‘An emotional tribute to Aboriginal country music greats.’ THE AGE

‘The music is alive with heart and wit.’ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Long before Aboriginal painters, film-makers and dance companies were becoming household names, generations of Indigenous musicians were finding a voice in white Australia through country music.

When Clinton Walker began delving into this forgotten history, he could never have expected that the songs and stories he would uncover would go on to inform a book that went from instant cult classic to widely recognised masterpiece, and that a film and album would follow.

Now these same musical stories are brought to the stage in our Santos Opening Night Concert. Singers and songwriters from across the continent and across the generations, from iconic elders Roger Knox and L.J. Hill, legends Warren H. Williams and Buddy Knox, to younger artists like Leah Flanagan, Luke Peacock and James Henry, will be backed by an all-star house-band, the Backtrackers, in an opening night celebration to remember. A selection of Australian country music’s greatest hits, written by the likes of Bob Randall, Jimmy Little and Vic Simms, take centre stage complemented by a video-remix from the original Buried Country documentary and a production design based on artwork by famed Aboriginal painter the Blak Douglas for a Festival experience full of laughter and tears.

A potent and moving song cycle and a tribute to an enduring musical tradition, this is music that couldn’t stay buried.