Romancing the Rock

Page 16

Three Native musicians and a didgeridoo-playing Caucasian say the high note in their Sydney Olympic performances called the Walk About Tour 2000 will come if they stand beside Ayers Rock.

"It's one of the modern wonders of the world," said Dave Delcary. The sacred rock has fascinated the Ojibway man since he was a youngster.

"I hope we go there," he said. "It's something I always wanted to see."

Delcary is a guitar player and keyboardist for a band called Between Heaven and Earth. They performed at some of the venues during the 2000 Olympics.

Delcary said the band will play in most of the big cities and various Aboriginal communities during their time in the Land Down Under. The group performed Sept. 17 at Canada's Olympic Place in Sydney, after which the foursome planned to hop aboard their rented R.V. and head for Melbourne, Perth and the wide open spaces.

At some point during their odyssey, they hope to make a dash for Ayers Rock. Ayers Rock captured the imaginations of the Australian Aborigines for centuries before European settlement. The sacred rock is said to be between 600 and 700 million years old.

Various Canadian individuals, groups, organizations, government agencies and businesses have sponsored the $100,000 Walk About Tour 2000, which was co-ordinated by Paula du Hamel of Mosquito Point Productions.

The four musicians will sleep, shower and cook in their rented motor home. The band that plays everything from the Celtic harp to the Australian didgeridoo has received rave reviews of performances given in Canada, including the group's participation in the National Aboriginal Day Gala in Ottawa. That's where they caught the eye of the Canadian consulate and were asked if they would like to perform in Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Their blend of vocals, percussion, wind and string instruments with the flavor of the sound of a rumbling didgeridoo is something that has never been done before. (A didgeridoo is an Australian wind instrument of a long, tubular shape.)

The band members left for Australia Sept. 12, beginning a trip that would include a 13-hour layover in Hong Kong.

"We are all going to have Chinese food in that city," said Delcary. "That's our plan."

David Maracle, who leads the group, said their purpose is inspired to interpret through music the essence of partnership, peace, and union with the human, animal, natural and spiritual environment.

Paul Hinger is the non-Native member of the band who plays the didgeridoo and Doreen Stevens is the lyricist and percussionist for the group.

For Delcary, this once in a lifetime opportunity is something he has always dreamed about, but never thought would happen.

Since they've been in Australia, the band has been keeping in touch with Mosquito Point by e-mail.

"They keep sending us e-mail that says 'wow', said Abby Hagyard, du Hamel's assistant.

"The band is having a wonderful, confusing time. Apparently the crowds are great. Apparently the shows are excellent. Apparently there is all manner of confusion regarding everything that they could possibly be trying to do," Hagyard said. "One of the things that is so exciting about this opportunity," Hagyard added, is ". . . this group has basically changed the way the complete other side of the world thinks about Canada and Native culture and our creative community, because this is the first time ever that any group from any Indigenous community in Canada has traveled to a different country for an event of this magnitude."