Karma County are an Australian country, pop music trio which formed in 1995. They comprise Stuart Eadie on drums, percussion and backing vocals; Michael Galeazzi on bass guitar,

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and backing vocals; and Brendan Gallagher on lead guitar, lead vocals, keyboards,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, percussion, drums and bass guitar. They have released five studio albums, ''Last Stop Heavenly Heights'' (1996), ''Olana'' (March 1998), '' Into the Land of Promise'' (September 1999), ''Happy Birthday Dear Customer'' (November 2001) and ''Pacifico'' (August 2004). At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2000 The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Presenters distributed 28 awards with the big win ...

, '' Into the Land of Promise'' won the

ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Reco ...

History

1995–1998: ''Last Stop Heavenly Heights'' and ''Olana''

Karma County were formed in 1995 in Sydney as a country, pop music project by Brendan Gallagher on lead guitar and lead vocals (ex-the Leisuremasters). Gallagher, as Karma County, released a single, "She Never Loved You", which was co-written by him with the Leisuremasters bass guitarist, Brett Jackson. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:' That group had also included Damon Davies on guitar and vocals; and Liz Smith on drums. They performed, "a mix of American-influenced roots music (New Orleans R&B, Tex Mex, Cajun, jazz) and British-styled pop." The Leisuremasters released two extended plays, ''Unhappy Hour'' (December 1992) and ''Water Moves'' (May 1994), before disbanding. By October 1995 Gallagher was joined in Karma County by Stuart Eadie on drums, percussion and backing vocals (ex-

the Clouds ''The Clouds'' ( grc, Νεφέλαι ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as ...

Died Pretty Died Pretty, sometimes The Died Pretty, is an Australian alternative rock band founded by mainstays Ron Peno (lead singer) and Brett Myers (lead guitarist and backing vocalist) in Sydney in 1983. The band was briefly called Final Solution. The ...

the Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the l ...

) and Michael Galeazzi on double bass, bass guitar and backing vocals (ex-Brookes).Related entries at the

Australian Rock Database The Australian Rock Database was a website with a searchable online database that listed details of Australian rock music artists, albums, bands, producers and record labels. It was established in 2000 by Swedish national Magnus Holmgren, who had ...

: * Karma County: * The Clouds: * Died Pretty: * The Whitlams: * Jimmy Little: Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, described their sound, "a diverse musical palette, taking in country-tinged Oz rock, pop, blues and jazz with strong, varied songs, crooning vocals, lap steel, and unusual instrumentation (such as bouzouki, violin and cello)." The group's debut album, ''Last Stop Heavenly Heights'' was released in 1996 with the associated single, "Postcard". The album was co-produced by Gallagher with Sean Kennedy, Keith Walker, Jeremy Allom and

Phil McKellar Phillip Jeffrey McKellar is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. At the ARIA Music Awards McKellar has received nine nominations in the categories of either Producer of the Year or Engineer of the Year. These include You Am I's "Goo ...

. Iain Clacher of ''Green Left Weekly'' observed, "a striking debut CD for Sydney band Karma County, a strange bar-band which seems to inhabit its very own original space in Australian music...

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

appeal revolves around its ability masterfully to grip hold of disparate styles...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

a kind of soft-edged mellow tinge to

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

which helps blend together all the sources and inspirations into a seamless and gratifying whole." ''Olana'', their second album, was released in March 1998 with co-production by Allom, Gallagher and Kennedy, as well as Don Bartley, Adrian Grigorieff and Dave Rashleigh. It was followed in the next month by the related single, "Told You So". McFarlane felt, " othwere stronger efforts." They supported gigs by international act,

Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and received an award f ...

, in April on an Australia tour. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1998 The 12th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 20 October 1998 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. Presenters, including Democrats deputy l ...

''Olana'' was nominated for the

ARIA Award for Best Independent Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Independent Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording ...

. The album provided two more singles, "Good Things Come to Me Now" and "This Is not the Real World". Bruce Reid had joined as an auxiliary member on

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

, in July, for performances and recording sessions.

1999–2000: ''Into the Land of Promise''

In early 1999 the band signed a deal with Melody Management and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. In September of that year their third album, '' Into the Land of Promise'', was released via

Warner Music Australasia Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Rec ...

. It was produced and recorded by Gallagher with Tim Whitten. McFarlane noticed it was, "a subtle blend of roots music, soulful ballads and country-flavoured pop, the album was the band's strongest release to date." It yielded two singles "Secret Country", featuring

Jimmy Little James Oswald Little, AO (1 March 19372 April 2012) was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher, who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales. Little started his profess ...

and "The Men Who Ran Away from the Circus". Both gained airplay on national youth radio,

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. At the

, ''Into the Land of Promise'', won the

. Gallagher had also produced the 1999 winner, Jimmy Little's album, ''

'', which had been recorded with Karma County as the studio band. In mid-2000 Karma County toured Australia from

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

to Albany before undertaking a seven-week tour of continental Europe, United Kingdom and North America, from July. Performances included appearances at

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, ...

festivals in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

; opening the Australian Film Festival in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and guesting, with Jimmy Little, at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.

2001–2000: ''Happy Birthday Dear Customer'' and ''Pacifico''

In 2001 the band completed a four state tour promoting, "Where Could I Go but Home", the lead single ahead of their fourth album, ''Happy Birthday Dear Customer'' which was released in November 2001. It was produced by Whitten and released via

Shock Records Shock Records (now part of Shock Entertainment) is an Australian independent record label. History The three founding members had all previously worked in music retail or distribution: Williams for a Melbourne distribution company called "Musi ...

. The album's title refers to a birthday cake for Eadie at a Japanese food restaurant in Toronto – where the staff did not know his name. After a tour with auxiliary members, Lindsay Page on piano and Cameron Bruce on keyboards, they formed the backing band for a

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

Tribute show, ''Tapestry'', using vocals by Jenny Morris,

Vika & Linda Vika and Linda, also known as Vika and Linda Bull, are an Australian vocal duo consisting of Vika Susan Bull (born 1966) and her younger sister, Linda Rose Bull . They came to prominence after singing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The ...

Bull, and

Jodi Phillis Jodi Christine Phillis (born 11 April 1965 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist. She spent her childhood in California, and moved back to Sydney, Australia to begin school. She quit school at 15, then spent eight ...

. With Galeazzi as

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

, the show played theatres in state capital cities, during September 2001. Karma County then toured with auxiliary members Reid and Bruce, adding Lachlan Doley on keyboards, into early 2002. Subsequently they resumed working as a trio. In August 2004 Karma County released their fifth studio album, ''Pacifico'', including the track, "Dexter & Sinistra" – a song and related music video – recorded with Australian actor,

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...

, providing spoken vocals. Brown summarised Gallagher's instructions, "You want me to say this just like I'm tellin' a story, right?" According to ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''s Michael Dwyer, "Combined with Karma County's coastal spaghetti-western atmosphere and one of Gallagher's cooler guitar riffs, the track became a highlight of the Sydney trio's new album." The album re-united the band with recording engineer, Whitten and mixer, Allom, on the independent label, Littoral Records. They toured Australian capital cities and some regional centres. After 2004 they played occasional festival and corporate shows while recording little new material and mostly re-visiting their back catalogue. In October 2008 they issued a 36-track double compilation album, ''Headland'', through

Vitamin Records Vitamin Records is a Los Angeles-based record label founded in 1999 in music, 1999 as a subsidiary of CMH Records. The label was formerly home to the Vitamin String Quartet, who are best known for performing string quartet tributes to popular rock ...

. It has two new tracks, and uses tracks re-mixed and re-mastered from each of their five studio albums, live tracks and some rarities. They undertook a brief east coast Australian tour. Karma County play occasional gigs – the latest, as from August 2019, was in March 2017 at

Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the S ...

. The original members pursue solo ventures – Galeazzi with the Java Quartet and music education; Eadie with a graphics business and drum duties with various bands in Byron Bay, including occasional Uke Nights; and Gallagher with his solo career and music production.

Members

* Stuart Eadie – drums, percussion, backing vocals, programming * Michael Galeazzi – electric bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals * Brendan Gallagher – lead vocals, guitars (electric, acoustic), keyboards,

, percussion, drums ;Auxiliary members * Bruce Reid –

, guitar * Lindsay Page – piano * Cameron Bruce – keyboards * Lachlan Doley – keyboards

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. The Killjoys won 1 award from 2 nominations. ! , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, ''Olana'' ,

, , , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, ''Into the Land of Promise'' , Best Adult Contemporary Album , , , -

References

External links

* {{Authority control ARIA Award winners Musical groups established in 1995 New South Wales musical groups