Selwyn Burns Cee Cee Honey Bee Tjimba Possum-Burns Russell (Rusty) Pinky Duane Lawrie Neil Coaby Mackie Coaby Bart Willoughby Selwyn Burns Jason Scott Bruce 'Bunny' Mundy John John Miller Joseph Williams Ash Dargan Robby Fletcher Jojo Coleman Corey Noll Nicky Moffat Lionel Sarmardin
The original Coloured Stone band members were three brothers, Bunna Lawrie (drums, lead vocals, songwriter), and Neil Coaby (rhythm guitar and backing vocals) and Mackie Coaby (bass guitar and backing vocals), and their nephew, Bruce (aka Bunny) Mundy (lead guitar and backing vocals). All are from the community of Koonibba, South Australia.
Lawrie is a member and respected elder of the Mirning people coastal Nullarbor region in South Australia. He is known as a whale-dreamer, songman, medicine man and storyteller. He is Coloured Stone's founding member and chief songwriter.
The band's single, "Black Boy" was a success when first released in 1984. It became the number one song in Fiji, and sold 120,000 copies. The lyrics included the line "Black boy, black boy, the colour of your skin is your pride and joy", which was a somewhat revolutionary sentiment for Aboriginal people in the 1980s. Four decades after its release, the single still inspires hope and inspiration for generations of Aboriginal people.[1]
Lawrie's son, Jason Scott, played guitar, bass, drums and didgeridoo for Coloured Stone from the age of 13 years. His first major gig was "Rock Against Racism" in Adelaide. Scott has also performed at the Sydney Opera House and he toured the US in 1994 with the Wirrangu Band as part of a cultural exchange program. With his band Desert Sea, Scott released an album in 2002 titled From the Desert to the Sea.
The current[when?] members of Coloured Stone are: Lawrie (vocals, rhythm guitar, didgeridoo, gong stone), Selwyn Burns (lead guitar, vocals), Peter Hood (drums), Cee Cee Honeybee (backing vocals) and guest musicians (bass guitarist, didgeridoo player, keyboard player.
Support for Aboriginal causes
On the first day of an April 1998 outdoor gig, Wild Water opened for Coloured Stone and Regurgitator at Brown's Mart Community Arts Centre. On the third day the band went to Jabiru, Northern Territory, to play at the Sports and Social Club. At dawn on day four, Coloured Stone travelled to Jabiluka to play on a makeshift stage in support of the Mirrar people's protest blockade of the road to a uranium mine on Mirrar land.
From March to August 2001, Lawrie and fellow Aboriginal musician Barry Cedric took part in a songwriting workshop for Aboriginal youth at Yarrabah. The young people learned to play musical instruments, compose a song and set it to music. At the end, six youths went to Cairns to record their song, "One Fire", in a recording studio.
In the media
"A Rare Gem: Coloured Stone" is an episode of 2013 TV series Desperate Measures, which features the band.[2]
Awards and recognition
1978: Perth's 3rd National Aboriginal Country Music Festival Talent (Western Australia) – First Prize for Best Band
1978: Perth's 3rd National Aboriginal Country Music Festival Talent – Best Original Song for "Dancing in the Moonlight"
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Coloured Stone has one ARIA Award and been nominated for three, as follows:[citation needed]
The Deadly Awards, (commonly known simply as The Deadlys), was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. It ran from 1995 to 2013
The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia.[3] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.
The National Indigenous Music Awards recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians from throughout Australia. It commenced in 2004.
Hayward, Philip (1998). Sound Alliances: Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Politics, and Popular Music in the Pacific. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-304-70050-9.
Dunbar-Hall, Peter; Chris Gibson (July 2004). Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places. Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN978-0-86840-622-0.
Lawrie, Bunna (1991). Coloured Stone songbook. Warner Chappell Music. ISBN978-1-86362-027-7.
