Daddy – Emma Donovan & the PutBacks
Emma Donovan grew up singing church songs with her grandparents on the north coast of New South Wales before becoming a regular fixture at the Tamworth country music festival. But as she began to absorb new influences from her father’s record collection – American artists like LaVern Baker and Etta James, along with Indigenous Australian acts No Fixed Address and Archie Roach – her music took a left turn into blues and soul. Now performing with Melbourne rhythm combo the PutBacks, their album Dawn is a throwback to the big hair and big heart of 70s soul music. See them performing at Sydney’s Hyde Park on 6 July and in Parramatta at the Burramatta festival on 12 July.
We Have Survived – No Fixed Address
Singer, drummer and Pitjantjatjara man Bart Willoughby has played in some of Australia’s greatest bands, including Coloured Stone, Yothu Yindi and as lead singer of No Fixed Address. Famous for his distinctive take on Jamaican reggae, the 1982 classic We Have Survived is a Bob Marley-esque survivor song, with poignant lyrics like “you can’t change the rhythm of my soul”. Willoughby will be singing about his connection to country on 9 July at Carriageworks in Sydney, and at a screening of Big Name No Blanket on 14 July at Melbourne’s Footscray Community Arts Centre Basement Theatre.
Nanna’s Song – Shellie Morris
Earlier this year SBS aired a wonderful musical documentary called Prison Songs. It saw musician Shellie Morris and songwriter/playwright Casey Bennetto collaborate with the inmates of Berrimah prison in the Northern Territory on a series of songs, then performed for camera. Those songs are coming to Darwin festival in August, with Morris joined onstage by Ernie Dingo, Jada Alberts, Kamahi Djordon King and Bronwyn Turei. This week you can catch Morris singing in Yanyuwa language at the Queensland Multicultural Centre on 11 July.
Talk to Me – Radical Son
David Leha, aka Radical Son, is bringing that famously husky voice to the Burramatta festival on 12 July in Sydney. His music is guided by twin heritages: the Kamilaroi nation of Australia and Tonga in the South Pacific. No matter the song, be it the uptempo funk track Highest Of Love or the reggae anthem Human Behaviour, the fingerprint of his music is that musty, soulful voice that slides over the notes like a mournful trumpet. There’s a touch of Mark Ronson soul revival in the polished production of Talk to Me, taken off Leha’s 2014 album Cause ’n Affect.
Gundulla We Dance – Yabu Band
Playing on 6 July at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre in Western Australia is Kalgoorlie desert rock and roots group Yabu Band. Yabu, in the language of the Wangkatja/Wongutha nation, means “rock” or “gold” and the band sing in a mixture of English and Wongutha. Gundulla We Dance is the catchy title track off their 2009 album. Brothers Delson and Boyd Stokes and drummer Jade Masters will follow a set by country-folk singer Dewayne Everettsmith. The Tasmanian is best known for his uplifting ballad It’s Like Love.
