Saturday, May 21, 2011

New England Aboriginal life - the songs of L J Hill

Note to readers: This is the eighth in a continuing series introducing readers to past and present Aboriginal life in New England. Those who are interested can find a full list of posts by either clicking New England Aboriginal life or, if you want, to read in date order from one up, click on Introducing New England Aboriginal life.

In New England Aboriginal life - Collarenebri rap, I mentioned that many New England Aboriginal young liked rap and country. L J Hill is an older and more experienced singer in the country genre.

Part  Aboriginal (Kamilaroi mother), part Cherokee Indian and part Irish (father) singer-songwriter, his songs illustrate the rich experience of a full life lived from New England's northwest slopes and plains to the city streets of Sydney and Melbourne for the past thirty years.

L K Hill now lives in Armidale and is a genuine New England singer in the full sense of the word.

The following song, Pretty Bird Tree, is taken from his Namoi Mud album. I have emailed his record label to see how to get a copy. I will post those details later.

In the song Kamilaroi moon refers to the Aboriginal peoples who occupied New England's Western Slopes and Plains. This is an ancestry L J Hill shares with the Collarenebri rap kids.

Narrabri is a town around four hours driving time south west from Armidale on the Namoi, a tributary of the Darling River  with its headwaters on the southern portion of the New England Tableland. Like many New England rivers, the Namoi actually flows north-west before joining the Barwon River near Walgett.         

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