IN family backyards, at the footy and in the street there’s a buzz of excitement as locals hum or sing the chorus of new songs composed by Warren H. Williams.In town recently as part of the Song Peoples Sessions, Warren (pictured) recorded an album celebrating Tennant Creek and the Warumungu people with contemporary and traditional music.

One song called ‘Jurnkurakurr’, which has youngsters from Barkly College high school singing in the chorus, is an ode to Tennant Creek.

There’s a lullaby, a gospel song and a cheeky upbeat track called ‘Warumungu Kirriji’, which local ladies will love. It’s an ode to Warumungu women with a rousing chorus from a big bunch of young, local Aboriginal men and footy players from the Clontarf Academy.

Warren’s songs were founded on highlighting the Song Peoples project’s purpose to affirm Indigenous identity and reinforce and maintain traditional cultural material and language.

He pays his respects to the last song men still here and practicing in the Barkly in a hauntingly beautiful number, and during the Song Peoples project also worked closely with local interpreters and elders who recorded 19 traditional songs in Warumungu and Warlmanpa.

“In the two weeks that Warren was here recording, there was a real buzz of activity around town as elders, youngsters, local interpreters and young Aboriginal men around town celebrated Warumungu culture through music,” said Song Peoples Producer Patrick McCloskey.

Although born at the remote community of Hermannsburg about 120km west of Alice Springs, Warren has strong family ties to this region through his Warumungu grandmother.

One of the most loved Indigenous identities on the Australian music scene, Warren remembers visiting Tennant Creek and hearing his grandmother speaking Warumungu when he was a kid but he didn’t speak a word.

He had to learn the language for the album and as he immersed himself in the culture it was like finding the other half of himself. “It was a whole part of my life I’ve never expressed before … a truly emotional journey,” said Warren.

Presented by Barkly Regional Arts and the Winanjjikari Music Centre, the Song Peoples Sessions recording project celebrates the collaboration between traditional and contemporary Indigenous musicians to support Indigenous language maintenance and keeping the culture strong.

“The project respects and celebrates the process of traditional singing and song to Indigenous cultural practices and its integral importance to traditional stories, customary law, connection to country, ceremony, dance, the performing arts and the visual arts,” said Patrick.

“This process of collaboration provided an important framework for the articulation of the Warumungu identity.”

Funded by the Federal Government’s Maintenance of Indigenous Languages and Records program and the NT Department of Education and Training, the Song Peoples Sessions project has been a long time coming.

The first half of the project saw singer/songwriter Shellie Morris go to Borroloola earlier this year to record traditional tracks with the Yanyuwa, Gurdanji and Garrawa singers.

She also wrote new compositions paying respect to the ancient melodies and stories from her grandmother’s Yanyuwa country.

As with Warren, this was also an emotional journey for Shellie and there wasn’t a dry eye in the studio as recording engineer Tim Cole, from Wantok Musik Foundation, made the final touches to tracks.

During Warren’s sessions, elders from all over the Barkly region, including Dick Foster, Michael Jones, Colin Freddy, Peppy Simpson, Banjo Johnny, Michael Williams, Bobby Thompson and Harry Morrison, took part in the recording of traditional songs.

The Plummer family - Desmond, Cameron and Ronald - also worked with Warren on some of the songs, and local translators and interpreters - Valda Shannon, Rosemary Plummer, Heather Rosas, Barbara Foster, Sheila Braedon Johnson and Dianne Stokes - worked alongside the project’s language coordinator Karin Riederer, translating lyrics into Warumungu and Warlmanpa and assisting Warren with phrasing.


At the age of six, Warren started playing guitar with his father, the legendary Gus Williams. So he knows the importance of passing on skills to youngsters, which dovetailed into the Song People project’s other aim of teaching language to children through song.

“Younger generations came to learn the lyrics and Warumungu language to sing on the choruses of some of Warren’s songs for the album,” said Patrick.

“It was an amazing time with much thanks to Barkly Arts and the crew at Winanjjikari Music Centre to help everything come together.”

The CD from Warren’s recording sessions, which includes a special dedication to Mr D.D Frank as a proud and resounding example of a traditional cultural leader, knowledge keeper and songman, is expected to be launched at this year’s Desert Harmony Festival. Shellie’s CD will be available later on in the year.


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