Warren H Williams
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | MAJOR
Music
Press
Journeying back to his paternal grandmother's land to learn Warumungu and record with The Song Peoples Sessions and become a Winanjjara himself. - Tim Cole
Warren H. Williams is one of the most celebrated indigenous identities in the local music scene. He has released many albums and recorded and performed with the likes of John Williamson, Greg Champion, Jimmy Little, Johnny Chester, Amos Morris and Ted Egan. He won a golden guitar at the country music awards of Australia in 2009. He also ran for the senate in 2010. He is now based in Alice Springs and he has a new album out called Urna Mara. - Vibe Australia
Warren H Williams cemented his relationship with his dad, Gus, at the Tamworth Country Music Festival this year.
They are the first Indigenous father and son team to be honoured in the Hands of Fame Park in Tamworth, where Australian country music legends are invited to leave their handprints in wet cement. In fact there is only one other pair, Lee Kernaghan and his father Ray, who have been recognized in this way.
- Vibe Australia
Mayrah Sonter chats with Warren H Williams before the 2012 Deadlys - Vibe Australia
Not only has Warren H. Williams just released his sixth studio album, Urna Marra (‘Good Country’), he’s not long returned from the 40th Tamworth Country Music Festival where he performed 17 gigs in 8 days! - Music NT
"I’ve sung for thousands when I was with John (Williamson), but getting up on that stage at Tennant Creek was really special." - Music NT
Today we’re talking to one of country music’s leading stars, Warren H Williams. - Newslines Radio
Winanjjara - Album of the Week - ABC Music
The Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board is proud to present this year’s Red Ochre Award to Western Aranda country music singer and songwriter Warren H Williams for his outstanding contribution to the music industry. - Australia Council
Discography
Disography
1995 Western Wind (CAAMA Music)
1998 Country Friends & Me (John Williamson, Greg Champian, Jimmy Little, Johnny Chester, Natasha Fullerton & Ted Egan) (CAAMA Music)
2001 Where my Heart is (CAAMA Music)
2002 Places in Between (CAAMA Music)
2005 Be Like Home (CAAMA Music)
2009 Looking Out (ABC Music/Heartland)
2011 Urna Marra (ABC Music/Heartland)
2012 Winanjjara (ABC Music)
Photos
Bio
Warren H Williams first started playing guitar at the age of six, jamming with his father, the legendary Gus Williams.
He was brought up on country music but also pursued the pleasures of rock and roll, developing his guitar skills.
He says now he understands why his dad pushed him to practice each day when all the other kids were playing, crediting his mastery of guitar, piano, drums and other instruments to this influence.
Country music has been a mainstay throughout his career, although this year he has also written and recorded his first language album, Winanjjara in the Warumungu tongue of his paternal grandmother.
This project was part of the Song People Sessions run through Barkly Arts and has received acclaim across the country with ABC Music currently finalising negotiations to distribute the album and negotiations underway with Chugg Entertainment to tour.
Born at the remote community of Hermannsburg about 120kms west of Alice Springs, Warren H Williams is now one of the biggest Indigenous names on the country music scene in Australia.
He has toured all over Australia, Europe, America and New Zealand including regular appearances at Tamworth & other major country music festivals.
The highlight of Warrens career to date was to receive a standing ovation when performing at the Country Music Association of Australia Awards night in Tamworth in 1998 with John Williamson after the duo performed Raining on the Rock which has become an anthem for reconciliation.
That duet, Raining on the Rock, with John Williamson is one of Australias most recognised country songs ever.
He has recorded with some other of Australias finest musicians including Greg Champian, Jimmy Little, Johnny Chester, Pixie Jenkins and Ted Egan.
Moving further into the arts, in 2007 he wrote a play, The Magic Coolamon, and more recently, developed and hosted the popular Pmarra Country on NITV. This year he worked with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra on some original pieces as well as an adaptation of Dusty Ballarina which premiered as Songs from Big Sky Country at the Alice Desert Festival.
He is currently working on an operatic piece telling the story of the Magic Coolamon for debut on-site at Gosses Bluff, Northern Territory, in 2013.
He has collaborated with National Indigenous Television (NITV) to host a music show television production, Pmarra Country, which has enjoyed repeated success on the channel.
Warren also was part of the production of a theatre presentation in South Australia about the anthropologist Ted Strelhow, as a cultural advisor, which premiered in February 2008.
In 2011, he featured in a Tourism Australia advertising campaign, Theres nothing like Australia promoting his Western Aranda country, Palm Valley alongside other fellow Australians showcasing the vast beauty of Australia.
Warren is a regular DJ on CAAMA Radio and is syndicated to community radio stations through National Indigenous Radio Service right across Australia each week.
Warren is in high demand for his guitar skills and can often be seen helping out on stage, in recording studios or penning songs for his many friends and talented family in the music industry in the Northern Territory.
Stage presence
Warren has toured all over Australia and New Zealand including regular appearances at Tamworth & other major country music festivals.
Large performances:
Corrobboree, Sydney (2000)
Yeperenye Federation Festival in Alice Springs
Royal Melbourne Show
National Indigenous Music Awards
Deadlys Awards
Gympie Muster
Harmony Festival, Tennant Creek (2011)
Parliament House NITV programming launch (2010)
Alice Springs Desert Festival
NAIDOC events around the country
Toured internationally with John Williamson for 15 years (US, NZ, Aus)
NITV free to air broadcast 12.12.12 Uluru, NT
Awards
2009 - Golden Guitar (Australia is another word for free)
January 2008 - inducted into the Hands of Fame at Tamworth
2006 - NAIDOC Artist of the Year
2005 - Most Popular Song 2005 (Dreamtime Baby)
2004 - Male Artist of the Year - Inaugural NT Indigenous Music Awards
2004 - Country Music Centenary Medal from CMAA for service to Australian society through music
2001 - Deadly Sounds Album of the Year (Where My Heart Is)
1998 ARIA Nomination - Best Indigenous Release (Raining On The Rock)
2012 Red Ochre Award Australian Council for the Arts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board
Links
