Emma Donovan calls in from Wardandi Country (Bunbury), in the week following the release of her first solo album 'Til My Song Is Done', a record steeped in country traditions, her family and culture.
Wardandi Country is her Grandmother's country on her Dad's side; family is a central theme throughout 'Til My Song Is Done'. If it's not clear enough from a listen through of the album how important family is to Emma, it becomes clear through this yarn just how important family is to Emma.Family is the driving force behind 'Til My Song Is Done'. Emma talks about "honouring family. . . my family's built on this big legacy that I feel like I'm contributing to as a granddaughter – third generation of my grandparents (Micko and Aileen) who were beautiful singers and songwriters.
"Singing at a time where they didn't have access and opportunities to record music or anything like that. They would do a lot of community gigs that helped fundraise money by holding old barn dances and stuff, and they would play music all night to help community have opportunities for money for things like health or funerals.
"I feel like I'm honouring that when it comes to my family legacy and also just contributing more to the story, having that awareness for future great, great grandkids, passing on their stories, singing up some of Pop's old songs; he wrote lots of music in the '70s.
"So I'm kind of adding that to my gigs as I dive deeper into Nan and Pop's story. I'm learning more and I keep connections open with family and talk them up especially with the old fellas these days. They want to know that their older cousins even though they're passed, their story has been continued."
An extension to family is community and Emma expresses gratitude for communities over time that she has been a part of. "Community means everything to me. I think this album allows me to have a big connection to my community, given that I've been performing with this funk-soul band for the last seven years."
Emma felt the need to go back to the music she was brought up on around community. This is heard most profoundly on the foot stomper 'Liquid Gold', which shouts out different family members and mob.
"I think with this album, I had a little agenda to make the Uncles and Aunts proud. I want to see them at gigs and I want them to be able to go to gigs and go with the mob. I want to be inclusive of them more. I think overall, I've been inspired by artists like Uncle Archie Roach and Auntie Ruby Hunter who did that their whole career and our mobs celebrated song women and men. I've been inspired by that."
This inspiration runs deep for Emma as she shares a childhood story. "I remember survival days when I was a kid and we would come into La Perouse in big bus loads." It was one of the only Survival Day concerts at the time. "They were big kind of names to be playing in community, but you could tell they loved it and community loved them."
Love permeates throughout the album. Whether it's inward-looking, self-love on the country rambling 'Lovin' Looks Like', or showering that love onto close ones around you with the soulful 'Shine On You', which flows into 'Bringing All The Lovin''.
"It's musically as well as lyrically, I'm singing a lot about loving relationships, good relationships with my family and my children and partners. I'm aiming for good relationships as well as change, as in politically with this country. Also where we sit in the industry; as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices we can make change. All our voices that are contributing to the landscape of the country."
There's a streak of hope and a sense of resilience throughout the album beginning with the powerful and stirring opening two songs: 'Change Is Coming' and 'Blak Nation'.
"'Blak Nation' is my thank you and an ode to the young blak voices of this country. I think we're in a different generation compared to our grandparents, there's grandkids and great grandkids telling stories now.
"I think there's this fire coming through, there's these amazing voices coming through and I refer to these young fellas as regrowth in a cool fire. You know culturally, when we'd back-burn country, there'd be the new growth. The new generation, that's kind of my way of saying there's this new, cool fire which is this country's blak future."
Another place where Emma finds this sense of hope – that fills up so much of her music even in the more tender moments – is the knowledge of those that came before her.
"I guess I always will have hope. I'm led a lot by and I like to go back to my personal story of my grandparents and how they were humbly brought up on the mission. Mission life, which had a lot of restrictions for them not to speak language or to learn a certain cultural way and values.
"I think about that and their times that they had were tough, so I can only ever hope and write about this change or this hope that we do want to be treated in a good way. There's been so much racism, especially leading up recently to the referendum. What I experienced was absolutely horrible, but not just myself – a lot of people experienced that.
"I'm just speaking for myself on my socials and things like that. The music I put out is always about wanting to make a good connection, always wanting to put out solid songs that can hopefully become historical songs for my people.
"Our voices are heard today because of the old fellas that have walked before us. Uncle Archie being the generous, amazing songman he was and Aunty Ruby beside him; not just Aunty Ruby and Uncle Archie, although I'll always acknowledge them, because I've had time with them.
"But there's so many other voices that carry a story that was really hard to tell. Sometimes people don't want to accept songs, certain songs in this country, but they were there and they sung up this place for us to be to be solid in now."
Emma closes the album with a song sung in language 'Yibaanga Gangaa (Sweet By & By)', a beautiful almost lullaby-like song. Emma wasn't brought up with language around her, as she recounts.
"I never grew up singing in language. I probably heard a few language words from both my grandparents on both sides but I never was around fluent speakers."
Nowadays Emma tries to incorporate language from both sides of her family, Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji. This is important to Emma because "my language was lost and not allowed to be spoken. So it means a lot to me to try my best to always include language as much as I can.
"Sometimes when I can't understand it, I make sure I try and understand it. I try to get it out there, so that one day my kids can understand or someone from my community like me who doesn't understand it they can understand too."
By stepping out on her own with 'Til My Song Is Done', Emma aimed to create an album for her people, something to make them proud, which is exactly what she has been able to achieve. It's an album that simultaneously looks both backward and forward while acknowledging the connections that exist between the past, present and future.
"'Til My Song Is Done' is an ode that sometimes blackfella songs are never done. There's so many significant songs in history for blackfellas that have been written 20 years ago, and they're still relevant."
Emma Donovan plays Redland Performing Arts Centre (Brisbane) 18 May as well as Open Season's Blak Day Out at King St (Brisbane ) 1 June (joining the likes of 3% feat. Nooky, Dallas Wood, and Angus Field, BADASSMUTHA, and The Ancient Bloods).
Emma Donovan 2024 Tour Dates
Thu 2 May - Tanks Arts Centre (Cairns)Sat 11 May - Araluen Arts Centre (Alice Springs)
Tue 14 May - Frankston Arts Centre
Thu 16 May - Warners Bay Theatre (Lake Macquarie)
Sat 18 May - Redland Performing Arts Centre (Brisbane)
Sat 1 Jun - Open Season: Blak Day Out @ King St (Brisbane)
Thu 6 Jun - The Night Cat (Melbourne)
Sat 15 Jun - Vivid Sydney @ Carriageworks
Thu 20 Jun - Dunstan Playhouse (Adelaide)
Sat 6 Jul - Albany Entertainment Centre
Tue 9 Jul - Cummins Theatre (Merredin, WA)
Thu 11 Jul - Queens Park Theatre (Geraldton)
Sat 13 Jul - Red Earth Arts Precinct (Karratha, WA)
Sun 14 Jul - Matt Dann Theatre & Cinema (South Hedland)
Wed 17 Jul - Broome Civic Centre
Sat 27 Jul - Mojos Bar (Fremantle)
Thu 1 Aug - Sooki Lounge (Melbourne)
Sat 2 Aug - Gippsland Performing Arts Centre
Sat 3 Aug - Meeniyan Town Hall (Gippsland)
Sun 4 Aug - Theatre Royal (Castlemaine)
