First Australian’s music on MVFM

John Phelps

One thing about which the Meander Valley Community Radio has always been proud has been the great range of music styles and genres which the station has been able to broadcast.

With a significant exception – apart from special occasions, such as NAIDOC week - there has been no regular program dedicated to the music of Aboriginal people. Until now!

Nowadays, the station has Stephen Norwood presenting such a program. It’s called The First Australian Music Hour and it is broadcast weekly – on Tuesdays at eight o’clock and, not surprisingly, lasts for an hour.

Stephen, who has now retired after a 30 year career as a nurse specialising in mental health, has lived in Castlemaine in Central Victoria.

For many years, he was involved in local radio, preparing a regular two hour program. 

His home town has suffered a great deal of flooding recently and he is relocating to Adelaide, in South Australia.

He says that he has always been interested in indigenous music, including other music styles performed by indigenous performers.

He helped to set up a personal music collection, specifically for Aboriginal bands. Some of the well-known performers whose music he especially enjoys are Kutcha Edwards and Yothu Yindi and their music appears frequently in his programs.

Other bands he features are from Northern Australia and include Kings Stingray, and then there are the jazz artists such as Charlie Woods and Tilly Tjala Thomas.

The music Stephen plays goes across genres, including desert reggae, rock’n’roll and hip hop.

He says that hip hop is a good way of telling stories in language and to help keep languages alive and revitalised.

Stephen Norwood has spent some time in Tasmania and has visited, among other sites, Cradle Mountain, Ben Lomond and Chudleigh so he feels at home broadcasting on MVFM.