This week I’m taking a little detour from my usual sharing of a new song. Last weekend I travelled to Mary River to take part in the Top Half Folk Festival and I wanted to share some of my highlights. Firstly there was the 1,500 kilometre bus trip from Mparntwe Alice Springs to Larrakia and Limilngan country, in the company of two community choirs that I sing with: The Splinter Sisters and our brothers in song, The Shavings. As we crept our way north up the Stuart Highway, I could almost feel the exhale and inhale of our bus, expanding with song and laughter, and then subsiding again into moments of sleepy lulls. We witnessed the environment gradually transform from the ochres of an arid desert, to the softer savannah greens with termite mites growing in size, until we reached the vibrant greens of the subtropical Top End. These observations sparked our first ever collective Splinter Sisters original song, still a work in progress. What fun!

Aside from singing with the choirs, which was a total hoot, I was stoked to be part of a songwriters session in which a panel of NT songwriters each shared a song along with an insight into their songwriting experiences. I spoke about being a shy person who finds it easier to write songs than to perform or publicly share them. Remember that song I shared last year called Snail Song about finding the courage to peek my head out of my shell and get out into the world, I decided this was the right song to perform on this occasion and it was so encouraging to hear other people join in, singing along in the chorus.

After three nights and two days of songs, dancing, laughter, workshops and making new connections, we turned the bus around and made our way back south to mparntwe. On this long trip back, in between the singing and conversations, I had time to think about what it was that had left me reeling on a high, feeling so revitalised from the festival. A big part of it was the incredible artists I was lucky enough to see, so I thought I’d share a few of my favourites here.

Sally Balfour has a captivating stage presence that’s a mix of sweetness and wry humour. But what struck me most when I saw her perform this track with The Buffelettes, was the finesse of her musicality. She is sharp with her lyrics, with her fast-paced strumming of the ukelele, with the accents and changes in her song. And especially sharp with her humour. If you ever get a chance to see The Buffelettes, they are a powerhouse women’s outfit who, in their own words, are strong as buffalo and sweet as desert pea. Not to be missed!

When I heard Katie Harder perform this track live, the catchy guitar line grabbed me straight away. There was a lovely lilt to the song that had me swaying in my seat. Then when I later had a closer listen, the earthy lyrics really spoke to me. ‘When hope is found in the muddy brown / When hope is found in you and me.’ There’s a warm authenticity, humour and humility that speaks through her music.

Recipient of a Tamworth Golden Fiddle Award as an accomplished fiddle player and passionate music educator, there’s already lots to love about this artist even before hearing her sing. And I just love Jessie May’s voice - so distinctive, so Australian, clear and yet not forced, she has one of those voices that occupies both a storyteller’s command and that of an enchanting songstress. And an album title of Petrichor captures that wondrous beauty of experiencing rain falling in the desert.

I’ve seen Gleny Rae perform around Mparntwe a number of times, wearing a myriad of hats (literally and metaphorically). Her collection of boots is also of note! She is one of those versatile multi-instrumentalists that is often called upon to slip in beside other musicians. Another passionate music educator and also the winner of a Golden Fiddle Award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, most people will know her for her contagious enthusiasm on a music stage. I remember being moved to stillness and quiet when I heard her play a classical piano piece at the Centralian Eisteddfod last year. It was a special moment that opened me to the multi-faceted depth of her talents.

David Garnham & the Reasons To Live describe themselves as looking like truckers and singing like angels. They have joined forces with musician Stuart Joel Nuggett (a Jingili man from Kulumindini, Elliott). When David Garnham took to the mic at the festival and started singing in Jingulu (with permission from Jingulu speakers) there was something that moved me in an unexpected way, something that speaks to the need of more collaborations across Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Ilbingini Agiyabarda translates to When The Water Goes Down and it is a protest song, written to fight back against the existing and proposed expansion of fracking. “Water and land, that’s what’s sacred.”

Headlining the Top Half Folk Festival was Austral, a highly charged four piece outfit from Melbourne. Their infectious tunes featuring fiddles, Irish pipes, and a rhythm guitarist sitting on a cajun keeping percussive beats and also playing didgeridoo at times. These multi instrumentalists were not only bewitchingly fun, they also brought a self-aware and considered presence in how they showed respect to the country they were traveling through. As much fun as the dancing reels and jigs were, my favourite of their songs was a beautiful rendition of the Richard Thompson song Beeswing, featured on their debut album Thylacine.

This experience was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia. A big thank you also to the Top Half Folk Festival for filling my bucket of inspiration, for providing these opportunities to make connections and bare witness to all the wonderful acts of creativity sparking from musicians who have come together from near and far. There were many other artists I enjoyed meeting and loved hearing, those unrehearsed moments around the campfire, some truly exquisite, perhaps some of my favourite that will stay with me.