BART WILLOUGHBY

Bart Willoughby (born 12 September 1960) is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia. A Pitjantjatjara man of the Mirning dreaming, his totem is the whale. He is Kuthatha through his father and Mirning through his mother. He grew up at Koonibba Aboriginal Mission near Ceduna on the South Australian edge of the Nullarbor Plain on the Great Australian Bight. At 14 years of age, after spending some time in a boys' facility, Willoughby found his way to the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the University of Adelaide, where he was introduced to music including drumming, singing and guitar playing.

Willoughby's musical career commenced in 1978, and in this period, he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Indigenous Australian influences. He formed his first band, also Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978, though he also played with Jimmy Chi's newly formed band Kuckles throughout 1978 and 1979.

In 1979, No Fixed Address played its first large concert at the National Aboriginal Day event held in Taperoo, South Australia, and over the years has played at numerous concerts for Aboriginal causes, including Rock Against Racism, The Artists Newsletter Association, the Campaign Against Racial Exploitation and the National Aboriginal Country Music Festival.

In 1982 Willoughby and his band toured Australia in support of Peter Tosh, and a documentary of this tour was screened by SBS TV entitled Peter Tosh in Concert, featuring Willoughby and No Fixed Address. During 1982 Willoughby also played drums with Shane Howard and Goanna. After the success of the Peter Tosh tour Willoughby and his band became the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas, becoming cultural ambassadors for their people while touring Great Britain in 1984, playing at nine cities including London, Bristol, Leeds, Plymouth and Manchester. They played at The Elephant Fayre rock festival and appeared at a concert for striking miners. A documentary of this tour No Fixed Address in London was produced and screened on SBS TV.

Returning to Australia, Willoughby joined his cousin Bunna Lawrie, and his band Coloured Stone, founded in 1977. He played drums for them between 1985 and 1986, including on their Scottish tour where they appeared with KD Lang at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival. Coloured Stone then returned to Australia, where Coloured Stone were awarded Best Indigenous Album at the 1986 Australian Music Awards for their debut album 'Human Love'. Willoughby reformed No Fixed Address in 1987, and in 1988 the band toured Europe, including Eastern Bloc countries where Willoughby made his wry comment about "being hungry in Hungary" while appearing at the 1987 East Berlin Music Festival.

Late in 1988 Willoughby was asked to join the newly formed Yothu Yindi as drummer on their Diesel & Dust tour, visiting 73 cities throughout the USA on a tour that Willoughby found very strenuous. In 1989 Willoughby left Yothu Yindi to form a new band Mixed Relations, now known as Bart Willoughby Band, although he has reformed No Fixed Address on occasion. From its inception, Mixed Relations toured extensively throughout the Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Hawaii, and was chosen as the closing act for the 1989 inaugural Invasion (aka Survival) Day Concerts at La Perouse, Sydney and then every Invasion Day concert until its final date at La Perouse in 1994.

Following work in Alice Springs, Northern Territory and Surfers Paradise, Queensland on the film Until The End Of The World, Willoughby was invited to tour Australia with Shane Howard and The Big Heart Band before returning to his work with Mixed Relations opening the inaugural 1991 Stompen' Ground Concert in Broome, Western Australia and representing Australia at the 1990 and 1992 South Pacific Music Festival and the 1990 and 1992 Asian Music Festival. All of these festivals have been documented by ABC Television and SBS TV and screened by these stations in the year that the festivals were held and have had repeat screenings over the years. In 1993, International Year of Indigenous People, Willoughby and Mixed Relations were invited to attend the Los Angeles Indigenous Arts Festival, the London Indigenous Festival, England and the Wanchai Music Festival. He left Mixed Relations in 1995.

Bart Willoughby went on to pursue his solo career releasing two albums' 'Pathways' in 1997 and a double album 'Frequencies' in 2000. In 2007 Bart formed the Bart Willoughby Band with producer and drummer Airi Ingram, with longtime collaborator Selwyn Burns on lead guitar and occasional guest legend Ross Hannaford (ex-Daddy Cool) on second lead. The line grew to a ten piece with a 3-piece horn section percussion and the sublime harmonies of Decline Briscoe and Emma Donavan.

2010 The Bart Willoughby Band appeared on National Television performing Barts iconic tune ''Message for Young and Old'' at the pre match entertainment for Dreamtime at The G. The song recorded at Sing Sing studios was later released on the Bands first EP 'Rock Against Racism'. In 2013 they released first full-length album 'Proud'. In 2012/2013 he received a grant through the city of Melbourne to record an album 'We Still Live On', on The Melbourne Town Hall Pipe Organ accompanied by indigenous songstress Decline Briscoe. Adding to Barts many firsts in his illustrious musical career he is the first Indigenous artist to play this instrument. 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Willoughby