WOMADelaide
Aussie acts make up much of the line-up for this year’s World Of Music Arts & Dance festival, with Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, Baker Boy, King Stingray, A.B. Original, Barkaa and Airileke, among others representing First Nations, at Adelaide's Botanic Park 11th to 14th March.
Emma and the lads are keen for the festivalgoers to hear songs from ‘Crossover’, released last year, with ‘Under These Streets’ being shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize 2021.
Emma explained, “’Under These Streets’ reflected our return to the studio and realigning as a band coming out of some very dark and tormenting times.”
“We literally ran out the door from lockdown and jumped deep into the studio to create this album and we are so honoured that it has been nominated for the Australian Music Prize.”
“This album shows our strength as a musical unit and our relationship and trust with one another.”
Click here for details of Emma Donovan & The Putbacks National * emmadonovan.com
SHADES OF BLAK @ WOMADelaide 2022
Baker Boy, a star at the 2021 AFL Grand Final has gained much recognition over the past 4 years by winning National Indigenous Music Awards, National Live Music Awards and gongs from Australian Independent Record Association, Australasian Performing Right Association, Australian Recording Industry Association, Triple J, MTV Europe Music Awards, Music Victoria, National Dreamtime Awards and the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.
Raised in the remote communities of Milingimbi and Maningrida, Baker Boy proudly raps in English and the Yolngu Matha language, resulting in being crowned Young Australian of the Year 2019 and garnering a 2021 Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the performing arts.
A.B. Original is the collaboration between Yorta Yorta rapper Briggs and Trials of the Ngarrindjeri mob.
Both are award winners with Briggs being Album of the Year recipient at last year’s National Indigenous Music Awards and multi-ARIA Award winning producer, Trials who has recorded Drapht, Illy, Hilltop Hoods, Seth Sentry and Mo’Ju, to name a few.
The duo has a strong social conscience, which is evident in the hard-hitting 2016 track, ‘January 26’.
Barkaa is a feisty Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from Western NSW concerned with expressing the truth and issues impacting First Nations people through her music.
Described by Triple J as “one of the most exciting and powerful rappers in Australian music”, her live shows pack a political punch.
‘Our Lives Matter’ and ‘I Can’t Breathe’, with DOBBY, have become unofficial anthems of Bla(c)k Lives Matter protests.
One of the stolen generations, songwriter and reconciliation activist Kutcha Edwards is a Mutti Mutti man.
Kutcha is a big man with a voice of velvet who started life in Balranald, and has entertained audiences worldwide, in bands such as Blackfire and the Black Arm Band.
His Bidgee blues has continued to enthral through Kutcha’s sincere and insightful lyrics.
Sorong Samarai is Airileke Ingram’s stirring music of resistance; bringing together Australia-based vocalists, log drummers and dancers from PNG and West Papua.
The ensemble’s fusion of traditional Papuan drum beats and chants, with reggae and soaring melodies connect cultures from Sorong, on the North West tip of West Papua and Samarai on the South East tip of PNG.
Percussionist, producer and composer Airileke began his career in the 1990s in Darwin with Wild Water and Drum Drum.
Sonz of Serpent consists of Native Emcee, The Yowie and NativeSon91 from the Adnyamanthanha, Arrernte, Narrunga and Ngarrindjeri nations.
The Adelaide trio’s style combines insightful hip-hop lyrics with funky rhythms provided by the six-piece Tervete Collective for this special show.
Multi-award winning Electric Fields is duo Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross.
In merging traditional culture with electronic music, the styled-up Zaachariaha sings soulful songs in his traditional languages of the Anangu people backed by Michael’s digital soundscapes.
Their WOMADelaide performance features special guests Antara singers and Tjarutja First Nations Dance Collective.
Dhungala Baarka’s songwomen Nancy Bates and Allara, met while members of Archie Roach’s band.
The basis of the duo’s music is the Songlines folklore of the Dhungala (Yorta Yorta) and Baarka (Barkindji) rivers, also known as the Murray-Darling.
With guests Gunditji-Mara man, musician and language revivalist Corey Theatre and Latin Grammy Award winning musician Daniel J Marquez, the woman blend gripping stories with instrumentation of acoustic and electric guitars, double bass, looped electronica.
Australian Art Orchestra presents Hand to Earth, a mostly improvised collaboration that brings together musicians, David Yipininy Wilfred on yidaki (didjeridu), trumpeter and composer Peter Knight, and Aviva Endean on clarinet
The Australian Art Orchestra directed by pianist, Paul Grabowsky has a long history of collaboration with Aboriginal artists, including Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach
“Hand to Earth pushes the boundaries of musical forms against a backdrop by, Yolngu songman Daniel Wilfred and Korean jazz vocalist Sunny Kim who weave their voices into a minimalist soundscape, singing of timeless things; from the stars, to fire to the cooling rain.”
From across the Tasman come funksters L.A.B and multi-genre musician Troy Kingi.
L.A.B have been blowing audiences away with energetic live gigs, a mix up of reggae, funk, electronica, blues and rock.
Singer Joel Shadbolt with Miharo Gregory, Ara Adams-Tamatea and brothers Stu and Brad Kora have had an exceptional rise in Aotearoa with their four certified gold and platinum albums.
In 2020 L.A.B won four Waiata Māori Music Awards and two Aotearoa Music Awards.
Troy Kingi is an actor, mentor, songwriter and multi award winning, multi-genre musician. An eclectic musician, Troy (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is Aotearoa’s pioneer of innovation, who is presently on a mission to release ten albums in ten genres over ten years.
The WOMADelaide audience will be entertained by Troy’s set of power roots-reggae and funk drawn from his acclaimed albums, Holy Colony Burning Acres and The Ghost of Freddie Cesar.
Karen Lee Andrews’ Polynesian heritage underpins her Oceanic blues, combined with soul and gospel music.
Karen’s 2018 debut EP ‘Far from Paradise’, plus constant East Coast touring with her own band and opening for artists such as Jimmy Barnes, has introduced the public to her poignant voice and powerful guitar style.
Te Tangi O Te Ka'ara is a group of Melbourne-based Cook Islander drummers.
Taking its inspiration from the Northern and Southern styles of the 15 islands and atolls, they are the dynamic descendants of the islands’ traditional masters of the Pate log drum, Polynesian ukulele, tribal chants.
Tio is a singer-songwriter who hails from Vanuatu’s Ambrym Island who also plays violin, ukulele, guitar, tam tam, djembe and bush bass.
Gleaning ideas from traditional customs and stories Tio’s music was first inspired by the traditional wooden tam tam slit-drum and songs in his Daakaka language, as well as Port Vila’s roots-reggae scene.
YIRRKALA’S KINGS
“With one foot firmly planted in history and the other in the future, King Stingray invites everyone along for the wild ride ahead; Mala wangany!”
This is the Top End band’s statement on their website, and these five yung balas have certainly been on a wild ride since bursting onto the scene in October 2020 with the accidental lockdown anthem, ‘Get Me Out’.
Founding members Yirrnga Yunupingu (singer) and Roy Kellaway (guitar) grew up together in Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsular in Eastern Arnhem Land.
Yirrnga, the nephew of Yothu Yindi frontman, Dr M Yunupiŋu and Roy, son of Yothu Yindi’s bassist, Stu Kellaway, formed King Stingray with mates Dimathaya Burarrwanga (rhythm guitar, backing vocals and yidaki), Campbell Messer (bass) and Lewis Stiles (drums).
“We have goals to walk in those pretty grand footsteps to celebrate culture to the world,” says Roy.
“Growing up with Yothu Yindi happening, there was so much excitement for me as a young fellah,”
“Yirrŋa and I have grown up together; we’ve always wanted to do our own thing.”
Fusing traditional indigenous melodies with surf, indie and funk influences the band describes its sound as Yolngu surf-rock.
Since releasing debut track ‘Hey Wanhaka’ two more singles, ‘Get Me Out’ and the band’s latest funky offering ‘Milkumana’ have hit the airwaves.
Over the past year King Stingray has performed for Triple j’s Live at the Wireless, appeared on ABC TV’s The Sound, been profiled in The Guardian and Rolling Stone, and won Triple j’s Unearthed Artist of the Year J award.
Unlike so many other bands hamstrung by COVID-19 restrictions King Stingray managed a sell-out 2021 tour through the eastern states, wowing new fans at Dark Mofo in Hobart and Splendour in the Grass XR.
Last month Triple j listeners voted two songs, ‘Get Me Out’ at #46 and ‘Milkumana’ #56, into the Hottest 100 for 2021.
WOMADelaide punters will get to see King Stingray on Monday 11th March.
KING STINGRAY 2022 National Tour (supported on some shows by Adam Newling): Feb - 25th Corner Hotel, Richmond; 26th The Rosemount, North Perth; Mar - 4th Oxford Art Factory, Sydney; 5th Nine Lives Festival, Brisbane; 6th Vinnie’s Dive Bar , Southport, Gold Coast; 11th Altar , Hobart; 26th Kambri , Acton, Canberra; 27th Strawberry Fields, Tocumwal; April – 2nd Yours & Owls, Wollongong; 3rd Strawberry Fields, Tocumwal; May - 1st Surfers Paradise Beach, Gold Coast with Last Dinosaurs, Yorke, San Cisco, Winston Surfshirt, Vera Blue & Teenage Joans; 13th El Questro Wilderness Park, Kununurra with Ian Moss, Sheppard & Baker Boy.
THELMA PLUM 2022 National Tour: April - 2nd Hall Park, Halls Head, WA; 9th Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge, SA; 10th Peter Lehmann, Tanunda, SA; 16th a day on the green - The Squeeze Festival, Waurn Ponds, VIC; 23rd Conolly Park, Bourkelands, NSW; 24th Heifer Station, Borenore, NSW; 30th Bella Vista Farm, Bella Vista, NSW; May - 1st Park Beach Reserve, Coffs Harbour, NSW; 7th Sandstone Point Hotel, QLD; 8th Butter Factory Cultural Precinct, Kingston, QLD; 14th Riverway Stadium, Thuringowa Central, QLD; 15th Red Stall Cairns Showgrounds, Parramatta Park, QLD; Sept 17th Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin, NT; Sept 30th Riverstage Brisbane, QLD; Oct 8th The Patrick White Lawns, Canberra, ACT; Oct 29th Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart, TAS; Nov 26th Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC.
THELMA’S PLUM JOB
Gamilaraay songwoman, Thelma Plum’s 2019 album 'Better In Blak' has had the rare privilege of being included in the Rolling Stone 200 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time at number 145; an amazing feat for a debut release.
After its release on 30th July 2019 it peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
The title track, written in a London Airbnb with the record’s producer and co-writer Alexander Burnett, was the result of a disturbing incident the previous night.
A member of a Sydney band sent her a number of abusive racist phone messages, but after the initial shock Thelma sat down and wrote, “Do you know what it feels like? / To get calls in the middle of the night?”
She hit back by writing the song that is a defiant kick in the arse to her abuser and is now a part of Australian contemporary musical history.
At 27 Thelma has had a meteoric rise since May 2012 when she uploaded the tracks ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Father Said’ onto Triple J Unearthed.
In July 2012 she won the inaugural Triple J's National Indigenous Unearthed Music competition and was nominated for a Deadly award for Most Promising New Talent.
‘Father Said’ was released in November 2012 as her official debut single, with the extended play, ‘Rosie’, in March 2013 and followed with her second EP, ‘Monsters’ in July 2014.
LAKE BOLAC EEL FEST
According to the festival’s website, “Lake Bolac is a sacred site – a gathering has happened here for tens of thousands of years.”
“In the eel migration season our great clans gathered for special and important business, especially the exchange of ceremony, marriage and lore and despite the enormous challenges our people have faced, we are still here.”
Over the past 17 years the festival has invited “people from all walks of life out on to country to gather by the water on sacred lands – to this place where we share, learn, remember and we celebrate; a place where we meet in friendship.”
Inspiration for the festival came in 2005 when local singer-songwriter and founding member of the Warumpi Band, Neil Murray talked with Uncle Banjo Clarke’s family to propose a walk from Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve and Forest, back into the country their ancestors had been removed from.
Emulating the traditional journey to Buluk for the eel harvest gatherings, which had occurred in pre-colonial times, Gunditjmara and Kirrae Wurrung members of Uncle Banjo’s family and a group of non-Aboriginal locals walked from the mouth of the Hopkins River in Warrnambool to Lake Bolac over a period of nine days.
The walk then became known as the “Healing Walk”, and a group of Lake Bolac locals, interested in the Aboriginal history of the walk and lakeside gathering, decided to organise a music festival to revive this idea of a celebratory gathering by the lake during Kuyang season.
After having to cancel the last festival due to covid restrictions, this year’s event features an Art Auction, Festival Forum, Twilight Ceremony, Workshops and plenty of music.
Musicians on the bill are an exciting mix with Neil Murray, Benny Walker and Phil & Trudy Edgeley heading the bill.
Neil Murray hardly needs an introduction, as he is well known as one of Australia’s most original and respected singer-songwriters and has enjoyed a solo career since 1989.
He was a founding member of the ground‐breaking Warumpi Band that was the first to release a rock song in a traditional language ‘Jailanguru Pakarnu’ (1983), followed with the classic ‘Blackfella/Whitefella’ (1985), ‘Sit Down Money’ (1986) and the anthem, ‘My Island Home’ (1987).
Neil has been instrumental in getting mainstream Australia take notice of contemporary indigenous music, who is also a Lake Bolac local and, as the founder of the festival, is always honoured and excited to perform in front of a home crowd.
He will be hitting the stage with a band as the last act of the festival concert.
Benny Walker, a Yorta Yorta man from Echuca, comes from a family of deadly musicians.
After first honing his skills in the Melbourne music scene Benny’s passion for the land caused him to return home and start a family.
That has not stopped him becoming a popular performer at festivals around the country and led to four NIMA 2016 nominations and the award for Best Aboriginal Talent at The Age Music Victoria Awards.
‘SAVE’ and ‘Oh No You Don’t’ shot to No. 1 on the AMRAP charts, and his latest LP, Chosen Line is Benny’s third studio album, produced by Jan Skubiszewski and Pip Norman, mixes blues and roots melodies with Benny’s intricate guitar work.
Benny has performed alongside some of Australia’s finest, including Archie Roach, Alex Lloyd, Blue King Brown and Tim Rogers.
Phil & Trudy Edgeley are consummate songwriters, singers and multi-instrumentalists, having toured throughout Australia, UK, Europe and the USA.
Phil & Trudy’s partnership is both intensely personal as well as musical, so there is always a tight, harmonious warmth emanating from their performance.
Phil’s British folk-roots style of songwriting blends with Trudy's deep connection with her culture.
“Trudy's haunting vocals, melodies, tropical tempos & tribal beats reflects not only her influences and passion for her music, but also her desire to tell the stories of her rich ancestry from the canefields of Far North Queensland to the shores of Jamaica.”
Other artists include Sarah Carroll & Shannon Bourne, Liam Gerner, Sarah Carroll, Gypsy Smash, Jim Williams and Glynn Coulson.
The Eel Festival is staged on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th March at Lake Bolac Caravan Park, 115 Frontage Rd, Lake Bolac, Victoria.
More info: www.eelfestival.org.au/
CRESFEST
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks headline the inaugural CresFest in Creswick, Victoria from 1st to 3rd April.
As the organisers have declared, “CresFest exists to celebrate the town of Creswick, its people, and the joy of participating in music and dance by creating a festival that showcases artistic talent, community ingenuity and the natural beauty of our town.”
After a recent sold-out show in Castlemaine, where the band’s album, Crossover was partly recorded, Emma Donovan & The Putbacks is happy to back on the festival circuit.
Kee’ahn (pictured below) is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadh Kes songwoman who has recently ventured from her hometown in North Queensland, to pursue her dream in the Kulin Nation (Melbourne).
Her name from the Wik people, means to dance, to sing, to play and Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and ancestors through her soulful music that weaves lush tunes and words together of heartbreak and healing.
Other acts are Parvyn & Josh Bennet, The Maes, Liz Frencham, Lucy Wise, Fiona Ross & Shane O'Mara, Pete Denahy, Enda Kenny, Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club, FOOLS, Evan & Mischa, Freya Josephine Hollick, Zourouna, Andy Rigby, Amie Brûlée & Geoff McArthur, Anthony De Masi, Kathryn Clements, Mickey & Michelle, Jali Buba Kuyateh, Sweet Monas Choir, Bushwahzee, Mary Doumany, Kat Mear, The Royal High Jinx, D'arcy Spiller, ZOJ and the Eric Bogle Trio.
Phil & Trudy Edgeley
The full line-up for WOMADelaide
• Baker Boy
• Balkan Ethno Orchestra
• Barkaa
• Courtney Barnett
• The Crooked Fiddle Band
• Dancenorth - NOISE
• Eishan Ensemble
• El Gran Mono
• Electric Fields
• Emma Donovan & the Putbacks
• Goanna
• Grace Barbé
• Haiku Hands
• High Ace
• Haiku Hands• High Ace
• Inner City (USA
• King Stingray
• Kutcha Edwards
• L-FRESH The LION
• Martinez Akustica
• Melbourne Ska Orchestra
• Motez (Live)
• The New Monos
• Parvyn
• Paul Kelly
• Reb Fountain (NZ)
• Danse Carpe Diem/Emmanuel Jouthe, Maï(g)wenn et lesOrteils & Restless Dance Theatre - Écoute Pour Voir (Listen to See)
• The Shaolin Afronauts
• Sorong Samarai
• Valanga Khoza
• YID!
TICKETS ON SALE NOW https://www.womadelaide.com.au/tickets
The World's Festival
11 - 14 MARCH 2022
Held on the traditional lands of the Kaurna People of the Adelaide plains, WOMADelaide is the iconic open-air festival set in Adelaide’s stunning Botanic Park / Tainmuntilla. An award-winning celebration of the very best music, arts & dance since 1992.
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