Kym Warner

Kym Warner
Kym Warner in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Kym Warner
Genres	Bluegrass, Country music
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Record Producer
Instruments	Vocals, mandolin
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	Sugar Hill
Associated acts	The Greencards

Kym Warner is an Australian musician and record producer, and a founding member of the American bluegrass band The Greencards. Warner was an aspiring bluegrass musician (which was unusual in Australia at the time) after inheriting the music from his father, an early Australian bluegrass pioneer. The winner of the Australian National Bluegrass Mandolin Championship for four consecutive years, Warner had toured with country music artists Gina Jeffreys, and with Young again in Kasey Chambers's band. Before the band formed, Carol Young and Warner both knew each other, and according to Warner had been drawn to bluegrass and American roots music through an appreciation of George Jones and Merle Haggard. After meeting, Warner and Young made the decision to emigrate to America, to pursue musical careers there. Later, Young and Warner were living together in Sydney, and trying to find work in the moribund Australian bluegrass scene. After leaving Australia, they spent time in West Texas before relocating to Austin.

Warner and Young met the other founding member of The Greencards, Eamon McLoughlin, at a recording session. Warner was producing an album for the recording artist Bill Atkins, and found they needed a fiddle player, which led to the recruitment of McLoughlin. Initially the immigrants got to know one another through their mutual love of Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Fawlty Towers. They began to have jam sessions afterwards, and according to Warner, there was evident chemistry between the trio, which led to their writing songs together. They named themselves The Greencards, for the fact that all three band members carried United States green cards. They eventually began to perform shows locally in Austin to finance the recording of what would become their debut album, 2003's Movin' On. In the process, they became one of the most popular musical groups in Austin. Representative of an emerging "newgrass" movement, The Greencards' acoustic sound was said to incorporate eclectic influences from Irish traditional, European gypsy, and Latin American sources.