Mignon

Artist Information

Biography

"Mignon is a socially conscious independent singer- songwriter and activist. She made her mark as a human rights singer resistance concerts in South Africa during the apartheid regime.
Her songs led the first Gay Pride march in Johannesburg and she has gone on to perform at many rallies and events such as IWD, Reclaim the Night, Michigan Womyns Festival and many other events around the world.
Since then she has performed at concerts, festivals and rallys in Australia, USA, Greece, UK and Amsterdam and produced festivals and events.
Mignon's powerful songs of social change cross many music genres and cultures to blend with ease and a sense of human passion and rawness from South African township rhythms she grew up with to folk songs and spiritual chants.
She has gathered a following with her passionate anthems and has now recorded everyone’s favorites on her first independently released CD entitled “Gathering Our Tribes" which is being played on radio stations in Australia and the USA. Her song 100 years IWD has been played on community and indepent radio stations and womens festivals in the USA, Europe and Australia"

Instrumentation

Mignon. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, festival and concert producer,

Discography

Songsalive CD sampler 10 2009

Gathering Our Tribes CD (Aust) 2008

Wires animal rescue CD compilation 2005
"Refugee" song (Aust)

Sistajive CD compilation " Gathering our Tribes" song recorded (Aust) 1997

Coaltown Tracks. Compilation from the Northern Suburbs Music Association (Aust) 1996

Fists to the Sun. A cassette of 10 original songs London (UK) 1988









Performances (abridged)
2010
Concert with Jane Siberry Sydney Australia
Spiritfest 2010 Sydney Australia
Women and Spirituality Harmony Centre
Women's Peace March Byron Bay Australia

2009
Women's festival Skala Eressos Greece
Sappho's Club Amsterdam
Lazy Daze Coffee House Indianapolis
Wyndover Resort Michigan USA
Pow Wow Chicago Illinois USA

Illawarra Folk Festival Wollongong Australia
Spiritfest Sydney
International Women’s Day Wollongong
Songsalive songwriters competition Sydney
Selected for the Songsalive Cd sampler 10 International

2008
The Harp Tempe - Sydney (Aust) Support act to Sonia of 'Disappear Fear' (Canadian act)
Viva Acoustic - Wollongong (Aust)
Illawarra Folk Club - Wollongong (Aust)
August Night Cafe - Michigan Women's Festival (US)
SongsAlive Showcase - Newtown, Sydney (Aust)Spiritfest - Waterfall (Aust)
International Women's Day - Wollongong (Aust)

2007
Spiritfest 2007 - Sydney (Aust)
Women and Depression Conference - Sydney(Aust)
Reclaim the Night - Wollongong (Aust)
Winterfest - Ballina

2006
Spiritfest 2006 - Sydney (Aust)
International Women’s Day - Wollongong (Aust)
Illawarra Folk Club - Wollongong (Aust)
Bobo’s Dance (Anti-cancer fundraiser) - Wollongong (Aust)

2005
Sydney Spiritual Festival - Sydney (Aust)
International Women’s Day - Wollongong (Aust)

2004
Rally against Racism - Wollongong (Aust)
Sydney Spiritual Festival - Sydney (Aust)
Viva La Gong Multicultural Festival - Wollongong (Aust)
Included on Wires Wildlife Rescue compilation CD

2003
Reclaim the Night - Sydney (Aust)
International Women's Day - Wollongong (Aust)
Sydney Spiritual Festival - Sydney (Aust)

2002
Sistajive Women’s Music Festival - Jervis Bay (Aust)

2001
Sistajive Womens Music Festival - Jervis Bay (Aust)
2000
Sistajive Womens Music Festival - Jervis Bay (Aust)
Makers Market - Wollongong (Aust)
Alpine Hotel - Cooma (Aust)
International Women's Day - Wollongong (Aust)Included on Sistajive Festival Compilation (Aust)

1999
Concert for East Timor - Wollongong (Aust)
The Rex Hotel - Thirroul (Aust)
Club NV Sydney - Sydney (Aust)
International Women's Day - Wollongong (Aust)School of Arts - Wentworth Falls (Aust)
Headlands Hotel - Austinmer (Aust)

1998
Illawarra Folk Club Wollongong (Aust)
May Day Rally Wollongong
Reclaim the Night Sydney
Clarendon Hotel Support act for Kristina Olsen Katoomba
Rubies Café Bulli
The Basement support act for Judy Small Sydney
Horizons Café Bulli
Barleycorn Folk Club Cape Town South Africa
Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre Reiby
ANTAR Sea of Hands for Indigenous Rights Canberra
1997 The Southcoast Women’s music and Arts Festival producer and performer South Coast NSW Australia
Rally Against Racism Sydney
1996 Recorded track on Northern Suburbs music association compilation CD Illawarra Folk Festival Jamberoo
International Women’s day Rally Wollongong
Rubies Café Bulli
Mardi Gras Fairday Sydney Australia

1995 West Coast Music and Comedy Festival Yosemite CA USA
Arthouse Café Madison WI USA
Arizona Women’s Music Festival Arizona USA
Common Ground Café Phoenix AZ USA
Steep and Brew Madison WI USA
Clifton Hotel Clifton Australia
Berry Hotel Berry Australia
Resistance Concert and Rally Sydney Australia
1994 –1990
Hard Rock Café Cape Town South Africa
Moonlight Grill Cape Town
Artemis Café San Francisco USA
Joined original band Fragile Cape Town South Africa

1985 –1990
The Rosemary Branch London UK
The Duke of Wellington London UK
Anti Apartheid Rally London UK
The Trolley Stop launch of solo cassette “ Fists to the Sun” London UK

1982 -1985
Performances in pubs and political rallies in the United Kingdom and South Africa

A separate Resume is available for festival and concert production work, sound engineering and community cultural development.

Links

• Facebook

Audio

• IWD 100 years
  Listen   Download
• the swing to the right
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• Refugee
  Listen   Download
• Dancing with the distance
  Listen   Download
• Stay Out of confusion
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• you reach out
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• zena's kiirtan
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• IWD 100 years
• Stay out of confusion
• Refugee song
• You Reach Out
• Gathering our tribes
• Dancing with the distance
• The song

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Resume [+ Show ]
  

  · Born Cape Town South Africa · 19 April 1959 · Began singing and songwriting at 9 years old ...· Born Cape Town South Africa
  · 19 April 1959
  · Began singing and songwriting at 9 years old
  
  ‘Mignon is a South African born musical activist. Having lived and performed in many countries her songs carry the threads and voices of universal experience and human rights struggles. Her music is a cross between world music and folk with strains of the South African township rhythms she grew up with.
  
  
  Performances a brief version
  
  2007 Performer and sound operator Spiritfest 2007 Sydney Australia
  Performer and sound Women and Depression Conference Sydney Australia
  Reclaim the Night Wollongong Australia
  Winterfest Ballina
  
  2006 Performer Spiritfest 2006 Sydney Australia
  International Women’s Day Rally with Anemone Wollongong Australia
  Illawarra Folk Club with Anemone Wollongong Australia
  Bobo’s dance a fundraising concert for Cancer Wollongong Australia
  
  2005 Sydney Spiritual Festival Sydney Australia
  International Women’s Day Wollongong Australia
  
  2004 Rally against Racism Wollongong
  Sydney Spiritual Festival Sydney
  Viva La Gong Multicultural Festival Wollongong Australia
  Recorded track on Wires Wildlife Rescue compilation CD
  
  2003 Reclaim the Night Sydney
  IWD Wollongong
  Sydney Spiritual Festival Sydney
  
  2002 Sistajive Women’s music Festival producer and performer South Coast NSW
  2000 Sistajive Womens music festival Producer and performer South Coast NSW
  Makers Market Wollongong Australia
  Alpine Hotel Cooma Australia
  IWD Wollongong
  Recorded track on Sistajive Festival Compilation
  
  1999 Concert for East Timor Wollongong
  The Rex Hotel Thirroul
  Club NV Sydney Sydney
  IWD Wollongong
  Wentworth Falls School of Arts Blue Mountains
  Headlands Hotel Austinmer Australia
  1998 Illawarra Folk Club Wollongong
  May day Rally Wollongong
  Reclaim the Night Sydney
  Clarendon Hotel Support act for Kristina Olsen Katoomba
  Rubies Café Bulli
  The Basement support act for Judy Small Sydney
  Horizons Café Bulli
  Barleycorn Folk Club Cape Town South Africa
  Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre Reiby
  ANTAR Sea of Hands for Indigenous Rights Canberra
  1997 The Southcoast Women’s music and Arts Festival producer and performer South Coast NSW Australia
  Rally Against Racism Sydney
  1996 Recorded track on Northern Suburbs music association compilation CD Illawarra Folk Festival Jamberoo
  International Women’s day Rally Wollongong
  Rubies Café Bulli
  Mardi Gras Fairday Sydney Australia
  
  1995 West Coast Music and Comedy Festival Yosemite CA USA
  Arthouse Café Madison WI USA
  Arizona Women’s Music Festival Arizona USA
  Common Ground Café Phoenix AZ USA
  Steep and Brew Madison WI USA
  Clifton Hotel Clifton Australia
  Berry Hotel Berry Australia
  Resistance Concert and Rally Sydney Australia
  1994 –1990
  Hard Rock Café Cape Town South Africa
  Moonlight Grill Cape Town
  Artemis Café San Francisco USA
  Joined original band Fragile Cape Town South Africa
  
  1985 –1990
  The Rosemary Branch London UK
  The Duke of Wellington London UK
  Anti Apartheid Rally London UK
  The Trolley Stop launch of solo cassette “ Fists to the Sun” London UK
  
  1982 -1985
  Performances in pubs and political rallies in the United Kingdom and South Africa
  
  A separate Resume is available for festival and concert production work, sound engineering and community cultural development.
  

• Mignon CD Release [+ Show ]
  

  Mignon is an independent singer songwriter and activist. With a career as performer and festival pro...Mignon is an independent singer songwriter and activist. With a career as performer and festival producer spanning over 4 continents Gathering Our Tribes is her first CD.
  In South Africa Mignon helped coordinate and performed at the first LGBT Gay Pride march, the first women’s concert and the first “Reclaim the night” rally at a time when rallies were illegal. In England she organized antiracism concerts. In Australia she produced the only annual multicultural women’s music festival called “Sistajive” between 1996 and 2001.
  Mignon has gathered a following with her stirring anthems and catchy rhythms in various parts of the world and performed at festivals in Hawaii, Michigan, Cape Town and Australia. Mignon organizes multicultural festivals and events in Sydney and Wollongong Australia, where she now lives.
  Her powerful songs of social change journey smoothly through both cultural and musical genres invoking a human realness in their tone and story. From the South African township rhythms she grew up with to women’s music, folk, pop and spiritual chants, Gathering Our Tribes is a unique contribution to Australian music.
  

• CD strikes chord for human rights [+ Show ]
  

  THE father of Thirroul musician Mignon Lee-Warden was one of 150 people to be charged with ...
  
  THE father of Thirroul musician Mignon Lee-Warden was one of 150 people to be charged with treason along with Nelson Mandela in 1950.
  While all were acquitted following a six-year trial, Leonard Lee-Warden, a member of the South African parliament, remained a human rights activist during dangerous times.
  It's hardly surprising then that his daughter should follow in his footsteps and tomorrow night Ms Lee-Warden will launch her first CD, Gathering Our Tribes, which brings together half a lifetime of musical activism and songs.
  "Growing up in apartheid South Africa, where I would catch the bus home from school and the bus would say, 'Whites Only' or 'Non Whites Only', was a horrible way to live," Ms Lee-Warden said. "So I have always been passionate about human rights and equality and that has been in my music, and all the things I try to do in my life has probably got that drive behind it."
  Ms Lee-Warden moved to the Illawarra 11 years ago and is well known in the community for her work as an arts officer with the Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council. In that role, Ms Lee-Warden was responsible for establishing the annual Wollongong Welcome Here festival for refugees.
  She wrote her first song at age five, but it's taken a while to get to the recording studio.
  "This is the first actual CD I have brought out, but it is after years of playing at political rallies and concerts," Ms Lee-Warden said.
  "I turn 50 next year, so I thought it was about time I finally did it."
  Gathering Our Tribes will be launched tomorrow night at Ryan's Hotel, Thirroul, from 8pm.
  

• A feminist look at Gathering Our Tribes [+ Show ]
  

  Thoughtful and often moving, Gathering Our Tribes is an important addition to our worldwide politica...Thoughtful and often moving, Gathering Our Tribes is an important addition to our worldwide political and spiritual women's music collection. It is everything a feminist, activist, and lesbian could ask for and a whole lot more. Mignon's voice soars through her pop/folk melodies and self penned tracks. The sensitive lyrics are strong and clear and her urging for social change is deeply sincere. "Refugee" and "Global Grieving" remind us of the necessity for grassroots action, while "Edna's Song" is a beautiful ode to Mignon's mother and the journey we all take when we grieve a loved one. My favourite song "Gathering Our Tribes" will continue as a theme for communities who share a vision and love of their tribe. The whole package - the relevant perspectives, the stunning harmonies and the cover photos provide an integrated picture of Mignons life and passions. Join the sisterhood. Go buy it today.

• A review by Russell Hannah [+ Show ]
  

  Mignons CD ‘Gathering Our Tribes’ has been a long time coming but it has been worth the wait. ...
  
  
  Mignons CD ‘Gathering Our Tribes’ has been a long time coming but it has been worth the wait. Mignon Lee-Warden came to the Illawarra from her native South Africa almost 20 years ago and has immersed herself in the cultural life of the Illawarra. She has been the organizer of a number of festivals, the latest being the highly successful ‘Viva la Gong’ and the Illawarra Refugee Festival. As well she has been the organizer of the Global Green stage at the Illawarra Folk Festival the largest in NSW, which is conducted annually by the Illawarra Folk Club.
  
  She has also performed a number of times at the Folk Club both as a solo performer and with her group Anemone.
  
  Given that her father was one of 150 people to be charged with treason along with Nelson Mandela in 1950 it is not surprising that her songs are a strong cry for justice, fairness and social cohesion.
  
  Her powerful and rich voice is accentuated by underlying rhythms and harmonies that clearly have grown out of the musical traditions of her native South Africa. Mignon leaves the listener in no doubt where she stands on issues. ‘Refugee’ for example is not only an indictment of our treatment of boat people but also ‘the man with the golden ring’, the people smuggler. ‘What kind of world do we live in when we’re forced to flee our own homes’, she asks.
  
  In ‘Global Grieving’ she takes on the issue of the amount that is spent on circuses particularly the fireworks at the Sydney Millennium celebrations. The cost of the fireworks could have fed the whole of Africa for a day. ‘Edna’s Song’ a moving song about what is often the longest relationship in one’s life- that with one’s mother is one of the highlights of the album.
  
  The title track ‘Gathering Our Tribes’ redefines the way we think about tribal loyalties. Tribes, to Mignon, have no national or local boundaries but are about the way we think, the songs we sing and the way we react to injustice. As an old activist myself I found the lines ‘I tried to save the world and lost the flame inside of me’ in ‘You Reach Out’ particularly relevant, though I suspect the song is more about love than aging activists.
  
  ‘The Swing to the Right’ was written for a 1999 anti-racism rally but still maintains its relevance while ‘100 years IWD’ celebrates the centenary of International Women’s Day. The final track ‘Zenai Kiirtan’ is the only track not in English but possesses some of the best harmonies on the CD.
  
  All in all ‘Gathering Our Tribes’ is an important addition to the folk musical lexicon. If the role of the folk singer is to ‘chronicle our times’ then Mignon’s first recording does just that. A CD worth adding to any collection.
  
  Russell Hannah
  
  President
  Illawarra Folk Club
  
  
  

Setlist

Original songs. World political pop folk music with a touch of South African township rhythm

Basic Requirements

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