Ben Barker @ Brazen Head Irish Pub 20/02/21

As an Aussie who will always call the Northern Territory home there is nothing more magical than the sound of the didgeridoo and Ben Barker a proud Aboriginal Australian is a master of It. To hear him play takes me straight back to the heart of Australia, Alice Springs where I lived for over 20 years. The Aboriginal communities around Alice Springs were places that Midnight Oil wrote a lot of their music and Albert Namatjira the famous aboriginal painter hailed from. Ben doesn’t sing a lot as he combines the didge and guitar playing in such a way that he tells a story without the need for words but when he does sing, he has a voice that’s soft and kind of raw sounding. I guess circular breathing will do that to you. I dragged a friend along with me tonight and to quote him “I have never been there but if the Outback has a sound to me... this is it ....” I really have nothing but great things to say about Ben, he is humble, kind and extremely spiritual and I have a feeling that we will be hearing a lot about him in the Australian RL music scene in the not-too-distant future. As Ben said to me a few days ago music can take anyone to amazing places in their life. A truly moving performance.