“I think my music and journey is much bigger and comes from a different place than I can really understand in my mind and how I see it, so I don’t like to fuck with it."

 

_Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and barefooted troubadour Xavier Rudd has been touring his latest album Dark Shades of Blue for over a year now. He recently took a week off for the first time in 10 years. He also just added a couple South African musicians to his live show, and in 2007 was named “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity” by PETA.

But all of that is trivial to the 31-year-old master didgeridooist.

For Rudd there are more important vibes that need to be sought out and explored.

The outspoken Torquay, Victoria native has become a voice for aboriginal rights through his music, which often features aboriginal instruments and singing. His passion to bring to the forefront what most people shrug off is even more apparent when he compares the plight of Australian aboriginals to Canadian ones.

“White culture has never embraced aboriginality and only a short time ago aboriginality was shunned and they tried to get rid of it as much as they could so that’s created a current day situation where white people haven’t been educated about aboriginal culture, they don’t understand it.”

In 10 years of touring Rudd has come across “pockets of people” that share his vision for global harmony. His lyrics often cross the line into social protest and environmental awareness and are rooted in nature. Themes of fire, earth, and ocean, they all make constant appearances on his five studio albums.

It is this respect for the land and people that has directed his energy to help spread the gospel of aboriginal spirits.

“Canada and Australia are very sacred places and the culture in those places and the connection of human beings to the land is very very old and very very sacred and the spirits that watch out for that land, the ancestors, they pass through every human being that spends time on the land.”

Rudd is quick to make philosophical and spiritual connections between Canada and Australia as he spends a lot of time in both countries often visiting elders of various aboriginal tribes, soaking up that ancient way of knowing.

His wife is from Victoria, B.C. and Rudd has recorded albums in Canada (including the 2001 independent release Live in Canada). He also boasts a half Canadian, half Australian crew when he tours.

For Rudd, though, the Canada/Australian connection begins with the spiritual health of the two countries.

“That spirit keeps people earthy, keeps people grounded, and I feel that in both Canada and Australia the two cultures are very connected and the more you spend time with elders from both countries you can see that.”

Rudd’s ability to expose what some would consider a sensitive issue without preaching or lecturing is due to the communication vehicle that is his music.

2006’s Food in the Belly grabbed the attention of the international folk scene with heavy-hearted but bouncy tracks like Pockets of Peace, Energy and Famine.

In 2007, Rudd released the heavier sounding White Moth featuring Message Stick, a five-minute tribal didgeridoo jam with aboriginal singing.

But his latest release, the wall of swelling sound that is Dark Shades of Blue, is his most psychedelic, most energetic, most true-to-live-show album he’s made to date.

“We went down a road and were able to create some really heavy tones and that’s what sort of translates on Dark Shades, so that combined with my journey ­— what was coming through me spiritually and emotionally, physically at that time — I think the heavier darker tones are just part of what I was going through.”

The growth of Rudd’s music coincides with his experience. The more he listens to the vibes that flow through him the more he is attuned to the path he is supposed to take.

“I think my music and journey is much bigger and comes from a different place than I can really understand in my mind and how I see it, so I don’t like to fuck with it,” he says.

Darker Shades of Blue is just that, dark and blue, but it’s sprinkled with moments of hope and optimism, rebirth and second chances, a will to want to change. Rudd claims the album is “a sign of my times.” The energy level of Rudd’s albums has increased exponentially with each release, perhaps an indicator of the increasing tension our environmental, social and political world is experiencing.

His live show is taking on a new globalized form as well. As a one-man show Rudd played several didgeridoos, guitar, and ankle bells among other worldly instruments, with only d rummer Dave Tolley to back him up.

For the first time, Rudd will be adding two more musicians to his live show. South African drummer Andile Nqubezelo and bass player Isaac Moloantoa will help create a more intense, more immediate sense of urgency, while at the same time allow Rudd to expl ore any given instrument for a longer period of time.

“I’m just learning about it as we go myself; it’s probab ly the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” he said.  “I’m still making the same amount of sound but it’s freed me up a little bit because I’ve always been relied on playing the baselines, now with the guitar I have a bit more freedom and it just sounds huge, its pretty massive.”

Rudd’s lyrical message is just as massive as his musical one, and as he prepares for a three week Canadian tour you can bet the barefooted, nu-hippy folk will be dancing with the spirits at every stop.

A strong-spirited, well-intentioned, sold-out crowd wo n’t be enough for Rudd, though. It is only step one on the path to healing the soul of the Canadian land.

The next will be to celebrate and put into action the Rudd manifesto.

“Go and visit local elders, visit local aboriginal people and say you want to learn, ‘I want to learn about this country, I want to learn about this land before white people, I want to know what this land means, I want to pay respect to this land, I love my country,’ and you’ll be embraced with open arms and your life will change.”

For Rudd, the prestige of being a global touring artist is all but lost. When he comes across the prairies this July he can’t help but look forward to meeting back up with the “pockets of people” he has dedicated his spirit to.

“I have a huge respect for Cree culture, I’ve met some fantastic Cree people around Calgary, Saskatchewan, all that area, I love coming through there.”

“There’s still very wise elders who haven’t lost their way and see the picture the way it is and they still have that ancient information, they still carry all of that stuff that is very important to life on that land.”

“And anybody who takes time to learn about it is doing themselves a favour.”

Catch Xavier in Calgary Sunday, July 5 at the Jubilee Auditorium. Click here for ticket information, or here to find a date in your area!

       

Written by :

Johnny Elbow