Aboriginal musicians looking to develop their creative and business skills are encouraged to attend a free two-day session at Twofold Aboriginal Corporation’s Jigamy Farm next week.
A dynamic mix of top artists and industry leaders will cover key industry areas, including songwriting, music production, artist management, touring and performing, marketing and promotion.
Coming to Eden are National Indigenous Music Awards-nominated singer-songwriter Benny Walker, innovative Melbourne hip-hop artist Crystal Clyne aka Lady Lash, publicist and artist manager Danae Effern and producer Neal Sutherland (The Presets, Megan Washington, Sarah Blasko), who will be setting up a mini recording studio at Jigamy Farm.
APRA AMCOS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander national representative Michael Hutchings will facilitate the sessions, which are being hosted by South East Arts.
“The goal of Starting Ground is to give a meaningful opportunity for Aboriginal musicians to expand their music industry knowledge in a variety of ways,” Mr Hutchings said.
“I look forward to working with South East Arts to bring the workshop to the area and can’t wait to meet with the musicians of the region.”
Workshop mentor Lady Lash said she was looking forward to listening and exploring the unique talents that her mob wanted to share.
“There's so many amazing stories and free expression that is untapped that will be captured through this experience,” she said.
“I'm very excited to see what thoughts and messages spill out onto the page.”
Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council chair BJ Cruse will lead a welcome to country on the first day before facilitators and participants share their backgrounds and aspirations.
Artists will then perform their songs and discuss their inspirations, before the afternoon focuses on marketing and publicity.
Established in 2015 with support from the NSW Government, the Starting Ground project was created to help Aboriginal musicians build their skills, promote their work, develop career pathways and access mainstream music markets.
Workshops have previously been held in Tamworth, Byron Bay, Dubbo and Redfern, mentoring artists such as Loren-Jade Ryan, Krista Pav, Athol Munro, Dylan Goolagong,Tom Avery and Tamah Williams.
The Jigamy workshops will run on Thursday, September 28 and Friday, September 29.
Musicians who would like to participate in Starting Ground must contact Michael Hutchings at mhutchings@apra.com.au or on 02 9935 7874 or Jasmin Williams at acceo@southeastarts.org.au or 02 6492 0711.
