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Explore powerful stories at the intersection of history, culture, and music—from Aboriginal cricket pioneers and war heroes to legendary albums by Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Gurrumul. This blog dives deep into First Nations resilience, iconic protest music, and untold truths that shaped Australia and the world. Engaging, thoughtful, and unapologetically real—where powerful voices from the past meet today's social conversation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this page contains images and names of deceased persons.
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Music
What made these legendary albums great? Read about the music behind the great albums by Black Artists. Hendrix, Gurrumul, James Brown, Yothu Yindi and more.
Kardajala Kirridarra — Kardajala Kirridarra (2017)
Released in July 2017, Kardajala Kirridarra introduced the world to an extraordinary collaboration of Mudburra women from Marlinja and Kulumindini in the Northern Territory, joined by Melbourne-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Beatrice Lewis. The name translates roughly as “Sandhill Women”, referring to a mysterious bush woman from the sandhills behind Marlinja whose descendants are part of the group’s story. Musically, the album occupies a fascinating space between a
Groote Broadcasting
14 hours ago2 min read
Music Spotlight: A songman from the Gulf. A flamenco guitarist from Barcelona.
Ngulmiya Nundhirribala comes from Numbulwar, a coastal community in Arnhem Land on the Gulf of Carpentaria — just 55 kilometres west of Groote Eylandt, where his mother's family is from. This is Gulf country talent on the world stage. And what a talent. Ngulmiya is a traditional songman and ceremony leader — just as his father and grandfather were before him. His singing style has developed over thousands of years, largely in isolation in one of the most remote corners of the
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 192 min read
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![Music Spotlight: From My Eyes [1982].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_333729ee3d674455853045ca8770e4d6~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_333729ee3d674455853045ca8770e4d6~mv2.png)
Music Spotlight: From My Eyes [1982].
A group of young Aboriginal men, most of them raised on Koonibba Mission near Ceduna in South Australia, came together while studying at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide. It was there, for the first time, that they heard the sounds coming out of Jamaica — Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff. Reggae. Music of struggle, of resistance, of a people refusing to be broken. And something clicked. Led by Pitjantjatjara man Bart Willoughby on drums and vocals, th
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 122 min read
Big Name, No Blankets : Warumpi Band.
In 1985, a band from the remote Central Australian community of Papunya released an album that would become one of the landmark recordings in Australian music. 'Big Name, No Blankets' was Warumpi Band’s debut studio album, capturing the raw energy of a group that was already breaking down musical and cultural barriers. Led by the charismatic George Rrurrambu, with Neil Murray and brothers Sammy and Gordon Butcher, Warumpi Band fused rock and roll with Luritja, Gumatj and Engl
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 52 min read
Music Spotlight: The Fresh Prince of Arnhem Land — Baker Boy.
Born in Darwin in 1996, Baker Boy grew up in Milingimbi and Maningrida — two remote communities in north-east Arnhem Land. A Yolŋu man, raised on Country, immersed in dance, language and culture from the very beginning. And he took all of that — every bit of it — and did something nobody had done before. He became the first Indigenous artist to achieve mainstream success rapping in Yolŋu Matha. Think about how big that is. Rapping...one of the most globally dominant sounds on
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 292 min read
“Black Boy” by Coloured Stone.
Released in the early 1980s, the track helped bring the voice of Aboriginal Australia into the mainstream through the infectious sound of one of the country's pioneering Indigenous rock bands. Led by Bunna Lawrie, Coloured Stone brought together rock, reggae, pop and traditional Indigenous influences, creating a sound that was unmistakably Australian — but unlike anything else on the radio at the time. “Black Boy” has an irresistible groove, but underneath the rhythm is somet
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 211 min read
Yothu Yindi — Treaty and the Moment Everything Changed.
If you want a single moment that represents the breakthrough of Indigenous music into the Australian mainstream, this is it. Yothu Yindi — a band of Yolŋu and non-Indigenous musicians from Arnhem Land — released Treaty in 1991, a powerful protest against the Australian Government's failure to honour Prime Minister Bob Hawke's promise of a treaty, made at the Barunga Festival in 1988. The original version struggled for commercial airtime. Then a Melbourne DJ remixed it into a
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 151 min read
Album Spotlight: Christine Anu — Waku – Minaral A Minalay.
After two decades without a new album of original material, Christine Anu returned with something far more meaningful than a comeback record. Waku – Minaral A Minalay is a beautiful journey into family, Country, language and memory, drawing heavily on songs passed down from Anu’s grandfather, Saibai Island songman Nadi Anu. Working with longtime collaborator David Bridie, Anu blends traditional Torres Strait Islander music with contemporary production, creating something that
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 81 min read
Music Spotlight. Mile Davis: 'Bitches Brew'.
More than half a century after its release in 1970, it remains one of the boldest, most divisive and ultimately influential recordings ever made. It's tempting to describe Bitches Brew as a jazz album, but that barely scratches the surface. Jazz is its foundation, yet the record reaches far beyond it, absorbing the pulse of rock, the hypnotic repetition of funk, the freedom of the avant-garde and the rhythmic traditions of Africa. Davis wasn't interested in preserving jazz as
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 12 min read
Music Spotlight: Kendrick Lemar; 'To Pimp A Butterfly' (2015)
By the time Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly in 2015, he had already established himself as one of hip-hop's most gifted storytellers. good kid, m.A.A.d city had cemented his reputation as a lyrical heavyweight with cinematic vision. The expectation was that he'd make another great rap album. Instead, he made something far more ambitious. To Pimp a Butterfly isn't simply an album; it's a sprawling work of art that refuses to stand still. It fuses hip-hop with jazz,
Groote Broadcasting
Jun 272 min read
Artist Spotlight: Emma Donovan.
Emma Donovan is one of those artists that has the rare ability to make you feel every word they sing. A proud Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji woman, Emma has spent more than two decades establishing herself as one of Australia's most respected and beloved performers. Whether she's singing soul, country, gospel or blues, there's an authenticity to her music that can't be taught. It comes from culture, family, experience and a deep connection to story. Born into the renowned Donovan m
Groote Broadcasting
Jun 201 min read
Music Spotlight | Frank Yamma
Central Australia has a sound. It's in the heat that radiates off red rock at dusk, in the dry creek beds, in the silence that stretches further than most people are comfortable with. Frank Yamma somehow put all of that into a guitar and a voice — and the result is some of the most honest music this country has ever produced. Frank was born at a waterhole in Kaltukatjara in Australia's Northern Territory and grew up in Alice Springs. His father, Isaac Yamma, was a pioneer — o
Groote Broadcasting
Jun 132 min read
Barunga Festival: What It Is, Why It Matters, and Why You Should Know About It
If you've never heard of Barunga Festival, you're not alone — but you probably should have. Every King's Birthday long weekend in June, something quietly extraordinary happens in a small Aboriginal community 80 kilometres southeast of Katherine in the Northern Territory. Thousands of people roll in from across Australia — and beyond — set up tents in the red dust, and spend three days immersed in one of the most authentic Indigenous cultural experiences this country has to of
Groote Broadcasting
Jun 84 min read
Music Spotlight | 'Gurrumul' — Dr G. Yunupingu (2008)
There are albums that entertain you. There are albums that impress you. And then, very rarely, there is an album that does something you can't quite explain — that reaches past your ears and lands somewhere deeper. 'Gurrumul' is that kind of album. Dr Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was a man of the Gumatj clan of northeast Arnhem Land. He was born blind, and yet as a child he taught himself guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo — feeling his way through music the way others mig
Groote Broadcasting
Jun 62 min read
Music Spotlight | BRIGGS.
Some artists make music. Briggs makes history. And he's been doing it so consistently, so fearlessly, for so long, that it's easy to forget just how much ground this bloke has covered. Adam Briggs — born and raised in Shepparton, Victoria — is a proud Yorta Yorta man, and he wears that identity literally: the name of his people is tattooed on both forearms. "So every time I rock the mic," he's said, "people know that I am representing." That says everything about where he's c
Groote Broadcasting
May 303 min read
Artist Spotlight: William Barton.
He grew up on a cattle station outside Mt Isa, picked up a didgeridoo at age seven, and somehow ended up performing at Westminster Abbey, Anzac Cove, and the Beijing Olympics. That's William Barton, and his story is something else entirely. For anyone who hasn't heard of him — you're about to want to fix that. William started learning the yidaki from his uncle, Arthur Peterson, an Elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga people. It wasn't a formal lesson. It was a handover
Groote Broadcasting
May 233 min read
Artist Spotlight: Ziggy Ramo
An award-winning musician, writer and producer of Wik and Solomon Islander heritage, Ziggy Ramo has become one of the most fearless and important voices in contemporary Australian music. Through hip hop, soul, spoken word and razor-sharp storytelling, he’s built a body of work that confronts racism, identity, history and healing — without ever losing sight of humanity. What makes Ziggy stand out is his ability to balance power with vulnerability. One moment he’s delivering bl
Groote Broadcasting
May 161 min read
Artist Spotlight: Alan Dargin.
He started at age five, with a hundred-year-old instrument and a grandfather's hands guiding his own. Born in Wee Waa, New South Wales in 1967, Dargin began learning the didgeridoo at age five from his grandfather, who passed down the instrument as a treasured family heirloom — cut from a variety of bloodwood tree that has since gone extinct. Those early lessons weren't just music lessons. They were a transmission of culture, story, and identity across generations. The didger
Groote Broadcasting
May 92 min read
We are now LIVE at 5.00am!
New broadcasting times are now in effect and don't forget the sensational sista's Amathea and Jaslyn will be starting their new Daily Show soon! Stay tuned.
Groote Broadcasting
May 41 min read
'The Loner' by Vic Simms.
Some albums are polished in studios. Others are forged under pressure — and 'The Loner' is about as raw and real as it gets. Recorded in just one hour inside Bathurst Gaol in 1973, with a mobile studio rolled in by RCA, this wasn’t meant to be a landmark moment in Australian music. It was supposed to be a public relations exercise for the prison system. Instead, it became something else entirely. Vic Simms — a Bidjigal man and inmate at the time — turned that brief window int
Groote Broadcasting
May 22 min read
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