FOR an antidote to the Grammys’ pop overload, rootsy female singer/ songwriters Kasey Chambers and Kathleen Edwards are here this week.
The two sing as if they were raised in the shadow of the Grand Ole Opry, but they grew up far from Nashville. Still, the ghost of Hank Williams haunted them.
Australia’s Chambers was part of a musical family which roamed Oz’s Outback. As a youngster, her father played the timeless tracks of greats such as Kitty Wells and Jimmie Rodgers.
Chambers, whose tunes conjur country songtresses such as Lucinda Williams, performs at Irving Plaza (17 Irving Place; [212] 777-6800) tomorrow.
Edwards, the daughter of a diplomat, was born in Canada and raised partly in Korea and Switzerland.
The 24-year-old artist has the odd ability to echo Neil Young in his “After the Gold Rush” days, particularly in “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like,” from her debut disc, “Failer.”
Her album drips with pedal steel guitar, evocative lyrics and expressive melodies. It’s a lot country, but a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, too. Edwards appears at Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette St.; [212] 539-8770) Friday at 9 p.m.
TONIGHT: Toronto’s the Hidden Cameras debut effort, “The Smell of Our Own,” isn’t due until April, but their shows are already legendary – a bacchanal with a dozen musicians and male go-go dancers.
Frontman Joel Gibb founded the band to create gay church folk music, ” ‘gay’ meaning happy,” he says.
The band performs its orchestral folk pop at the Fez (380 Lafayette St.; [212] 533-2680) tonight and the Mercury Lounge (217 E. Houston St.; [212] 260-4700) tomorrow.
TOMORROW: Sahara Hot Nights, the Swedish Nirvana-inspired, all-girl rock guitar band, headlines at the Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancey St.; [212] 533-2111). Openers include the Washdown and Brit art-punks Ikara Colt.
On Friday the Swedes and the two bands head to Maxwell’s (1039 Washington St., Hoboken; [201] 798-0406), where theyll be joined by Detroit’s Gore Gore Girls, who make spunky ’60s garage rock on the edge of the classic Motown girl group sound.
On Saturday, the Gore Gore Girls open for Boston rock-punk legends the Real Kids at Park Slope’s Southpaw (125 Fifth Ave.; [718] 230-0236). Also on that bill: the Little Killers and the Hecklers.
FRIDAY: “Volunteers,” the lush late-night mood-setting CD from the Blood Group,opens with the sweet vocals of Miss Jessica B accompanied by bass guitar, but descends into acoustic atmospherics created by strings, electronic enhancements, organs and even mellotrons. The group appears at Joe’s Pub at 7 p.m.