Troy Cassar-Daley - Born to survive
Troy Cassar-Daley has earned the reputation as one of Australia’s finest country performers, honing his craft over the course of 20 years and 6 studio albums. This stellar career is recognised by the release of “Born To Survive”, the Best Of Troy Cassar-Daley through EMI Music.
“Born To Survive” is a luminous collection of 20 songs, tracing Troy’s career from his first major label recording “Dream Out Loud”, to his new single “Everything Is Going To Be Alright”. Incredibly, 13 of these 20 songs reached #1 on the Country Tracks Top 30, and many of them secured accolades from ARIA Awards to Golden Guitars.
Troy’s spectacular duets are recognized on “Born To Survive” – including those from Jimmy Barnes (Bird On A Wire) to Paul Kelly (I Wish I Was A Train) and Slim Dusty (The Biggest Disappointment), amongst others.
Troy Cassar-Daley has an incredible personal story, one that has borne itself through his songs. As a child of an Aboriginal mother and Maltese father, his childhood is the stuff of legend – growing up in Grafton, running away to live with his father in Surry Hills, teaching himself to play guitar, his mother’s work on the railways, his beloved grandmother … all are factors in the rich tapestry of his life which heavily influenced his songwriting. Cassar-Daley has grown from these humble begins to become one of Australia’s most loved and recognizable performers – culminating in his recent star turns on “Standing On The Outside” – The Songs Of Cold Chisel” performing “Bow River”, and TV series “It Takes Two”.
With “Born To Survive” comes a new single “Everything Is Going To Be Alright”, a song co-written with Don Walker and featuring vocals from Paulini, Dave Gleeson, David Campbell and Wendy Matthews, Troy’s peers from “It Takes Two”.
Troy himself sums up the release of his Best Of most succinctly, saying “Six albums down the line, you should be able to put together a compilation that gathers the best stuff you’ve put down and have it be pretty good.” Pretty good indeed!
Luke Austen - Bass
Music has always played a major role in Luke’s life. Since learning guitar at age 6, his father encouraged him to join his family band and at just 12yrs old he was no stranger to strumming country music for fun and a bit of pocket money on the side. In 1999 Luke graduated from the ‘College of Country Music’ in Tamworth and in 2000 was a Golden Guitar nominee for instrumental of the year. That same year Luke was introduced to Legendary Bush-Balladeer Brian Young. At just 18, Brian took Luke under his wing and right around our beautiful country. The next 4yrs would lead to consecutive touring (by road) around Australia with Brian Young and playing local gigs around his hometown of Grafton NSW.
It was clear to anyone who knew Luke that Country Music would become his life, his Passion, His Dream…
Now 26 yrs old, Luke lives in Brisbane QLD and has been a full-time member of Troy Cassar-Daley’s Touring Band since his last tour with Brian Young in 2004.
Luke’s influences include Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, Randy travis, The Eagles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tommy Emmanuel, Troy Cassar-Daley, Robben Ford, Slim Dusty, George jones, Waylon Jennings, Keith Urban, The Beatles..
Vaughan Jones - Keys
Introducing Vaughan Jones ,multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, specializing in contemporary piano and keyboards and currently writing, recording and touring with some of Australia's top artists.
Born in Queensland, raised in Texas ,and now back home again, such is the story of the past 35 years of this talented musician.
Son of renowned jazz guitarist and multi award winning vocalist, Julian Jones, Vaughan migrated to the USA with family in 1983 at the age of 12. Guitar was a natural progression, with a pickin Dad, but Vaughan soon stumbled across a piano whilst out on the road, and by the age of 18, the guitar was sitting in it's stand next to the piano more and more often. Touring for the next 5 years with major label artists across North America, Vaughan became a highly demanded and well respected keyboardist in his adopted home of Austin, Texas .
In 1999, it was time to move home to Brisbane, as that was always in the plan. Since returning, Vaughan has played with some of Australia's finest artists as well as many visiting internationals, and has recorded on dozens of original projects whilst honing his songwriting and continually adding to his growing catalogue of over 120 original compositions.
Early in 2007, Vaughan toured exclusively with young Australian Idol sensation, Jessica Mauboy, alongside his commitments to Sony recording artist, Adam Harvey.
In June this year, Vaughan found his permanent spot as keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist for multi ARIA and Golden Guitar winner, Troy Cassar-Daley, and continues to tour heavily , and has made several national live television appearances such as Sunrise, The Morning Show, and Bert Newton, as well as the filming of 2 videos for Troy's last 2 singles.
The future looks bright for this talented young man, Vaughan Jones, as he continues to feature in many facets of the contemporary music inustry.
Damien Whitney - Drums
Damien Whitney at 26 years of age is a well-seasoned musician & respected drummer, despite his age. Born in Lismore NSW and raised in Grafton NSW, Damien experienced life as a musician from a very early age. At 4 years of age and when his foot could reach the kick pedals, he started playing drums. Damien accomplished his first paid gig at age 9, with his father (also very accomplished and respected musician) Paul Whitney along side him on the stage. From this early age, Damien’s music continued to progress and saw him explore and experience playing many different genres of music in varying scenes. Playing drums in Jazz bands & orchestra to rock, blues and country bands, he possessed an exceptional ear for music, regardless of the style.
After completing contemporary music studies at Technical College, Damien’s networking doors had opened and gigging locally (Grafton & North Coast) meant meeting a lot of other up and coming musicians and the odd established artist.
In 2003, Damien embarked on a tour of Australia like no other. As the Drummer in the Brian Young Show, Damien travelled the outback of Australia extensively to do gigs in places he didn’t know existed. This tour was the grounding and development that Damien required for what was to come next. As a result of this exposure, Damien was asked by Troy Cassar-Daley to come and work with him.
Now a full-time member of Troy’s band, Damien has also had the opportunity to work, share the stage and support Australian artists such as Sara Storer, Jimmy Barnes, Shane Howard, Kasey & Bill Chambers, Kevin Bennett, Paul Kelly, Wendy Matthews, Lee Kernaghan, The Screaming Jets, The Angels, Bobby Cash, to name just a few.
Damien’s influences are like most musicians, extensive and far to many to list. However, some drummers and bands include; Steve Gadd (The Gaddfather), Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band), JJ Johnson (John Mayer), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Chris Mc Hugh (Keith Urban & Nashville Session Player), Eddie Bayers (Nashville’s Hell Man!), Jose Pasillas 2 (Incubus), The Flood, Brad Paisley, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ryan Adams, Drew Womack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Little Feat.
When Damien is not on stage with Troy, you can find him either on stage with his local Sunshine Coast band ‘The Vibe’ (Benjy & Soni Pokock) or fishing for Bass somewhere. With the musical background and experiences Damien has had in his life, not to mention his talented and respected playing, he is sure to be a promising and successful musician for years to come.
