Becoming a mother has been a life-changing experience for Emma Donovan – in more ways than one.
The founding member of Stiff Gins and member of The Black Arm Band, who now performs with Melbourne soul-funk group The Putbacks, took an extended hiatus from music releases between 2014's 'Dawn' and 2020's 'Crossover' (which was swiftly followed by 'Under These Streets' in 2021).During that time both of her daughters were born, now aged five and three years old. Donovan was approached by ABC to release a mini-album of kids songs called 'Follow The Sun'.
"ABC got in touch with us just to see if I could write some kids songs, and they wanted it along the lines of morning routines, or daily routines for kids," Donovan says.
"Then they asked if I could translate some of the traditional nursery rhymes we all know into different languages.
"So we did 'I Can Sing A Rainbow' in Noongar language – which is my grandmother's language on my dad's side – then on my mum's side they speak Gumbaynggirr and Dunghutti, which is a mid-North Coast language, so we translated the rest in Gumbaynggirr, which is 'Once I Called A Fish Alive' and 'Baba Blacksheep'."
Emma says she wrote the songs with her kids in mind, to give them something she didn't have growing up.
"It's not anything that I've had in my family where we spoke very fluent; that wasn't passed down, it was a few generations older – I had to learn language later," she says.
"So the concept for the kids album was just identity – Aboriginal identity – and feeling confident and writing songs about my childhood and what makes our young Aboriginal kids stronger in their identity."
Donovan was not much older than her eldest daughter when she herself began performing with her uncle's band, The Donovans.
"The more I look at my little ones growing up now, and the way they sing and just memorise and know the songs; they just have it in their blood," she says, "and it's a huge reflection on my family and myself – that's just how we were brought up.
"I think the saddest thing about me living down here in Melbourne is I'm not near all my family, to go over on weekends and hang and be around Poppy's guitar or the uncles' guitars – that's how I grew up, that's just what happened in the family and I've kind of taken my kids away from that."
But Donovan is giving her kids a different kind of music education, taking them on longer runs like the recent Port Fairy Folk Festival to WOMADelaide trip. "We'll do like a week – they'll be sick of me by the end of that week," Donovan laughs.
"I talk to other muso parents and they're like, 'wait 'til they're teenagers, they'll just be so over it', but now they want to be there front and centre, so if it's an intimate gig I don't have the girls around because they want to be in the thick of it, but I can get away with festivals, where they can hang out in the crowd or backstage."
Donovan took the girls with her when she worked with The Teskey Brothers on a cover of Uncle Archie Roach's 'Get Back To The Land'.
"The day we hung out and actually recorded that tune was when we filmed it as well; so that was the first time I ever did something with them, and we ended up doing all this stuff, hanging out with all our kids," Emma laughs.
"It's so funny, my partner even said to me, 'oh geez, you were really casual about The Teskey Brothers gig'. He's like, 'it's got a pretty good response, like there's a lot of people following it'."
Taking a moment to digress, discussing The Teskey Brothers' success and the album Josh Teskey released with Ash Grunwald, Donovan begins to get flustered.
"Now I'm just like, 'oh my gosh, I was working with Josh Teskey'," she laughs. "I just love singing with him. . . He's like Uncle Archie Roach, so easy to follow, you know?
"I would sing with that guy all night, like he's just incredible; got one of the best vocals that I love. I adore his vocals."
Donovan may have another opportunity to sing with The Teskey Brothers at Bluesfest next month, but her other performance will have a special meaning to her.
"I'm doing a special gig up there, I'm doing some stuff with Joe Camilleri and the Bull sisters – there's a mob of us doing a tribute to Bob Dylan; I'm getting my Bob Dylan on," she laughs.
"My Dad would be proud; I listened to him all the time around my dad growing up, but I've only learned to appreciate him over the years so now I'm getting into some of his tunes. So that's going to be a little special moment for me and my Dad, because I've always followed all of my Mum's music up until now."
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks Tour Dates
Sat 19 Mar - Out Here In The Field (Hobart)Sat 26 Mar - Offbeat Music Festival (Sunshine Coast)
Sun 27 Mar - Parramatta Nights (Parramatta)
Fri 1 Apr - CresFest (Creswick)
Sat 2 Apr - High Country Hop (Beechworth)
Sat 9 Apr - Parrtjima Festival (Alice Springs)
Thu 14 Apr - Bluesfest (Byron Bay)
15-16 Apr - National Folk Festival (Canberra)
Sun 17 Apr - Inner Varnika (Bookaar)
Fri 22 Apr - Beleura House with Paul Grabowsky (Mornington)
Sat 23 Apr - Storyland (Coffs Harbour)
Tue 26 Apr - Forum Melbourne* supporting Hiatus Kaiyote
Wed 27 Apr - Forum Melbourne* supporting Hiatus Kaiyote
Fri 29 Apr - Sooki Lounge (Melbourne)
Sat 7 May - Burning Love (Bendigo)
Sat 21 May - Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast)
Sat 28 May - Saltwater Freshwater Festival (Nambucca Valley)
Fri 15 Jul - Winter Sounds (Daylesford)
Fri 18 Nov - Aware Super Theatre (Sydney)* The Teskey Brothers
