Bush Bands Bash 2024
MUSIC NT PRESENTS
The highly anticipated Bush Bands Bash returns to Mparntwe/Alice Springs this month, celebrating the richness of First Nations music, language and culture from across Australia’s most remote regions.
THIS YEAR’S LINE-UP welcomes 10 incredible acts from different Red Centre and Top End regions, as well as Western Australia. Family Shoveller Band comes all the way from Bidyadanga, 180 kilometres south of Broome in the Kimberley, and Blackstone Daylight Band traverses the border from their vibrant namesake community in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.
But it’s not just the distance they’ll travel to play that makes these acts unique. The breadth of languages featured in the songs of these artists is arguably unmatched for a one-day concert. Attendees have the opportunity to hear music in eight Aboriginal languages from across the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Solo artists from MusicNT’s Divas program also join the ranks to wow crowds. Australian/Luritja artist Jessica LA returns her collaborative soundscapes and personal renditions of pop and R’n’B to the Red Centre, and Bronwyn Stuart from Ntaria graces the stage with her signature country sound.
Bush Bands Bash is much more than a music festival. It’s also the culmination of a four-day intensive workshop where artists and expert industry mentors come together at Ross River Resort to hone their performance skills and build music business knowledge. This annual development program, Bush Bands Business, concludes with the main event concert in front of a keen audience.
As always, the concert reaches audiences far and wide online via a recorded broadcast on ICTV and through CAAMA Radio. ICTV’s coverage of Bush Bands Bash has continued to win awards for its massive viewership across remote communities, and this year’s 20th instalment of the Bash has the potential to break even more records.
Celebrate the 20th year of this significant artist development program in Mparntwe at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, which has over the years allowed remote artists to refine their skills and share their craft with a diverse audience in a family-friendly, drug-and-alcohol-free setting.
Bush Bands Bash 2024
WHEN SUN 15 SEP | 4PM–10PM
AT ALICE SPRINGS TELEGRAPH STATION
COST $10 | FREE U16
INFO musicnt.com.au
Header: Pele. Photo: Nico Liengme
Thumbnail: The Desert Eagles. Photo: Ivan Trigo Miras for MusicNT
