Amber Lawrence

Amber Louise Lawrence (born 19 April 1978) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter-guitarist.

Amber Louise Lawrence was born on 19 April 1978.

She grew up in the Sydney suburb of Mascot with two siblings.

Her father, Brian Lawrence, was a surf lifesaver at South Maroubra club until he had a stroke at age 40.

When a toddler, Lawrence wandered onto the busy road in front of her home and was saved from serious injury by a neighbour.

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.

She excelled at athletics and tried out for the state team.

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.

She had started guitar lessons from the age of 22.

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."

She was still working as an accountant, "It wasn't really a conscious decision for me to become a country singer."

Returning in 2004, she entered the Road to Tamworth competition and finished second behind Jessica Mauboy.

Also that year she attended the College of Country Music, where she met fellow aspiring country singer Travis Collins.

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.

In January 2006, Lawrence independently released her debut four-track extended play, I've Got the Blues.

It was produced by Matt Fell and reached the ARIA singles chart top 100.

In 2007, she played in East Timor, and in 2013, she was in the Sinai, entertaining Australian and coalition forces.

Lawrence's debut studio album, The Mile, was released in July 2007 and was again produced by McCormack.

The title track relates to Sam McRae, a "16-year-old jockey" who "died in a racing accident".

The album reached No. 13 on the ARIA Country Albums chart.

Brian Lawrence died in September 2008, aged 52, after being diagnosed with leukaemia.

At the 2008 CMAA, she was nominated for "Female Artist of the Year" and "New Talent", 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.

At the AIR Awards of 2009, The Mile was nominated for Independent Country Album of the Year.

Five of her studio albums have reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50, 3 (2012), Superheroes (2014), Happy Ever After (2016), Our Backyard (2017) and Spark (2019, No. 13).

At the Country Music Awards of Australia Lawrence has won six Golden Guitar trophies.

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, etc. She has toured with the likes of Lee Kernaghan, The McClymonts, Adam Harvey, Melinda Schneider, Sunny Cowgirls, and Kaylens Rain, and event tours such as Chic Frontier.

Over the years, Lawrence has also been a supporter of Australia's military, performing for the troops both abroad and at various events around the country.

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".

Lawrence met marketer Martin Newman via a dating app in 2016.

On Christmas Day 2017, Lawrence and Newman were engaged at Coogee Beach, and in August 2018 the couple had a child.

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.

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.

On 2 May 2019 they married in Port Douglas, Queensland.

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.