Wongawilli – Australia Street

Wongawilli – Australia Street by Jan Nary

For more than 20 years, Wongawilli has been a benchmark of Australian folk tradition and its latest CD, Australia Street, demonstrates why the band is so highly regarded internationally and on that most critical of grounds – its home turf. Just as ‘Australia Streets’ exist all over Australia, the songs and tunes have been gathered from many sources; different regions, different industries, significant parts of our history, the traditional and contemporary, and from various ethnicities that have poured their musical richness into what is now Australian culture. Many of the tracks are treasures unearthed by Dave De Santi and Jane Brownlee during their National Library of Australia National Folk Festival Fellowship year. There are many well-known and well-loved names here now passed into history; Johnny Meredith is honoured with “Merro’s Medley”, a set of tunes drawn from his collection, and homage is paid to Chris Kempster and Henry Lawson in the moving rendition of “Outside Track”. And the tradition lives on; contemporary writers Michael O’Rourke (“Sing Us a Song, Poison Train”), Pat Keegan (“Coal Dust Tattoos”), John Broomhall (“Time is a Tempest”), the iconic John Dengate (“Coopers Sparkling Ale”) and the Wongawilli bards carry the flag for today’s folk. The banner is taken up for the younger generation by young Sam De Santi, who plays on a couple of tracks and contributed his five-year old composing skills to “Long Weekend at Home” and “Sandpit Reel”. A delightful anecdote; when asked where his then imaginary (now real) band had been gigging, Sam replied “Sandpits”. There isn’t a flat spot in this production; the music’s a delight and pithy sleeve notes give each track a context and history. If any folk-innocent asks you what Australian bush music’s about, stick a copy of Australia Street into their hand.

About the artist: “This ensemble is highly regarded in the field of interpreting authentic Australian traditional music, song and dance as a performance art. The group is recognised in Australia as a leading force in the revitalisation of our folk traditions” – Warren Fahey AM.