Hark the herald angels sing! It's the 13th annual Darren Hanlon national Christmas tour and he’s coming to the Baroque room in Katoomba on Friday, December 14.
Hanlon presents an intimate and informal solo performance, drawing on songs from his entire catalogue with new songs to share as well.
He will be joined by Walmatjarri elder and gospel singer Kankawa Nagarra (Olive Knight).
Hanlon met Nagarra during research for his album of Aboriginal country music, Buried Country. The pair sat up late under the desert stars in her remote Kimberley home of Wangkatjungka, discussing her music, Hanlon rapt by her amazing stories.
As a little girl, she heard the campfire sounds of the rhythmic Walmatjarri songs of her ancestors. She remembered the clapping of boomerangs and nulla-nullas, and the thumping of bare feet on the desert sand.
Later in her life working on cattle stations, an old blind man made her her first guitar out of a biscuit tin, length of wood and some scrap wire.
Nagarra has recorded her own albums, performed on Broadway with Hugh Jackman, is a linguist and was integral in the development of the Walmatjarri dictionary. She has been an activist and human rights worker for over 40 years.
Her music is like nothing else on Earth. Channelling the spirit of her people, she brings the songs of an ancient culture into contemporary American gospel blues, singing songs in several languages including Walmatjarri, Kriol and English with the soul and styles of the American deep south.
Darren Hanlon and Kankawa Nagarra will be at The Baroque Room at the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba on December 14. Ticket links at http://www.darrenhanlon.com/tours/.
