National Indigenous Music Awards announce MCs

PRESS RELEASE:

NITV and SBS journalist and presenter Malarndirri McCarthy has been confirmed to MC this year’s National NIMAs. Joining her is cabaret comedian Kamahi Djordon King [aka Constantina Bush] no doubt ensuring a witty banter to impress and engage all members of this diverse audience.

Malarndirri and Kamahi will lead the evening’s proceedings headlined by the highly anticipated premiere performance of The Genesis Project by East Journey and Yothu Yindi. Also taking to the NIMA stage is the inimitable Frank Yamma, NT local favorites from Tiwi Island B2M and The Painted Ladies . In a wonderful act of synchronicity NITV announce they will premiere the screening of a 30-minute documentary about The Painted Ladies project on Wednesday July 1st at 10pm and repeated on Sunday July 5th at 8.30pm. Titled The Loner [revisited] this doco explores this project which centres around two singer/songwriters, both with strong cultural roots in Australia’s First Nations and both with a strong connection to song. Vic Simms is a (Koori) Bidjigal elder from Botany Bay. Luke Peacock is a young (Darnley Island) man of Torres Strait Islander heritage, living in Brisbane. They have never met face-to-face, though have been brought together by Luke’s chance discovery of a cassette, containing an album by Vic Simms called The Loner. This album was recorded in 1973 in the kitchen of Bathurst Gaol, where Vic was incarcerated at the time. Almost impossible to find, The Loner has been described as “Australia's great lost classic album of black protest music". Its legacy and mystery is a story unto itself, which will be explored and will form the soundtrack of this project.

The Painted Ladies brings together the next generation of indigenous & islander artists to revisit and revive songs from this long lost seminal album is sure to be a highlight both on the screen and on the NIMA stage.