Songman, portrait of Kev Carmody, 2006

Kev Carmody (b. 1946), singer/songwriter and storyteller, was born in Cairns and grew up on a cattle station on the Darling Downs, where his parents worked as drovers. Aged ten, he and his brother were sent away from their parents to a so-called school in Toowoomba, where they experienced frequent punishment but little education. At university from the late 70s but initially having minimal command of reading and writing, Carmody gained permission from his tutors to present work orally, accompanied by himself on guitar. He completed his BA at the University of Southern Queensland but set aside his PhD when signed to record his first album, Pillars of Society (1988) – subsequently described by one journalist as ‘arguably the best protest album ever made in Australia’. Another four albums followed, among them Bloodlines (1993), which included Carmody’s own rendition of the land rights anthem, ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’, which he co-wrote with Paul Kelly in 1991. Kelly and Archie Roach were among those who contributed to the Carmody tribute album, Cannot Buy My Soul, which won the Deadly Award for Album of the Year in 2007. At the 2005 Deadlys, Carmody received the Jimmy Little Award for his lifetime contribution to music; and in 2009 he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. The University of Southern Queensland awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2008.

Courtesy of Kev Carmody, Song Cycles Pty Ltd.