but it was also a moment where I thought, “It’s not a time to be nervous, singing in front of the world’s media, the president, the Australian prime minister.” It was an incredible moment. I was proud of the song, and I was really proud of myself for a decision to believe in myself many, many years ago as a songwriter and an artist had really come to that point. It was amazing.
I imagine when you’re performing in front of someone like that, and you’ve got the truest definition of VIP guest in the house … if he looks down to check his phone, you must be like, “Shit, we’re losing him!” [Laughs]
[Laughs] I know! I’ve done many functions where there are very important people – corporate events, all of that. Sometimes they just talk over you, which is horrible. I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, and it didn’t. It was silent – a pin could’ve dropped. The president looked at me the whole time, and I kind of looked back at him at one point to really eyeball him just to say that I did, you know? It was a really proud moment, and it’s a good feeling when the audience actually listens to a song that has a meaning … It was incredible.
Amber Lawrence is touring nationally this year. Get tickets here. Living for the Highlights is out now.