by Peter Dawson

Created on: July 21, 2008

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has absorbed his Land and the world beyond through sound. Blind from birth Gurrumul, like Stevie Wonder, sees' everything around him through his ears. His experiences he then translates into music. This man of 37years does not strike one as an overly tactile person and never learned Braille, does not use a seeing-eye dog or a white cane. When Gurrumul performs he sits still as a rock, the songs radiating from every pore in his body, emanating from his soul within.

An Australian Aboriginal, Geoffrey, or as he is affectionately called Gudjuk, is a member of his father's Gumatj nation. His mother hails from the Galpu nation, both First Nations peoples from North East Arnhemland. Descendant from people who say, "We don't own the Land, the Land owns us", Gurrumul's music is a conduit for the Land's spirituality, its Law and Legends, as well as his own personal and hard-won life story. Gurrumul lives between Darwin and his homeland at Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island, off the north coast, a very isolated 560 kilometres (approx 350 miles) from Darwin. He grew up immersed in traditional Yolgnu culture which, like all Australian indigenous cultures revers music, both traditional and contemporary, through its associated songlines, as a combination of the sacred, a teaching tool, communication and an entertainment. He speaks several Yolgnu languages as well as English. As a youngster he was also engrossed in the songs of Elvis Presley, Dire Straits, Eagles and Neil Diamond, as well as the Warumpi Band and other aboriginal artists.

A former member of the seminal Yolgnu band Yothu Yindi, he started at the age of 16 on drums, and toured overseas with them for seven years, before establishing his own outfit the Saltwater Band. The band's music is a smooth blend of reggae, rock, folk and country, played by dozens of brother groups (such as Wild Water, Nabarlek, Sunrize Band and Letterstick) in all the coastal communities, and known as the saltwater style. Common traditional songlines often mean that between the bands there is co-ownership of modern compositions, often having ancient, time-honoured roots. With its members from Galiwin'ku, Saltwater Band is very popular at festivals and hugely adored particularly in indigenous communities, to a large degree, because of Gurrumul's quite presence, yet strong creative guidance.

His ethereal voice conveys the songs of his Gumatj country haunting the listener. He has the unique ability to reconnect the most dispossessed

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