Arts Wednesday 12 August 2020
Presented by Bronwyn Rennex
On Arts Wednesday this week I celebrate some fabulous first nations artists.
First up I play some tunes from Musgrave Band, a musical collective from the remote Indigenous Community of Amata in the South Australian Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. This band recorded some new music with the help of the Technical Audio Group’s philanthropic arm TAG Cares
Musgrave Band recording as part of the TAG cares project
When the TAG Cares team ventured to the Amata community last year to deliver some instruments and equipment, they were blown away by the wealth of local talent and the incredible level of musicianship. In March of this year, the TAG Cares team returned to the Amata community for a four-day stint of recording. Converting the community’s school gymnasium into a makeshift studio with the help of QSC and Audio-Technica equipment, the team set out to record as many songs as possible.
‘Families’ and ‘Munganka’ are the first two songs to be released from this session. They are Musgrave Band’s first studio recordings and the songs are sung in the Pitjantjatjara language. The music videos capture the beauty of the APY Lands as well as a look into the recording sessions. The video views are already starting to climb and the songs are receiving radio play thanks to a number of local community radio stations.
Connect with Musgrave Band here.
Later in the show (courtesy of the Queer for your Ears team at Eastside) I play an interview with poet Gabrielle Journey Jones about the recent Red Dirt Poetry Festival. She also reads some of her own work.
If you want to listen again go to the Arts Wednesday page on the Eastside website.