Renowned singer/song writer Archie Roach has announced he is unable to attend Woodford Folk Festival this year.
However, his spot on the Concert and First Nations stages will reflect the joy his songs have brought to the nation in the tribute A Song for Archie.
Featuring Shane Howard with King Kadu, Blue King Brown, Radical Son, Tim Freedman (The Whitlams), Leah Flanagan and Microwave Jenny will perform a range of songs from his career.
The finale will be an all-in rendition of Took the Children Away in honour of the award-winning performer.
Archie Roach’s first album Charcoal Lane was released in 1990 and produced by Paul Kelly and has been followed by a series of acclaimed albums that have seen him win two Aria Awards and a Human Rights Award.
This year, he lost his wife, soul-mate and musical collaborator, Ruby Hunter and has suffered a number of health complaints since this shock.
The stellar line-up who will stand on stage to sing to Archie’s success and health will join an impressive list of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders performing at this year’s Woodford festival from 27 December 2010 to 1 January 2011.
Dynamic group Dubmarine will rock the audience with four sets while the rockin’ Buddy Knox Blues Band is travelling from Tamworth to get the feet moving.
Meanwhile, Radical Son will challenge with their lyrics and Adam James’ country music will stream across the site.
No doubt Arrested Development will have a large following from the whole Woodford audience as the group tread the boards with some of their 90s favourites like People Everyday as well as new releases.
Woodford Folk Festival boasts an aggregate audience of around 120,000 people who travel from across the country and overseas to enjoy the days of great music and excellent presentations.
This year, Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd are among the line-up of speakers along with Kerry O’Brien, Sandy McCutcheon and many more of Australia’s leading spokespeople on society and the environment.
In the mean time, Archie will rest up and prepare for a tribute concert called Nukkan Ya Ruby, which honours Ruby’s life through her songs and stories in the Domain on Saturday, 8 January as part of a free concert on the first night of the Sydney Festival.
Archie will be joined by Uncle Jimmy Little, Tiddas, Renee Geyer, Emma Donovan, Paul Kelly, Dan Sultan and Katie Noonan to name a few.