It’s NAIDOC Week 2023, and Apple Music has partnered with several acclaimed First Nations artists to curate and share new playlists to mark the occasion.
Each artist took creative control to make their special playlist, one that speaks to this year’s NAIDOC Week theme of “For Our Elders.” Their playlist joins Apple Music’s First Nations collection of playlists dedicated to showcasing vital First Nations stories and artists, including FIRST, MOTHER, BLAKLIST, and ALWAYS.
Following Emma Donovan is country music star Troy Cassar-Daley, who wanted to acknowledge that “we arrived on the shoulders of our elders.”
“This theme resonated with me the moment I read it,” the proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung man explains. “There are so many songs that we grew up with in our family, and many of these songs formed me as a musician. I played along with Jimmy Little, Roger Knox and Warumpi Band on my home stereo, and the songs and artists gave me a sense of belonging. That is how I hope the listener feels while listening.”
Cassar-Daley chose 25 songs for his playlist, including anthems from a wide variety of genres. “It has one common theme: Indigenous people who have spent a lifetime in search of unity, making music at the same time [as] they have been the yardsticks for my life and career,” he adds.
You can check out the country singer-songwriter’s full playlist below, which features Goanna’s “Children of the Southern Land”. “This song was played many times in my old cover band back home. It talks of struggle and change. These themes are still current to this very day,” Cassar-Daley says.
He also picked “Down City Streets” by Archie Roach, due to it giving him “shivers” upon every listen. “It paints a perfect picture of homelessness. Once again, resonating with me and many others through Aunty Ruby’s beautiful lyrics.” There’s also L.J. Hill’s “Pretty Bird Tree”, chosen for having “great lyrics and loads of reality.”
