Irshadgul News report,
This week’s big news from Music Man David Kowalski Looks at the debacle surrounding the Byron Bay Bluesfest to include controversial band Sticky Fingers on the bill.
At first glance, this story may seem like another case of cancel culture run amok. However, as is the case with many narratives, this is not clear.
sticky fingers stay unstuck
The members of the Sydney band Sticky Fingers have a well-documented history of violent outbursts described as “racist”.
There are also allegations of abuse from 2016 (the band’s lead singer apologized to the female musician at the core of the incident, citing bipolar schizophrenia and substance abuse during that time). There is no need to repeat them here.
Bluesfest (6-10 April 2023) director Peter Noble wanted to give the band ‘Chance to rehabilitate’. Finally, a second chance.
However, to earn forgiveness and redemption, genuine apologies and sincere efforts to grow are required. The band’s toxic behavior was explained away in a 2018 Triple J interview. “boys will be boys”Which is, in my opinion, lame at best, pathetic and unacceptable at worst.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard were the first to say they would be pulling out of the lineup. Then, when Zambian musician Sampa the Great echoed the same, changes were made and Fingers was removed from the bill, probably to prevent any further escapes.
If Sticky Fingers has done as noble as Peter Noble claims – like setting up a music education program – I can’t find any evidence. So, if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.
The Whitlams—still cool and now country to boot
Speaking of progress, one-time indie pop star The Whitlams have moved country in 2023 under the moniker The Whitlams Black Stump Band.
Don’t be too surprised though. Singer Tim Friedman Has Always Been a Great Storyteller If We Think Like ’90s Radio Staples ‘I Make Hamburger’ And ‘no fetish’, And storytelling is central to the country music genre.
In this update of a track from the 2002 album burn the moonTim is joined by singer Felicity Urquhart to retell the story of Kate Kelly, sister of the infamous “Ned”. The story of the Kelly family is one of police harassment, violence and pain. This track tells the lesser-known story of Ned’s younger sister. Beautiful, sympathetic, in calming tones and an updated musical palette.
‘I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac…’
Why does it take so long for the music we love from the past to catch up with us?
As a child of the ’80s, I loved the (famous Eagles co-leader) Don Henley track. ‘Boys of Summer’ as much as the next child, but it was only recently that I knew what the line was ‘I saw the deadhead sticker on the Cadillac’… meant. The “Deadhead” is the logo of the ’60s band the Grateful Dead (who espoused the hippie free-love ideal before hanging up their guitars a few years earlier) proudly displayed on the back of a car typically owned by a well-heeled Operated by an employee. fortune 500 company.
It’s a great image and a powerful image of counterculture kids in the ’60s rejecting capitalism only to fully embrace its decadent spoils in the 1980s.
Hallen put out a new single
British band Hallen have come a long way since I first saw them in a tiny corner pub in Portsmouth in 2019.
His latest single,‘The Unwomanly Face of War’, comes from the soon to be released ep firing gun noise, The track’s name is taken from a novel by Belarusian journalist and author Svetlana Aleksievich, who collected firsthand accounts of female soldiers fighting on the front lines for Russia in WW2.
Halan’s vocalist Conor Clements told me (after reaching out on Instagram!) that the track is essentially a retelling of the novel, though filtered through current events.
If it’s possible for a song to be scary, chilling, and compelling all at once…
Well, it is.
‘They don’t allow girls to play’
Now that school has started again and the weather is getting cooler, the various professional football seasons are starting – the NRL started last week and the AFL this week. Pupils everywhere in playgrounds are hanging up their cricket whites and shoes to kick oddly shaped balls around the back oval at recess.
This track, by fellow teachers, country singers, all-around amazing humans and my dear friend Michael Waugh, reminds us that everyone should be included and given a shot.
Prepare your tissues…
David Kowalski is a writer, musician, teacher, sound engineer, and podcaster. His podcasts ‘The Sound and the Fury Podcast’ and ‘Audio Cumulus’ can be heard exclusively here. You can follow David on Twitter @sound_fury_pod,
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