Indigenous Singer On The Starting Blocks In London

AS our top athletes dream of competing at the Olympic Games in London this year there’s one proud Australian who already has booked his place in the line-up for an Olympic main event.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Frank Yamma, whose songs have their roots in the culture of Australia’s central desert, has been chosen to play at the BT River of Music Festival, one of the biggest entertainment events taking place in the English capital during its pre-Games celebrations in July.

The Adelaide-based musician will join a wealth of international stars at the event, including US pop band Scissor Sisters, singer Angelique Kidjo, renowned Senegalese singer Baaba Maal and world-famous jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis.

The free Olympics festival is being staged at six venues along the Thames on July 21 and 22, a week before Yamma, who is doing his second tour of Britain, plays at the world music WOMAD festival in England.

“It’s amazing to be playing with all of these other artists,” Yamma says. “I’ve played in England before and it went really well so I’m really looking forward to it.

“My music can take people to a place they have never been. And it can bring together a lot of people from different cultures and different nationalities.”

Yamma, a Pitjantjatjara man, sings in his indigenous language and in English, and many of his songs focus on the land and Aboriginal culture. His 2010 album Countryman received positive reviews in Australia and Britain.

It hasn’t been all good news for the talented songwriter in recent weeks, however.

Shortly before Yamma was due to play concerts in the US he was refused entry by Homeland Security due to his criminal record, albeit for minor offences and despite the fact he has performed there before.

“That was a bit of a disappointment because I’ve been to America before,” he says. “There was some personal stuff on my profile that we couldn’t get through this time but I hope I’ll be able to go back there again.”

For the moment, however, Yamma’s focus lies closer to home. This weekend he performs with Papua New Guinea artist George Telek in Melbourne before heading to the National Folk Festival in Canberra over the Easter break.