Amber Lawrence

Amber Louise Lawrence was born on 19 April 1978.[1][2][3] She grew up in the Sydney suburb of Mascot with two siblings.[4][5] Her father, Brian Lawrence, was a surf lifesaver at South Maroubra club until he had a stroke at age 40.[6][7] When a toddler, Lawrence wandered onto the busy road in front of her home and was saved from serious injury by a neighbour.[8][9] She attended Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Sydney where she completed the Higher School Certificate in 1995, including a place in the Order of Merit List.[10] She excelled at athletics and tried out for the state team.[5]

After graduating from the University of New South Wales with a commerce degree and working for six years as a chartered accountant for Qantas, Lawrence became a full-time musician.[11][12] She had started guitar lessons from the age of 22.[4] Brian Lawrence died in September 2008, aged 52, after being diagnosed with leukaemia.[6]

Lawrence met marketer Martin Newman via a dating app in 2016.[13] On Christmas Day 2017, Lawrence and Newman were engaged at Coogee Beach,[14] and in August 2018 the couple had a child.[15] On 2 May 2019 they married in Port Douglas, Queensland.[13][16]

In January 2003, Lawrence started busking in Tamworth ahead of its annual country music festival although she has said that "I had no idea what Tamworth was about."[4] She was still working as an accountant, "It wasn't really a conscious decision for me to become a country singer."[4] Returning in 2004, she entered the Road to Tamworth competition and finished second behind Jessica Mauboy.[4] Also that year she attended the College of Country Music, where she met fellow aspiring country singer Travis Collins.[17] The singer-songwriter was one of nine grand finalists for the Star Maker Quest at the 2005 Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA), but lost to Samantha McClymont.[18] Lawrence independently released her debut four-track extended play, I've Got the Blues, in January 2006.[12][19] It was produced by Rod McCormack and reached the ARIA singles chart top 100.[19]

Lawrence's debut full-length studio album, The Mile, appeared in July 2007 via MRA, which was again produced by McCormack.[12][20] The title track relates to Sam McRae, a "16-year-old jockey" who "died in a racing accident".[6] The album reached No. 13 on the ARIA Country Albums chart.[21] The artist was nominated for "Independent Country Album of the Year" by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association for The Mile.[22] At the 2008 CMAA, she was nominated for "Female Artist of the Year" and "New Talent",[11] and in the following year she was nominated for "Female Artist of the Year", "APRA Song of the Year" and "Video Clip of the Year". She received a nomination for "Country Work of the Year" for The Mile's single, "Good Girls" at the APRA Music Awards of 2009.[23]

Her second studio album, When It All Comes Down, appeared in August 2009. It reached No. 17 on the ARIA Country Albums chart and No. 16 on the related Hitseekers Albums chart.[24] Two of its tracks, "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" and "The Good Men" were in honour of her father, Brian, who had died in the previous year.[6] Susan Jarvis of Capital News observed it was, "at the same time intensely personal and universally relevant. The songs — all Amber originals — are catchy, powerful and full of feeling."[25] In 2010 she won "Female Vocalist of the Year" at the Victorian National Country Music Awards (sponsored by the Whittlesea Country Music Festival),[26] and was nominated for "Best Independent Country Album" at the Independent Country Music Awards (sponsored by the Mildura Country Music Festival).[27] At the 2010 CMAA, When It All Comes Down was nominated for three categories.[28]

Lawrence performing in 2011

The simply named 3, her third studio album, appeared in January 2012 via Core Music/Sony Music Entertainment,[29] which peaked in the ARIA Albums top 50 and reached No. 4 on the Country Albums chart.[30] Its second single, "The Man Across the Street", relates to the experiences of her neighbour, Bill and other Vietnam Veterans.[6][8] On 5 March, 3, was named Album of the Week at 98.9 FM, with their reviewer explaining, "its mixture of upbeat optimism, personal happiness and resilience along with some references to deeper issues including courage in the face of hardship, is another step upward on a sharply-angled career path that has seen [her] delight audiences all over the country."[31] In both 2012 and 2013, Lawrence was again nominated for CMAA's "Female Artist of the Year".[32][33] In 2014, Lawrence was nominated for "Female Artist of the Year" at the Australian Club Entertainment Awards.

The singer-songwriter's fourth studio album, Superheroes, appeared in September 2014. It also reached the ARIA top 50, while debuting at No. 3 on the Country Albums chart.[34] The CD's artwork includes a photo of her parents in their surfing era at Maroubra Beach, where they met.[6] Dave Dawson of Nu Country observes that the album has her, "reeling from a relationship break-up and depression, sings of being her own superhero in the title track, name checking Wonder Woman, Spider Man and Iron Man."[6] In 2015, Lawrence was awarded the CMAA's Golden Guitar trophy for Best Female Artist of the Year,[35] the Australian Bush Laureate Award for Contemporary Song Lyric of the Year[36] and was nominated for Heritage Song of the Year, both for "The Lifesaver".[37] The song details her family's response to Brian's stroke in 1996.[7][38] She was also named CMC Music Video Channel's Female Oz Artist of the Year.[39]

Happy Ever After (September 2016), her sixth studio album, reached the ARIA top 50 and Country Albums No. 6.[40] Sunburnt Country Music's Sophie Hamley noticed that "[it's] full of well-crafted country pop that will delight ... she writes and sings from an authentic place, and she is unabashed about showing sentiment and emotion. You get the sense that in conversation she wouldn’t be one for small talk – she would want to get right to the heart of a matter."[41]

Her collaboration with fellow Australian country artist Travis Collins, the seven-track Our Backyard EP, appeared in August 2017.[12] It peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Albums chart and No. 2 on the Country Albums chart.[42] The title track was co-written by Lawrence, Collins and Matt Scullion.[3] The EP was produced by Matt Fell.[17] Jeremy Sollars of Southern Free Times found it, "Brimming with classics that tell quintessentially Australian stories, the music and lyrics ... reflect the true Australian experience across life, love and friendship."[17] At the 2018 CMAA she won three Golden Guitar trophies: Vocal Collaboration of the Year (shared with Collins), Song of the Year (shared with Collins and Scullion) and Single of the Year (shared with Collins), all for "Our Backyard".[35]

Lawrence's highest charting album, Spark (June 2019), peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Albums chart and No.  1 on the Country Albums chart.[43] It was produced by Stuart Stuart.[44]

The country artist has also released three children's albums, The Kid's Gone Country (May 2016), Aussie Aussie Christmas (November 2017)[45] and The Kid's Gone Country II (November 2020).

She has been nominated in the CMC Top 20 Artists of the Year five years running, and is the winner of six Southern Star Independent Awards, including Independent Album of the Year (twice), APRA/AMCOS Independent Country Music Single of the Year (twice), Independent Artist of the Year, Independent Female Artist of the Year (twice). Fourteen of her singles have either reached #1, top 5 or top 10 on the Country Music Radio Chart and CMC Video Charts. Lawrence performs over 100 shows per year, including an extensive schools mentor performance programme, having already notched up over 200 performances around the country for kids. Lawrence has performed and is featured at many of the leading country music festivals, such as Gympie Muster, CMC Rocks The Hunter and QLD, Mildura Music Festival, Deni Ute Muster, Caboolture, Mudbulls & Music, Derwent Valley Muster,[46] etc. She has toured with the likes of Lee Kernaghan, The McClymonts,[11] Adam Harvey, Melinda Schneider, Sunny Cowgirls, and Kaylens Rain, and event tours such as Chic Frontier.[11]

Over the years, she has also been a supporter of Australia's military, performing for the troops both abroad and at various events around the country. In 2007, she played in East Timor,[47] and in 2013, she was in the Sinai, entertaining Australian and coalition forces.[48] Her song "Man Across The Street" is about a returned veteran; it resulted in her 2013 Golden Guitar nomination for "Best Female Artist of the Year".[33]

After a chance encounter at an airport in 2017, a unique opportunity presented itself when Lawrence was invited to perform in New York for an event commemorating the 75th Anniversary Battle of the Coral Sea with the American Association. The audience was made up of surviving war veterans, then-Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, then-President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump among others. Lawrence performed the poignant "100 Year Handshake" which she wrote especially for the event with her now-husband Martin Newman.

In 2019, Lawrence was invited to perform as part of Vision Australia's Carols by Candlelight, broadcast live annually on Christmas Eve from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia.

Lawrence is also a mentor to young artists in the Australian Music industry and has provided free entertainment and mentoring in over 300 schools Australia wide, as part of her ‘Be Your Own Superhero’ program.

Lawrence is the face of iHeartRadio Australia Country, hosting the show each week, a guest presenter on Channel 9's ‘Getaway’ and was the co-host of the CMC Music Awards in 2017 – live on Foxtel, and the 2019 Golden Guitar Awards. Lawrence was also extremely honored to receive an Australia Day Bronze Achievement Award for her contribution to War Veterans and their families, via her work with RSL DefenceCare.

From February 2022 to 23 April 2022, Lawrence hosted ABC Radio's Saturday Night Country national show, temporarily replacing regular host Beccy Cole.

• Official website
• Amber Lawrence Interview September 2013 on Ben Sorensen's REAL Country