Aussie Music On Our Minds

Ausmusic Month

This November the ABC celebrates Ausmusic Month with something for everyone, bringing audiences everything from quintessential Aussie rock to classical music festivals, from progressive jazz to the melodic sounds of indie pop singer-song writers.

Easy Fever is set to sweep the nation once more with the story of The Easybeats, Friday On My Mind. We get exclusive behind the scenes access to the highly anticipated stage adaptation of Muriel's Wedding: The Musical with Making Muriel; and Double J and ABC Local radio team up to bring us an intimate chat with Bernard Fanning with Songs of Your Streets: Brisbane, in which the musician reveals how Brisbane has shaped his life and music.

ABC Director of Television, David Anderson, says: "The ABC is proud to celebrate Australia's rich musical history and present audiences with a stellar line up of awe-inspiring content throughout Ausmusic Month. We look forward to showcasing a host of music from a variety of genres, with docos, gigs and exclusives galore, celebrating the depth and variety of Aussie music."

ABC Head of Music, Chris Scaddan, says: "Ausmusic Month on the ABC is about admiring the past but also about sharing all the brilliant music being made in Australia right now. We're encouraging every Australian to get involved and appreciate the music being made at home, in all its diversity, from the concert halls to the bedroom studios, from the desert to the inner cities."

Ausmusic T-Shirt Day

We're kicking off the celebrations with Ausmusic T-shirt Day on Friday 3 November. Wear an Aussie musician or band t-shirt on this day and show your pride in Australian music. Take a photo and tag it with #AusmusicTshirtDay to be part of the nationwide celebrations of Australian music. This Ausmusic T-shirt Day, ABC encourages you to get behind Support Act, a charity assisting those working in the music industry who are in crisis. To learn more and help raise funds visit the Support Act website.

Content highlights across the ABC during Ausmusic Month include:

Radio

Double J, ABC Local Radio & ABC iview
Songs of Your Streets: Brisbane, with Bernard Fanning: An Ausmusic Month Special – 6pm on Double J on Monday 13 November; 11am on ABC capital city stations on Friday 17 November and available on ABC iview from 5pm on 13 November

Songs Of Your Streets: Brisbane is an intimate live recording of a conversation between Bernard Fanning and Jacinta Parsons discussing what has driven his song writing career, featuring a short acoustic set by Bernard. The interview has been filmed and will also be available on ABC iview, and will air on Double J and ABC Radio capital city stations across Australia as part of Ausmusic Month in November.

Double J
Double J brings you memorable and essential Australian music performances and stories all month, including live music on Live at the Wireless on Double J from You Am I, Spiderbait, Jebediah, Something for Kate, Missy Higgins and Archie Roach. Dive into Double J's music doco program with the J Files, as they explore the best of the music of WA, Midnight Oil and more. Double J's Classic Albums will be seminal Australian records you know and love, from the Hilltop Hoods to The Hummingbirds. And much-loved Brisbane band Custard are Double J's Artists in Residence for the month, playing you the tunes and telling you tall tales, Sunday afternoons from 3pm.

triple j
J Awards – Thursday 23 November
Tune into triple j from 4pm Thursday 23 November to hear who are the victors of the annual J Awards. Find who will take home triple j Australian Album of the Year, Double J Australian Artist of the Year, triple j Unearthed Artist of the Year and Australian Music Video of the Year as triple j celebrates the best and most creative contributions to Australian music.
triple j will also be presenting all-Australian Like a Version and Live at the Wireless performances throughout November, every Friday and Sunday respectively.

triple j Unearthed
Live At The Steps – 5pm – 9pm on Friday 17 November
triple j Unearthed have teamed up with The Push and Parliament of Victoria to present 2017's Live At The Steps, a free all ages concert held on Parliament steps as part of Melbourne Music Week. The event will see live sets from incredible Australian artists Skegss, Tired Lion, Mallrat and Baker Boy, as well as some very special guests and surprises on the night.

ABC Classic
ABC Classic will mark Ausmusic Month with a diverse range of live and recorded concerts and broadcast content that will celebrate emerging Australian performers and pay tribute to some renowned Australian composers. Highlights include the Australian National Academy of Music Concerto Competition on 17 November, as well as two broadcast concerts from celebrated music festivals the Huntington Chamber Music Festival (from 22 November) and the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival (12 November).

ABC Jazz
ABC Jazz will be hitting the road during Ausmusic Month, bringing live music from Wangaratta, a town that has played host to some of the most progressive Australian (and international) jazz musicians for over two decades. Highlights include coverage of the National Jazz Awards on 5 November. ABC Jazz and ABC Music will also release a digital compilation album, Jazz Calls, boasting some of the best recordings made by the network in the past 18 months.

ABC Local Radio
Rock and Roll Dad – 13 – 17 November on ABC Regional & Nightlife on ABC Local Radio
In the months before Alan Escombe died in his home near Byron Bay NSW he recorded over 200 voice memos, revealing two decades of rock and roll confessions. Alan was the bass guitarist of the 1960's band the Shake Spears whose records today are highly prized collector items. When his son Luke Escombe pressed play, he started a journey re-living with his father adventures of riots, revolution, drugs, war and backstage yarns about some of the biggest names in rock and roll. In a special collaboration with the ABC, these voice recordings are now part of a musical documentary series which will be showcased across ABC Local Radio and Double J this Ausmusic Month.

ABC Melbourne
The Friday Revue – 1pm – 3pm every Friday throughout Ausmusic Month
The Friday Revue with Richelle Hunt and Brian Nankervis will broadcast live each Friday during Ausmusic Month between 1pm – 3pm from different locations across Melbourne. These broadcasts will feature live music, quizzes and discussions about local and national arts and culture.

TV & ABC IVIEW
Friday On My Mind – 8.40pm on Sundays, 26 November and 3 December on ABC & ABC iview
This landmark two-part mini-series that tells the story of five young newly-arrived immigrants who met in Sydney migrant hostel Villawood in the Sixties and went on to form Australia's first truly international rock group, The Easybeats, taking our rock'n'roll sound to the world.
Friday On My Mind is more than a classic rags-to-riches tale. It is a story of identity, re-invention and belonging with a powerful contemporary relevance – and one heck of a soundtrack!

Making Muriel – 7.40pm on Sunday 26 November on ABC & ABC iview
Making Muriel will give audiences exclusive behind the scenes access as P.J. Hogan adapts his iconic film Muriel's Wedding into a stage musical, produced by Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures (Strictly Ballroom The Musical, King Kong The Musical). The documentary examines the enduring popularity of Muriel's Wedding, the origins of the story and its characters. It explores how, 23 years after the film was a surprise box office hit, the uniquely Australian protagonist Muriel Heslop can be reinterpreted for the stage. Featuring never seen before archival elements, Making Muriel will chronicle the full creative process right up until the world premiere of the musical at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney.

Blasko – 9.30pm on Tuesday 14 November on ABC & ABC iview
Sarah Blasko is a pioneer of the Australian indie music scene, and has been a steadily growing music icon since the early 2000s. She has been nominated for countless awards and has gone on to become one of Australia's most successful female singer song writers, walking the line between commercial success and artistic integrity with dignity. Sarah's music is filled with a cinematic sense of wonder and melancholy. Her new venture will be her most courageous undertaking yet.

Blasko will follow Sarah as she creates an album of songs from scratch in a live theatre space with long-time collaborators. Together they will create this album in a high concept setting - a theatre space in at an arts centre complete with film projections, mirror ball and lighting - a very different way to write an album! With unique and intimate access, the creative process of one of Australia's most acclaimed singer songwriters is laid bare. Weaving through an intimate ob-doc style are bio beats that tell the story of Sarah's life from childhood to adulthood. The drama lies is in the fact that Sarah has never attempted anything like this before.

The Go-Betweens: Right Here – 9.30pm on Tuesday 21 November on ABC & ABC iview
Director Kriv Stenders tells the story of iconic Australian band The Go-Betweens and their intensely passionate and fraught relationships. Fresh from a theatrical release, this film follows a great creative adventure spanning three decades, countless successes and failures, romances, and betrayals, and of course, unforgettable songs.

Classic Countdown – 6pm on Sundays continuing throughout November on ABC & ABC iview
One of Australia's most loved programs ever, Countdown spanned 13 years from 1974-1987 and provided the soundtrack to an entire generation of Australians. Taking a year per episode, Classic Countdown is a walk down memory lane, paying tribute to the iconic artists, the incredible songs and Molly!

Justine Clarke's Ta Da! – 5.45pm from Monday to Friday from 6 November on ABC KIDS
Join Justine Clarke and her stage manager puppet friend, Dash the Dog, and special guests, as they work together amidst the backstage drama and excitement to get everything ready in time for their show, Ta Da!

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 – 7.30pm on Monday 27 November on ABC ME
Australia's own Isabella Clarke, 13, is set to shine bright as she takes the stage to perform -Speak Up', her modern pop anthem, at this year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Tbilisi Sports Palace, Georgia. Hosted by Grace Koh, Pip Rasmussen and Tim Matthews.

In Tune – on ABC ME throughout November
In Tune returns to ABC ME with a new series, matching aspiring young musicians with their musical heroes. Series two features Jimmy Barnes, Samantha Jade and Sheppard. Series one will be available on ABC iview and the ABC ME app.

ABC IVIEW
Throughout the month, audiences can also head to ABC iview for a curated collection of all-Australian content celebrating our homegrown music heroes with live concerts, performances and archival material, including Underscore, Rage 30: The Story of Rage, 20,000 Days On Earth, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: triple j At 40, The Cambodian Space Project, Crowded House: Live At Sydney Opera House, Gallipoli Symphony: A Creative Journey, The Divorce, Matilda And Me and Classic Countdown Extras.

Visit www.abc.net.au/ourfocus/ausmusicmonth for more info on ABC's Ausmusic Month activity and head to iview.abc.net.au/collection/ausmusic-month to view Ausmusic Month iview content.