The every increasing popularity of country music in Australia has created an industry bursting with new talent but it was moving to Port Fairy that opened the doors for singer/ songwriter Louise Clancey. 2004 is shaping up as being a big year for Louise who is lead vocalist with local country & western band Louie and the Rustlers, Louise has been nominated for the Victorian Country Music Awards for Victorian Female Vocalist of the Year for her original song “Sad Love Song” which she describes as “very poignant and a very complete song musically and lyrically.” “I read about my nomination in the January edition of Capitol News” she said and is very excited to be nominated along with names like “Donna Fisk, Marcie Jones, Merelyn Carter, Nattasha Crestani and me.” But before Louise attends the awards at the Whittlesea Country Music Festival, Louie and the Rustlers will perform for the third consecutive year at the Tamworth Music Festival. “I have been singing from the age of 10 and right through school did musical theatre in Huntly, New Zealand” she said. “Mum and Dad loved country music” and she grew up listening to the Judds and Johnny Cash. “I realised I had a powerful voice when I was about 12” and always wanted to be a country & western singer. “It was a dream and an ambition” she said. Louise explains that when she finished school she stopped singing for 10 years as she was too shy and lacking in self confidence. Her parents moved to Perth and eventually Louise followed in 1995. “I went to work in the mines in Port Headland as a trades assistant with P&O Catering and Services. I wrote non conformance reports for the construction sites and drove around in four wheel drives wearing King Gee clothing and a hard hat” she said. “I’ve still got the hard hat” laughs Louise and tells the story that the woman who previously had held her position had looked much like her and was also called Louise. Obviously enjoying her new lifestyle Louise met and married Andrew Clancey, originally from Warrnambool, and following the birth of their son Noah moved to the other side of Australia. “I met Andrew on the mine site where he was working as a chef “ said Louise. “We bought Portofi no’s over the phone and moved to Port Fairy.” “Opportunities didn’t emerge until I moved to Port Fairy” and added that this area is incredibly nurturing and encouraging for singers and musicians and the venues in the Port Fairy and Warrnambool pubs and restaurants are very supportive of local bands. “Port Fairy is great and a fantastic place to rear a child” said Louise. Once settled in Port Fairy she moved away from country music and started singing at Port Fairy’s Beken restaurant at nights and performed in the Warrnambool Theatre Company’s production of Cabaret. It was then that Louise met John Clegg who played a leading role in Cabaret, had played in bush bands and was at that time playing with a band called Birds on a Wire which was a six piece band with three female vocalists. Together with John Clegg and Russell Goodear they formed a three piece band called Louie and the Rustlers and decided to go to Tamworth. “We needed a country style” said Louise. “We had eight weeks of madly rehearsing and set off with 15 songs.” “It was so easy and felt really good.” “It was spur of the moment and we never saw beyond that” she said. “When we go to Tamworth we stay with Russell’s good friend Kevin Anderson and his wife Anna and their two children.” “Tamworth was an unbelievable - a unique experience. It’s like three Folk Festivals in one” she said. “Blue grass, folk, bush balladeers, bush poetry - it’s not just country and western - its far more diverse.” “Country & western music, ute musters, rodeo’s - for the young people in Queensland and northern New South Wales it is a huge culture” she said. Louise is still fascinated with yodelling and tasselled clothing. “At Tamworth you have to organise your own gigs and Russ does a lot of emailing and organising” she said. The band had four gigs at Tamworth this year and performed at the Long Yard, Tamworth Hotel and a dinner concert at The Vault. It was not long after the first Tamworth that Louie and the Rustlers expanded to a six piece band to include Ricky Holmes, Michael Schack and Tim Clingan. All the guys have been involved with other bands before and points out that Mick also plays with the Dead Livers, Lost in Suburbia, Old Spice and the list goes on. “His bass playing gives you a real country flavour” she said. Louise speaks very highly of the other members of the band. “They are so supportive. John is an amazing person, he and the guys helped me through a difficult personal situation. They were like having five older brothers.” “I had always written lyrics but had never finished a song. I had lyrics and melody in my head and eventually went to John with a song I love - Feel the Same. I sang the song and they stood up and clapped. It was like turning a tap on” she said. “Russ writes as well and has a different style. We now have new originals and more covers, more Dixie Chicks to include harmonies and banjo and are moving towards more bluegrass.” In their relatively short life Louie and the Rustlers have grown not just in numbers but in popularity and have a strong local following that come to their regular gigs. “We recorded our first CD with Tony Peel at Mother Lode and sell the CD’s at gigs, the Belfast Emporium and at Ironbird” she said. A dream the twelve year old Louise had to be a country and western singer has become a reality so has she realised the ambition? “I would like to make a career out of music but am not hideously ambitious. Maybe this nomination will lead to something but I would like to continue with the guys full time” she said then adds ‘If my career stayed where it was she would still be happy.” “My parents gave me the platform. I am driven by female vocalists and I am driven to write and sing. Country and western music is so accepting - you can be yourself. You can be transported by music - if you don’t want to be somewhere music can take you elsewhere” she said. “I would just like to keep it fresh and fun and love playing the regular gigs” at the Stump and Gingernuts in Port Fairy and the Cally in Warrnambool she said.
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