Coloured Stone

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Coloured Stone is a band from Northern Territory, Australia. Their hit song Finir made it on to the Australian ARIA Charts. Their sound has been described as having a reggae thump and a funk feel, with unique Aboriginal qualities. The band performs using guitar, bass, drums and Aboriginal instruments; the didjeridu and the bundawuthada (gong stone), to play traditional music such as the haunting Mouydjengara, a whale-dreaming song of the Mirning people.

The band members of Coloured Stone were originally two sets of brothers, Buna and Bunny (Duane) Lawrie, and the Coaby brothers, Neil and Mackie, who play rhythm and bass. All are from the mission settlement of Koonibba. Buna Lawrie is drummer, singer and leader of the band, and also a member of the Mirning Aboriginal tribe. The band's single, Black Boy was a success when first released in 1984 (it became the number one song in Fiji), and was followed by When You Gonna Learn and Dancin' in the Moonlight. The lyrics of Black Boy included the line "Black boy, black boy, the color of your skin is your pride and joy," which was a somewhat revolutionary sentiment for outback Australia in the 1980s. It moved black audiences to increase their dancing each time it was played at a early gig in Alice Springs.

Buna Lawrie's son, Jason Scott has played guitar, bass, drums and didjeridu for Coloured Stone since he was 13 years old. His first major gig was "Rock Against Racism" in Adelaide. Jason has also performed at the Sydney Opera House and toured the US in 1994 with the Wirrangu Band as part of a cultural exchange program. With his band Desert Sea Jason released an album in 2002 named From the Desert to the Sea.

[edit] Support for Aboriginal Causes

Peter Dawson reported on Coloured Stone's April 1998 outdoor gig; the first day Wild Water opened for Coloured Stone and Regurgitator at Brown's Mart Community Arts Centre, to an enthusiastic audience, both black and white, which danced til three in the morning. On the third day the band went to Jabiru to play at the Sports and Social Club. At dawn on day four, Coloured Stone traveled to Jabiluka to play on a makeshift stage in support of the Mirrar tribe's protest blockade of the road to a uranium mine on Mirrar land.

From March to August 2001, Buna Lawrie and fellow Aboriginal musician Barry Cedric took part in a songwriting workshop for Aboriginal youth at Yarrabah. The young people learned to play musical instruments, compose a song and set it to music. At the end, six youths went to Cairns to record their song, One Fire in a recording studio.