Shane Howard
Warrnambool musician Shane Howard is riding the crest of a wave of success, releasing his latest album Clan last week and securing a support spot with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. Howard recorded and produced Clan, his fifth solo album, at his local studio. The album emerged after Howard's three trips to Ireland, four years of intensive research into the history of Irish migration to Australia and researching his own ancestry. The album considers the parallels between the Irish and Aboriginal experiences of colonisation and dispossession, most notably explored in the song Silvermines. Other songs on the album confront issues including cultural exile and the Eureka Stockade and some pay homage to Australia and its native people, specifically to the district's Gunditjmara clan. Howard secured the support spot with Browne and Raitt when they personally decided to include him on their Australian tour after hearing his material. He will perform with Browne and Raitt in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne next month. Howard will also share the bill with artists including Midnight Oil at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland at the end of December, which will include a special performance of his former band, Goanna. Goanna basked in the national spotlight after releasing its Solid Rock album in 1982, and since disbanding 10 years ago it reformed briefly in February to perform at the Tarerer in Warrnambool. Howard said the decision to reform the band for the two special performances was for its memory. "It's important to retell the stories, to keep the songlines alive. There is a strong sense of responsibility", he said. "In many ways Goanna was more of a concept than an actual band".
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