Kutcha Edwards is a Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta and Nari Nari singer-songwriter with a career spanning over 30 years, known for his reverberating tenor vocals and combining songwriting with political activism.
From Balranald, New South Wales, Edwards is one of the Stolen Generations, removed from his parents at 18-months old and not reunited with his mother until he was a teenager. Self-trained, Edwards began his music career in 1991 as a member of the Koori band Watbalimba, and later Blackfire as their lead vocalist. In 2002, he released his first solo album, Cooinda, produced by Paul Hester and Paul Kelly. Inspired by the Songlines told in his first two albums, Edwards wrote and performed his award-winning theatre production, Songlines of a Mutti Mutti Man (2008).
Edwards was one of the founding members of music group Black Arm Band and toured alongside legendary First Nations artists Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. In 2021, Edwards released his fifth album, Circling Time, launched at Arts Centre Melbourne, which features the voices of Archie Roach, Judith Durham, Emma Donovan and Rebecca Barnard. Off stage, he has presented Beyond the Bars on 3CR Community Radio for over 20 years, a series that gives voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people incarcerated in Victorian prisons. He continues to share his life experience around the country, as a keynote speaker and mentor for many First Nations artists.
In this interview, Edwards reflects on his life including his childhood, writing his first poem after seeing American blues artist Robert Cray, touring internationally with Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, and his experience recording Circling Time.
Interviewer: Daniel James
Location: Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2024
3 окт 2024
