Kiwirrkurra Band selected for Nannup Music Festival’s Remote Aboriginal Artist Development Program

Nannup Music Festival has announced the first band recipient of their recently-launched Remote Aboriginal Artist Development Program.

Kiwirrkurra Band hail from the community of the same name (Kiwirrkurra) in the far east of Western Australia’s Pilbara region. They were selected from eleven acts, and will travel to the South West to record new songs with award-winning producer James Newhouse at Lamb Chop Studios before heading to Nannup Music Festival to perform alongside over 100 international, national, and Western Australian artists from Friday, February 28 until Monday, March 3.

The band will be mentored through this ten-day experience by Bidyadanga community and Nannup Music Festival favourites Family Shoveller Band, who have previously recorded with James Newhouse and recently returned from performing in Europe and at the famous Bush Bands Bash in Alice Springs.

Throughout 2025, the Kiwirrkurra Band’s freshly recorded songs will be released to Nannup Music Festival ticket holders, followers, and the wider music industry sector. The band will then return to perform in Nannup at the 2026 festival and mentor the second recipient of the Remote Aboriginal Artist Development Program.

Formed in the early 2010s, Kiwirrkurra Band sing songs of love for their ngurra (home country) in Pintupi language and are known for their infectious blend of desert reggae and rock.

Nannup Musical Festival’s Remote Aboriginal Artist Development Program is supported by the West Australian Government’s Contemporary Music Fund through the DLGSC, and aims to support Aboriginal bands, musicians, and culture in remote Western Australian communities.

Nannup Music Festival has announced Kiwirrkurra Band are the first band recipient of their Remote Aboriginal Artist Development Program. Nannup Music Festival runs from Friday, February 28 until Monday, March 3, 2025. For more information, visit nannupmusicfestival.org