The Bowden Brothers are looking to bring a little music, and hopefully a bit of dancing, to some of Australia's remote communities.
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The Red Centre Tour will see Phil, Grant, Murray and Matt, along with honorary brother Darryl Cornelius, travel more than 3100 kilometres to play seven gigs between Gloucester and Tennant Creek.
The band and its fairly large entourage of family and friends will leave Gloucester ahead of the first gig in Lightning Ridge on September 20. Then it's on to Bourke on September 21, Charleville (Queensland) on September 22, Longreach on September 25, Mount Isa on September 26, Barkly Homestead (Northern Territory) on October 2 and Tennant Creek on October 6.
They're eager to bring their music to a whole new audience.
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"To play to a room that's never heard you before... that's as good as it gets," Murray smiled.
It's also about bringing music to remote towns as a way of encouraging and motivating young people to find an outlet for their talents.
Music is in the brothers' blood. Growing up listening to music from their parents, family and friends, they feel it's just part of who they are. The next generation of Bowdens are even on board with Matt's son Reece having joined them on stage and more recently, Phil's son Will, both of whom may make a special appearance during the tour.
Before they head off for their first ever tour, they will be recording their first ever full length album which will include half originals and half covers. It's a way of capturing the essence of the tour and offering it to people to help keep the music alive.
To play to a room that's never heard you before...that's as good as it gets.
- Murray Bowden
"We're not going to make a cent out of this tour. We just want to give music to people on remote communities," Murray said.
For Murray and Phil, the tour is heavily focused on playing the gig at Tennant Creek, a place they believe needs some good news after the community has been scarred by a negative image presented in the media.
"This tour is fueled by bringing positivity to small communities," Murray said.
And this desire was ignited by Gloucester Rotarian Brian Beesley, who had visited some of the communities and encouraged them to go on tour. Not only will Brian be the tour manager, but he may find his way onto the stage with a didgeridoo in hand.
The whole thing links back to the brothers' Aboriginal heritage which stems from the Anaiwan tribe on their mother's side and their connection to country.
"We're country boys and the outback is the heart and soul," Murray said. "We believe we have a unique position as brothers to capture parts of the Aboriginal culture through our music that other bands possibly don't."
The boys hope to inspire their fans from the Gloucester region to come out and support them. To help make this easier, a 'groupie' tour bus is being organised to travel to the first two gigs, leaving on Thursday, September 19 and returning on Monday, September 23 which is being organised through Helloworld Gloucester.
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