Activism

Dawn Barrington > Activism

Wecome 2021

January 7, 2021 0 Comments

Phew!! At last the New Year is here !!

Wow! What a year it was and in all honesty I really don’t know what the next 12 mths holds for me personally and musically. However, I do know that I will continue to make music, play music, sing my songs and fight for human rights. They are all one…..creativity is what gives me purpose and asking the difficult questions is what I do best, and I guess I thrive on the challenges that all of that brings.

Musical Shenanigans

The past few weeks I have been playing at a variety of venues and the most recent gig was at Gypsy Tapas House in Fremantle. It’s a great venue and they have delicious food there and they are passionate about original music. So they tick all the boxes but there is a downside and that is that they don’t pay their musicians. You do get a meal and free drinks and the PA is supplied but playing music for 2 hours and not getting paid is quite a big downer. I am not sure what is going to happen in the music industry and I do remember being warned on many occasions that getting paid in Perth was not easy. I haven’t approached enough venues yet to see if that is true but I have played at a few recently and the top dollar so far was $150 for 2 hours which is still below the recommended rate of $100 per hour of playing time. If you have spent years learning songs and are practising most days and you turn up an hour early to set up it turns out to be not a huge amount of money per gig. However, I won’t let little problems like that get in the way of things lol.

Recording

I decided to get back into recording and now that I am in Fremantle I have to find someone to record with. I was going to go through someone I know in Kalamunda which is a bit of a hike but then Tony King (who I usually record with) recommended David Hymans who lives just up the road, so it was perfect. He’s a great artist and has a recording studio and recently produced an album for Bernard Carney called Feathers and Tributes.  It’s not easy finding the right person because you need to feel comfortable with them and I need to also know that they are going to compliment what I do as a folk singer songwriter. There are many great producers around but it was nice to know that David was right here in Freo. We put down the first track a few weeks ago and we will have a go at getting the song finished next week. I will keep you posted on that one.

Denmark Arts Markets

January 23rd at 10am I am playing a the Denmark Arts Markets. I am so looking forward to going back down to my favourite place on earth. I love the big stage of the Denmark Arts Markets, the sound is always awesome and it’s such a buzz, although being ready for 10am could be a bit of challenge for me lol. Next up I will be preparing for Nannup!!

“Music Talks” Events

I have also decided to get stuck into more music talks events. The refugees that were medivaced here in 2019 are still stuck in hotels and detention centres. They are sick and it is very obvious now that the government is keeping them there out of spite, because they lost the medivac legislation that brought them here. It’s disgusting, punitive and arbitrary and I am ashamed to live in a nation that claims to be a member of the UN and yet carries out gross abuse of human rights on the most vulnerable people in the world. I have already phoned lots of community groups and churches and have a few bookings so looking forward to that in coming months.  Here is the bio that I have been sending to the groups to give them an understanding of what I have been doing the past 3 or so years. If you are in the Perth region or anywhere in WA for that matter and you want me to come to your community to do a “Music Talks” event please contact me dawnbarringtonmusic@gmail.com. I have had a fantastic response at every single event that I have done. I do it all voluntarily and it is purely to raise awareness through song and spoken word. 

 

Activism, Denmark Gigs, Festival, Gigs, Photos, Recording, Refugees, Song writing

The Big Move

September 14, 2020 7 Comments

Ready for the drive to Perth

The big smoke was beckoning and it was time to leave my home in this idyllic little town in the Great Southern of  WA. It really was a big move and I hadn’t anticipated how much of an effort it would be on my own. But with a bit of help from my son and his father it all went smoothly. After securing a small unit in Hamilton Hill near Fremantle I got very busy packing and sorting through a life time of “stuff”. So much “stuff” and so many difficult decisions so make but I had to scale my life down to a 2 bed unit with no shed or garden. Now that I am here in Hamilton Hill I can see it was a good decision. I can see that I will be able to get much more happening with my music, that is meet other musicians and get some gigs happening. I can also do so much more with regards to raising awareness for refugee justice and I have already started to make a few waves. 

“MUSIC TALKS EVENT” – FREMANTLE

July 19th I came up to Fremantle to do a music talks event. A wonderful lady Kris Holman who has been supporting my advocacy hosted a “Music Talks” event. She booked the Hamilton Hub community centre and we had a great turn out. July 19th commemorated the 7th year since the offshore policy was legislated. So in solidarity with the Refugee Solidarity group in Brisbane and with the refugees detained at the Kangaroo Point hotel we sat in silence for 7 mins after the first few songs and an introduction to the audience. It was powerful and sobering. 

The HUB, Hamilton Hill

Once again I told the stories of 2 refugees and of my trips to Manus Island where I witnessed the horrific conditions of 100s of refugees under Australia’s care.

People were in disbelief and horrified at what they heard and once again the Q & A opened up a space for important conversations and more people keen to take action.

I also had a couple of radio interviews both with Fremantle Radio 107.9fm. Bill Hale invited me to join him and his offsider Frank on their Monday evening “Folkin around” show and they literally gave me the floor. I was very appreciative of their support for what I am doing with regards to the refugees being detained. I got to play a number of songs and talk lots….two of my favourite things lol.

The second interview was a pre recorded one with Kavi Guppta where we talked about me as an artist using my songs to raise awareness about the social issues that I am passionate about. It was a stimulating conversation and I look forward to followup interviews with both Bill and Kavi once I have got myself established more up here.

In the meantime I am going to unwind and get myself familiar with my new surrounds. Dream about the day when I can go back on tour which could be a while away yet. We live in very strange times and who knows what the future holds but hopefully new creative ideas will come into fruition and I will find ways to play my songs and talk about the things that matter to me.

Stay safe everyone

 

Activism, Airplay, Gigs, House Concderts, Photos, Recording, Refugees

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Post Tour then WAM nominee!

October 7, 2019 0 Comments

It’s been a crazy few months. My “Manus Music Talks” events went unbelievably well and I think the worst thing that happened was leaving my purse at a servo and finding out the next day 2 hrs down the road, then sleeping in a caravan with giant spiders….. apart from that it was all good. lol…. I started in Kuranda QLD and drove down the coast stopping at Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Yeppoon, MacKay, Cooran, Brisbane, Ballina, Port McQuarie, Newcastle, Gosford and Sydney. I grabbed a car in Cairns and did approx 3,000 kms which was incredible and I never imagined that I would get through it all in the 4 weeks I had. I met the most amazing people and they were so generous in the way they took on the job of organising the events and giving me a room for the night and sometimes 2 nights. Cairns for Refugees were the first group to host me and the Uniting Church in Kuranda.

My next stop was the Townsville Cultural Fest where I released my new EP “Can’t Let Go”. It was an incredible weekend and I met so many amazing people and it was wonderful to catch up with Farvardin again who is the person doing all the behind the scenes work of this great event.  Something I noticed as I drove down the coast was how dry it was, very dry and it surprised me because even though I knew there was a drought in Queensland I didn’t think it be that bad and that it would stretch the coast too.

The Greens Keppel

My next stop was Rockhampton and Yeppoon where I did performances for The North Rockhampton Uniting Church group and the Greens Keppel.  There are many many people doing a huge amount of work behind the scenes when it comes to the refugees in offshore and onshore detention and I can’t believe that between us all that we haven’t managed to find a way to end this disgusting policy. People should never be detained for no crime and especially for 7 years. 

Ballina for Refugees

Ballina for Refugees, Rik and me

My next stop was Cooran and then Ballina where I did a performance for Ballina Region for Refugees and a small refugee group in Cooran. I played songs from my previous album and my recently released EP. The most important one was a song called “In My Name” which I wrote last year. I wrote it because I thought change was coming and I imagined that the election would bring change…..HOW WRONG I WAS :O(  This song is about acknowledging that people are coming together and that change is coming so I play this near to the end of the performance and get everyone to sing the chorus with me…it’s the best feeling when everyone joins me. :o)

The photos above are of my gig at the Ballina Region for Refugees they were amazing and it was lovely to stay with Rik and Lisa Dillon.

My next stop was Brisbane where I did one in Hawkesbury with the Redland for Refugees and once again I was hosted by a lovely couple and a great venue was organised. When I organised this tour I really had no idea how it would all go and I didn’t know if it would have the desired outcome. My goal was to tell the story of how I got involved and how I had used my art (music and songs) to bring awareness to the issue and spread the word. I wanted to show everyone that they too have a voice and that we are in a position of power. I write folk songs and in the true traditional sense folk music is about activism and I love that part of it and I love having a purpose for my songs that is more than entertainment alone.  I had an incredible response from every single performance and it went way beyond my expectations.

Qassim and me

While in Brisbane I spent some time visiting the refugees that I had helped to get to Austraia via the Medivac Bill. They were all incredibly sick but it was so nice to see them smile and to spend a bit of time with them. Here is Qassim from Iraq, he spent 6 years on Manus and was tortured by ISIS. He had 11 bones in his body broken. He was incredibly sick when I saw him on Manus and here he is now looking so much better. I wrote “We Live and We Die” with another refugee called Kazem after visiting Qassim in the Lorengau hospital on Manus. I will be doing a professional studio recording of this song at the end of November. He is still in detention here in Australia and who knows how long the government will keep them there.

After Brisbane I went down to Port Macquarie then Newcastle and then Gosford. The Port Macquarie was with the Mid North West Refugee Group and Newcastle was organised by Niko at the Hunter Asylum Seekers group. Once again the events were organised beautifully and I was hosted by so many wonderful people all working really hard behind the scenes. My next stop was Sydney where I did my final two performances, one with the Hawkesbury Rural Australian for Refugees group and the other was actually at a music venue which was a bit novel for this tour… lol…… It was lovely to meet Geoff and Sue who hosted the Hawkesbury event and I really don’t want to miss anyone out because I was so well looked after by so many lovely people. The venue in Crows Nest was called Street Market Asian Tapas Bar and Restaurant and I had a lovely night there too. I was also very happy to be at the tail end of my tour. I was exhausted and really enjoyed my last few days with my very good friend in Sydney.

WAM Nomination

I had the shock of my life a week or so ago when I found out that I had been nominated for the category of “Best Regional Act” for WAM (West Australian Music). I have worked really hard in my music career and I had no idea how hard it actually was when I first started. I never really intended to take it this far but I just love it. Each time I say to myself well that’s it now I’ve done more than I could possibly have imagined, it’s time to get back into normal life but I can’t do that because I have learned in the last 8 years that this is normal life for me….the roller coaster of writing songs, performing, recording and touring. I love it wouldn’t change it for the world.

I received an invitation to the WAM Awards evening for October 31st so I am really looking forward to that. It says leave your ripped jeans at home so it looks like I might have to dress up a bit. :O)

Perth Royal Show

So far October has been extra busy with a gig at the Perth Royal Show and then I have a house concert in Northam for friend and Radio Presenter Allen Tonks. His partner Lisa is celebrating her 50th Birthday. Then I will be going up to Perth for the awards night. Well that’s it from me folks and I look forward to my next update soon.

 

 

Activism, Airplay, Festival, Gigs, Photos, Refugees, Reviews, Song writing, Sydney, Touring, Videos

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Townsville Festival & Manus, Music Talk’s

July 10, 2019 0 Comments

Townsville Festival

I’ve just finished my last gig at the Albany Boatshed Markets before I head off over east for 4 weeks. I haven’t done a 3 hr gig for a while so it was quite an achievement to get through so early on a Sunday morning … lol.

It’s that time of year again and I am very excited to have been invited to the 25th Townsville Cultural Fest which starts on Friday 16th August.

I will be playing on three different occasions on the “Music Stage” and not only that but Xavier Rudd is going to be there and Baker Boy! and many other great artists which is very exciting!!!. This is an all inclusive festival and gender equity is a priority for Farvardin Daliri the Director and founder of the event 25 years ago.

The other very exciting news is that I will be releasing my new EP “Can’t Let Go” at the festival. I will have the hard copies in my hands very soon. They can also be ordered from Bandcamp as a digital download or a hard copy.

Manus, Music Talk’s Tour

The people who know me would be very aware of my activism with regards to the refugees being held in offshore detention.  My song writing has merged more and more with my connection with the refugees and their plight. The recent election brought a considerable amount of despair to the refugees on Manus and Nauru because if Labor won there was hope.  I am not really politically aligned but I do care about people and the planet. Labor was going to accept the New Zealand deal and Labor supported the Medivac Bill. 

So after a week on floor crying I felt the need to get back on the road to do what I love that is playing music and touring from Cairns down to Sydney. I will do “Music talks” at as many towns as possible, so far I have 8 bookings. I will be playing songs that I have written, and dedicated to the refugees for the past 2 years and also a song that I wrote with one of the musicians on Manus. Please check out “”Doco Screenings & Music Talks” link on my main page.

I have found music to be a great platform to engage with people and it feels soooooo good to have a purpose for my art.  I guess throughout history it’s been the artists that have forced change and I really do believe we are at a point in history where logic, reason and policies will not cut it anymore. I want to weave the story of offshore detention and onshore detention with my songs and offer a QandA at the end. The idea is to encourage people to find creative ways to force change and who knows what could happen.

 

Studio Recording and Airpla

Thanks to Rob Castiglioni and Tony King I now have a new studio recording of one of my new tracks “In My Name”. We did it in my music room right here in Denmark WA and it was a lot of fun.

I’ve also had the surprise of receiving my AMRAP Airit report only to find out that I have been getting a fair bit of airplay on community radio across Australia. So I want thank all those radio presenters who have ordered my tracks and given them a spin on air. They include Libby Carmody from Tjuma Pulka Media Aboriginal Corp , Peter from The Cleaner show at Seymour FM, Alan Edwards from the Musical Australiania show at  OKR FM, Junita from Outback Junita’s Aussie Playlist at ROX FM and Wendy from Noosa FM Wendy’s Words at Play show, The Dylersloop show at Nambucca Valley Radio, Disc Drive show at Artsound FM , Sally’s Environmix at Alex FM, then Carmen Moran at Highland FM Sunday Breakfast show, The Folk Show with Julie and David at Radio Adelaide and I’m sure I’ve missed a few out but I will add them next time.

 

Activism, Gigs, Refugees, Song writing, Touring

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