Matt Hewson
Award-winning singer Emma Donovan has performed since she was a young child, played to audiences across the world and sung with everyone from Archie Roach to Paul Kelly and symphony orchestras.
But when Melbourne music company Cooking Vinyl offered her the chance to record a solo album, she “freaked out for a little bit”.
For over a decade Donovan has created music and won awards with Melbourne-based funk/soul band The Putbacks in what she called “a beautiful bubble” of collaboration.
“It’s a long relationship, from times with Doogs (drummer Rory McDougal) and (bassist) Micky (Meagher) in the Black Arm Band days,” she said.
“After being in this collaboration with The Putbacks for so long… I thought, what can I present, what can I do on my own? And that’s a massive question for me, given I’ve been playing with these generous and amazing players.
“So when I ask myself who am I, or what can I do on my own, all I can go back to is chords and progressions, melodies and phrases from my early childhood, which was growing up in a musical family.”
Donovan’s grandparents Micko and Aileen Donovan were the founders of Aboriginal country band The Donovans, which included her mother Agnes and her five uncles.
Having begun performing with The Donovans since the age of seven, she said her upcoming album ‘Til My Song is Done was all about making her family proud.
“It was such a beautiful thing to grow up around, houses that were full of all the mob coming together to sing,” she said.
“For me, this album is just going back down memory lane, going back to basics and things that I grew up on, which is my love for my family and country music. And there’s a big story, you know.”
Emma Donovan will perform an intimate show – Songs, Stories and Soul from Family and Country – with special guests David Tweedie and James Gilligan at the Potato Shed on Saturday, April 13. ‘Til My Song is Done is out April 19.
