Interview: Out Musician Kath Buckell Bridges Cultures, Genres

Kath Buckell is not only a singer-songwriter, she’s a bridge builder — between people, cultures, and genres of music.

“We all come from different places, but we all have something that connects us, which is the beauty of the human race and our connection to our environment,” says the 24-year-old Australian-born performer, who released a new album, Faces Do Not Change, this fall, and has a full schedule of concerts coming up.

Kath Buckell is not only a singer-songwriter, she’s a bridge builder — between people, cultures, and genres of music.

“We all come from different places, but we all have something that connects us, which is the beauty of the human race and our connection to our environment,” says the 24-year-old Australian-born performer, who released a new album, Faces Do Not Change, this fall, and has a full schedule of concerts coming up.

Buckell, who now lives in New York City, might be best classified as a folksinger, as she’s been compared to such folkie icons as Joan Baez and Judy Collins, both of whom she admires greatly, along with other faves such as Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. But her work also draws on rock, blues, country, and the traditional music of various cultures, and she delivers complex, meaningful lyrics in a haunting, mellifluous voice.

She performs both solo and as a member of the Jammin Divas, a multicultural four-woman band that is a perfect example of bridge building. Besides Buckell, there’s Aoife Clancy, who is Irish and the daughter of Bobby Clancy of the legendary musical group the Clancy Brothers; Becky Chace, an American; and Hadar Noiberg, who hails from Israel and is also Buckell’s life partner. The group, Buckell says, is a very special collaboration of women from different backgrounds coming together to play traditional and contemporary music.

Faces Do Not Change, a solo album produced by Daniel Jakubovic, represents Buckell’s effort to explore her Australian heritage and bring it to her audience. For several of the tracks, Buckell set to music the words of notable and radical Australian poets A.B. “Banjo” Paterson, Henry Lawson, and Dame Mary Gilmore. “I wanted people to experience a bit of the roots and the culture of Australia,” she says.

Of the three, Paterson is perhaps best known outside Australia, or at least one of his works is: His poem “Waltzing Matilda,” set to a traditional tune, has become an internationally beloved song, even among those of us who don’t know what a swagman or a billabong is. For her album, Buckell uses his “Song of the Wheat,” one of several Paterson poems that express his love for the people and landscape of the Australian bush, a term used to describe the nation’s rural areas, central to the formation of Australia’s national identity.

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