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MUSIC FEATURE

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ARCHIE ROACH THE SONGS OF

CHARCOAL LANE In AlbumTales, Bryget Chrisfield hits you with some juicy nuggets of wisdom surrounding classic records.This month it’s Archie Roach’s reimagining of his extraordinary 1990 debut, in 2020’s fascinating sequel: The Songs of Charcoal Lane .

Year 2020

First Nations musical storyteller and Stolen Generations survivor Archie Roach AM celebrated 30 years since the release of Charcoal Lane by recording new versions of all ten impassioned songs from his gold certified, multiple-ARIA-Award-winning debut solo record. Gathered around Archie’s kitchen table at his home in Killarney, south-westernVictoria – on Gunditjmara land, his mother’s ancestral country – guitarist Steve Magnusson, double bass player SamAnning and sound engineer Hadyn Buxton helped reimagine these tracks while drinking bottomless cups of tea. Archie has joked that his voice has a hint of Tom Waits to it these days, and his world-weary timbre – plus astonishing interpretive ability, honed through decades performing on stages all around the world – adds gravitas to The Songs of Charcoal Lane . Of revisiting this deeply personal, important set of songs, Archie has said, “It’s like catching up with old friends 30 years later and continuing a conversation, but now we’re a bit wiser, and a bit older.”

When an early performance silenced the crowd, Archie thought he’d bombed After the late, great Steve Connolly saw Archie performing Took the Children Awa y on the ABC TV series Blackout , he suggested the young Gunditjmara and Bundjalung fella should open for Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls at their 1989 Melbourne Concert Hall (now Hamer Hall) show. According to PK: “[Archie] finished [his set] with Took the Children Away . There was this stunned silence; he thought he’d bombed. Then this wave of applause grew and grew; I’d never heard anything like it.” Vika & Linda were also in attendance on the night, and Linda has described Archie’s rendition of Took the Children Away as “one of the greatest performances of all time”.

Archie and Ruby (undated)

That time Archie mistook Paul for a security guard Also to mark the 30th anniversary of Charcoal Lane , Archie made his debut as a YouTuber with his ‘Back to Charcoal Lane’ series, during which he interviewed special guests from his kitchen table via Zoom. During his chat with PK, Archie hilariously admits he thought Paul was a security guard when they first met backstage at Hamer Hall. After pointing out that Paul was was dressed in all black everything – a colour scheme usually favoured by security guards – Archie chuckles, “Sorry I mistook you for security, brother!” Were it not for Ruby, there would be no Charcoal Lane Shortly after the aforementioned Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls show, Paul and Steve paid Archie and his late partner in life and music, Ruby Hunter, a visit at their Thornbury

Archie Roach, 2022

50 JULY 2022

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