THE WOMAD EARTH STATION FESTIVAL
In October 2011, Belair National Park in the Adelaide Hills was home to the Womad Earth Station Festival - a new festival of music and ideas exploring our relationship with the planet. The festival included a stunning lineup of international and Australian music acts. The community radio team was onsite all weekend, recording a selection of the world class performers. Over the next three weeks, we present highlights of the Festival as recorded live by Radio Adelaide and heard on community radio stations nationally. In this, the first of three programs devoted to last year's Festival, we feature the following artists:
PACIFIC CURLS: A deep ocean between Pacific Island and Celtic musical cultures is bridged by Pacific Curls. Kim Halliday (of Rotuma Island descent) and Ora Barlow (Maori) are joined by fiddler Indy Star to create a languid backbeat of Pacific rhythms and voices with Scottish highlands fiddle. Singing in Maori, Rotuman and English, they add the lilting sounds of traditional Maori wind instruments with ukulele, guitar and stomp box, and a dose of trademark Kiki humour. Currently recording their fifth album, they have toured extensively through Canada, Australia, South Korea, Europe and New Zealand.
THE YEARLINGS: Acoustic music, distilling American alt country through the filter of distinctly Australian experiences, conjuring ethereal and mysterious songs that stick in your memory. Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson have been writing and performing together since 2000. Their four studio albums straddle old and new styles, bitter and sweet, darkness and transcendence. Robyn's beautiful voice, smooth, breathy and fragile, is offset against Chris's bony, resonating guitars in songs that rock, sad and slow, like a chair on an old wooden porch.
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: With an inescapable nod to Bob Dylan, this striking new songsmith from Dalarna in Sweden has captivated audiences around the world. Kristian Matsson returns to the essential core of folk music: an acoustic guitar, an arresting voice and tales shaped by sharp, deftly penned lyrics. He emerged on the European circuit in 2006, as The Tallest Man on Earth, andhis recordings - 2008's Shallow Grave and 2010's The Wild Hunt and EP Sometimes The Blues Is Just a Passing Bird showcase acoustic rock'n' roll from a man with a story to tell.
FRANK YAMMA AND DAVID BRIDIE: Respected as one of Indigenous Australia's most compelling and honest songwriters, Frank sings about the importance of country and respect for the old law, the harsh truths of alcohol abuse, cultural degradation and imprisonment. Frank Yamma recorded his latest album Countryman in an isolated, run down house near Goulburn, with just his magical guitar playing and deep, arresting voice to propel them. It's a compelling songbook that identifies the contradictions within Frank's life as a respected initiated Pitjantjatjara man who has suffered as a disrespected outsider in the cities. On stage, Frank performs with piano accompaniment from Countryman's producer, David Bridie.
Next week's program continues with artists such as Vika and Linda Bull.
FNL Host: Chris Deacon OAM; Presenter: Michelle Smith (Radio Adelaide)
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 3:54 PM 
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