Bart Willoughby
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Bart Willoughby OAM | |
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| Birth name | Bartholemew Edwin Willoughby |
| Born | 1960 (age 63–64) Koonibba Aboriginal Mission, near Ceduna, South Australia |
| Genres | Aboriginal rock, reggae rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Drums, guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby OAM (born 1960) is an Aboriginal Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia.
In 2024, Willoughby received the Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2024.
Early life and education[edit]
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby[1] was born in 1960 at Koonibba Mission, near Ceduna in South Australia.[2] He is a Pitjantjatjara man[3] of the Mirning dreaming through his mother, and Kokatha through his father.[citation needed]
He was removed from his family at Koonibba when he was three. He contracted bone marrow disease when he was six years old, and was encased in plaster for two and a half years.[3]
At 14 years of age, after spending some time in a boys' facility, Willoughby found his way to the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the University of Adelaide, where he was introduced to music, including drumming, singing, and guitar playing.[citation needed]
Career[edit]
Music[edit]
Willoughby's musical career commenced in 1978, and in this period he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Aboriginal musical influences.[4] He formed his first band, also Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978,[3] with Ricky Harrison, Leslie Lovegrove Freeman, and John John Miller.[2] He also played with Jimmy Chi's newly-formed band Kuckles throughout 1978 and 1979.[citation needed]
In 1979, No Fixed Address played its first large concert at the National Aboriginal Day event held in Taperoo, South Australia, and over the years played at numerous concerts for Aboriginal causes, including Rock Against Racism, the Artists Newsletter Association, the Campaign Against Racial Exploitation, and the National Aboriginal Country Music Festival.
At the end of 1981, No Fixed Address were the support band for Ian Dury and the Blockheads on their one and only Australia tour.[citation needed] Their 1982 single "We Have Survived" became an instant classic of protest music.[2]
In 1982, Willoughby and his band toured Australia in support of Peter Tosh, and a documentary of this tour was screened by SBS TV entitled Peter Tosh in Concert, featuring Willoughby and No Fixed Address. During 1982, Willoughby also played drums with Shane Howard and Goanna. After the success of the Peter Tosh tour,[citation needed] Willoughby and his band became the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas in 1983, and played at Madison Square Gardens.[3] The band toured the UK in 1984, playing at nine cities including London, Bristol, Leeds, Plymouth, andManchester. They played at the Elephant Fayre rock festival.[5] and appeared at a concert for striking miners. A documentary of this tour No Fixed Address in London was produced and screened on SBS TV.
Returning to Australia, Willoughby joined his cousin Bunna Lawrie, and his band Coloured Stone, founded in 1977. He played drums for them between 1985 and 1986, including on their Scottish tour where they appeared with k.d. lang at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival. Coloured Stone then returned to Australia, where Coloured Stone were awarded Best Indigenous Album at the 1986 Australian Music Awards for their debut album Human Love.[6]
Willoughby reformed No Fixed Address in 1987, and in 1988, the band performed at the East Berlin Festival of Political Song and toured Eastern Europe, where Willoughby made his wry comment about "being hungry in Hungary".
Late in 1988, Willoughby was asked to join Yothu Yindi as drummer, supporting Midnight Oil on their US and Canada Diesel & Dust tour.[citation needed] In 1989, Willoughby left Yothu Yindi to form a new band Mixed Relations.[3] From its inception, Mixed Relations toured extensively throughout the Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Hawaii, and was chosen as the closing act for the 1989 inaugural Invasion (aka Survival) Day Concerts at La Perouse, Sydney, and then every Invasion Day concert until its final date at La Perouse in 1994.
Following work in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and Surfers Paradise, Queensland, on the film Until the end of the World, Willoughby was invited to tour Australia with Shane Howard and The Big Heart Band before returning to his work with Mixed Relations, opening the inaugural 1991 Stompen' Ground Concert in Broome, Western Australia and representing Australia at the 1990 and 1992 South Pacific Music Festival and the 1990 and 1992 Asian Music Festival.
In 1993, International Year of Indigenous People, Willoughby and Mixed Relations were invited to attend the Los Angeles Indigenous Arts Festival, the London Indigenous Festival, England and the Wanchai Music Festival, Hong Kong.
In 2007 he formed the Bart Willoughby Band, and in 2013 learnt to play the pipe organ, becoming the first Indigenous artist to do so.[3] He played the Grand Organ in Melbourne Town Hall.[2]
In 2016, Willoughby headlined the Yabun Festival at Victoria Park, Camperdown, Sydney.[3]
Film and television[edit]
It has been reported that during the 13 years that ABC's Countdown ran from 1974, Willoughby did not appear once, despite written requests to Molly Meldrum which remained unanswered.[citation needed]
In 1980, Willoughby starred with another Indigenous band, Us Mob, in Ned Lander's film about Aboriginal musicians, called Wrong Side of the Road. This film was a semi-biographical drama concerning the racism levelled against Aboriginal musicians trying to get gigs in country pubs, and won the Australian Film Commission-funded Australian Film Institute's (AFI) 1981 Jury Award for its director.[citation needed]
After his 1988 European tour, Willoughby directed, composed, and recorded the music track using his band for Always Was - Always Will Be, which was produced, directed and written by Indigenous filmmaker Madelaine McGrady and screened on SBS TV in the same year.
In 1990, Willoughby was cast as "Ned the Computer Expert" in German director Wim Wenders' Until the end of the World starring William Hurt, Sam Neill, Ernie Dingo, David Gulpilil, and Jimmy Little.
In 1992, Willoughby was invited by Australia's first Indigenous feature film director Brian Syron[citation needed] to become the first Aboriginal person to compose, play and direct the music track of a feature film[2] Jindalee Lady.[citation needed] The film was invited to the Dreamspeakers International Film Festival in Edmonton, Canada, in 1992, where it was acknowledged as the first feature film to be directed by a First Nations director, and to have a music track composed and directed by a First Nations composer.[citation needed] Following this festival, both Syron and Willoughby were invited to attend the 1992 Hawaii International Film Festival, where Jindalee Lady was nominated for the Best Feature Film. In 1993 Jindalee Lady was invited to screen at the Tinker Theatre, Woodstock, New York, as part of the Woodstock Tribute to the International Year of Indigenous People.[citation needed]
In 1994, Willoughby with his eldest son Woonun Willoughby appeared in the docudrama La Perouse for the Museum of Sydney and Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, directed by Michael Riley and narrated by Justine Saunders.[citation needed]
Willoughby has made many appearances on ABC Television, Channel 9, SBS TV, Channel 10, and Channel 7.[citation needed]
Teaching[edit]
During 1995 Willoughby took time out to work with his Pitjantjantjara community as music instructor to secondary school students at Yalata Anangu School, Yalata, South Australia, where he taught drums, guitar, and songwriting.
Recognition, awards, and honours[edit]
Willoughby received the inaugural Indigenous Music Award at the 1993 Australian Music Awards for his Outstanding Contribution to Indigenous Music in Australia.[7] The award was presented by Will Smith and screened on Channel 10. Sol Bellear, acting commissioner of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission, in presenting the award to Willoughby, said :
"Indigenous music has certainly come a long way in recent times. From 10 years ago out back of Australia, in outback hotels to internationally through Yothu Yindi, through Kev Carmody, through Archie Roach and many, many more. Let me tell you that the recipient of this very first Indigenous trophy has stood out clearly as an innovator for those people. He notched up a list of firsts that paved the way for a lot of Indigenous artists. He was the first to perform on Countdown, his was the first Aboriginal band to make a documentary, the first Aboriginal band to sign a record deal and the first, the very first, to tour overseas, and Willoughby was the first, the very first to score, play and direct the music track of a feature film itself the first to be directed by an Indigenous director. Bart's contribution to Aboriginal music in Australia is prodigious in book, film and record." Bellear, Channel 10,
In 2004, 2005, and 2006, he was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Deadly Awards for his contribution to Indigenous music in Australia.[citation needed]
In 2023, Bart Willoughby was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division, for service to the performing arts, particularly through music.[1]
The APRA Awards have been presented annually since 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[8] Willoughby was honoured in the APRA Music Awards of 2024 with the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.[9][2]
In May 2024, an exhibition celebrating his work went on display at the Australian Music Vault in Arts Centre Melbourne.[2]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Pathways |
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| Frequencies |
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| Proud (as The Bart Willoughby Band) |
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| We Still Live On (with Deline Briscoe & Friends) |
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References[edit]
- ^ a b "Honours for local excellence". Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Martin, Kaya (9 May 2024). "Indigenous music pioneer Bart Willoughby honoured at the Australian Music Vault". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Callinan, Tara (25 January 2016). "From the Koonibba Mission to Madison Square Garden: Bart Willoughby's journey of success and survival". NITV. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ Tijs, Andrew (24 December 2013). "Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival 2014". Time Out. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ "The Elephant Fayre 1984". Ukrockfestivals.com. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ VIBE Australia – Coloured Stone Archived 16 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Top music award goes to Baby Animals". The Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 21, 411. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 November 1993. p. 2. Retrieved 8 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
- ^ "Bart Willoughby Receives Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services To Australian Music". The Music. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Bart Willoughby Musical Career". Bart Willoughby. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
External links[edit]
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