Outlaw folk duo Above The Bit bring new music to the south-west

Outlaw folk duo Above The Bit have released their gritty Americana single, Walyer ahead of their album release later this month.

Featuring south-west singer-songwriters Nigel Wearne and Luke Watt, Above The Bit shines a light on true tales of mutiny and civil disobedience in Australian history.

Written in the spirit of reconciliation, Walyer is a song with a powerful message.

Slated for release in the lead up to National Reconciliation Week, Walyer celebrates a defiant and brave Tommeginne woman who fought for her people in a war with no memorials.

Permission was granted from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre to record and perform the song, Wearne explained.

"As a songwriter it's important to me, I don't want to presume anything, I want to contribute to history in positive way. I don't want to appropriate history," he said.

The forthcoming album presents songs about women on the Australian Goldfields, First Nations warriors, US military mutinies on Australian soil, The New Australia Movement in 1892 and the Batavia Mutiny.

Wearne said it involved a lot of research - including books, documentaries and podcasts. During the process, he realised many women were written out of the history books.

"For the album we dug up a few stories and paths less trodden in Australian memory to present as songs," Wearne said.

"As a nation to move forward I think it's important to own our history.

"This song about Walyer is about an Aboriginal woman and formidable warrior, and they attempted to write her out of existence which happens a lot in history - those who acted in a non-conformist fashion were often written out of history so a few songs speak to that.

"We've paired the term mutiny with civil disobedience, which can be used to describe the actions of many in history fighting against something and rebelling against something.

"As Australians that's a big part of our history - the questioning of authority."

The musicians met in Warrnambool in the early 2000s and have been friends ever since. Wearne is now based in Woodford, and Watt in Castlemaine.

Wearne says the live music scene in Warrnambool was very strong in the 80s and 90s.

"Unfortunately there seems to be less places to play original live music in the region these days," he said.

"It's good to see places like The Dart and Marlin and St Brigid's bringing live music back.

"Back then there was more of a pub culture, but now I think there's this move towards listening environments and that's what we're really going for."

Above The Bit skirt the fringes of blues, country and outlaw folk with diverse influences including Richard Thompson, Tom Waits and the spirit of Woody Guthrie.

Their self-titled debut album is set for release on May 26 2022.

They will kick off their tour with a show at Terang Live on May 13 and Mozart Hall Warrnambool on May 14.

More information: abovethebitmusic.com.

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