Terrasphere

For further info www.neilmurray.com.au

In 1983, when the Warumpi Band’s “Jailanguru Pakarnu” (Out From Jail) was first heard on the airwaves, few listeners in Australia understood the lyrics, but there was no denying a quiet revolution had taken place. It was the first rock song in an Aboriginal language to be released and co-written by founding member Neil Murray. The Warumpi Band’s formidable live performances and 3 albums over 2 decades blazed a trail that a host of other indigenous bands are still following.

Through the Warumpi Band and his own solo albums, Neil Murray has earned his reputation as one of our most respected singer/songwriters. He has been described as a passionate man with a message who writes from the true heart and soul of Australia. Those who have read his books “Sing for Me Countryman” and “One Man Tribe” or seen his play “King For This Place”, acknowledge his penetrating insight into indigenous and non-indigenous issues.

Neil has worked for many years amongst Aboriginal people in outback and urban society and regards the Aboriginal cultural heritage as the foundation of Australia’s spiritual identity. He is a long-standing supporter of indigenous rights and wrote the reconciliation theme “We’ll build a Nation” in collaboration with delegates at the 1st National Youth Convention.

Neil is a committed environmentalist and much of his creative output identifies new ways for meaningful and belonging relationships with the land.

1n 1995, Neil was awarded the APRA song of the year for “My Island Home” originally written for the Warumpi Band and re-released by Christine Anu. It became a huge hit for Christine whose prodigious singing talent was first nurtured in Neil’s backing band, The Rainmakers. “My Island Home” has become something of an official anthem for Australia and featured in the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was also recorded by “Tiddas” for the soundtrack to the film “Radiance” and has recently received further peer acknowledgement through APRA’s Top 30 Best Australian Songs of All Time.

“Blackfella Whitefella” co-written by Neil Murray and George Rrurrambu for the Warumpi Band also enjoys ant hemic status for the reconciliation movement. It has also been covered by Powderfinger and Jimmy Little.

Drawn by his ancestral roots, Neil Murray visited Scotland on 3 occasions, performing at 2 Edinburgh Festivals and roaming the highlands exploring its history and the links with his own. These experiences provided the inspiration for “We’ll No Return”, which shares the legacy of “the Highland Clearances” with the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples.

Neil has been the subject of the ABC’s “Australian Story” and CNN’s global “Australian Icons” music documentary.

He performs regularly at festivals and live music venues in Australia and overseas and divides his time between his native “Tjapwurrung Country” in Western Victoria and the Northern Territory.