Blackfire were an Australian Indigenous band. They were formed in late 1992 and disbanded in 1999. The original members were Bradley Brown, Selwyn Burns,

Kutcha Edwards Kutcha Edwards (born 1965) is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. He is known as a former member of the band Blackfire during the 1990s. More recently, he has fronted the Kutcha Edwards Band, and is part of The Black Arm Band. He ha ...

Grant Hansen Grant Hansen is an Australian Indigenous musician and broadcaster who has worked as a host of the Marngrook footy show, broadcast on National Indigenous TV network as well as Channel 31, Foxtel, ABC and SBS . He has worked as a radio announcer / ...

and Kelli McGuinness. They released two albums, ''A Time to Dream'' (1994) and the

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for their last year together from December 1983 to December 1984, and co-founding member an ...

produced ''Night Vision'' (1998).

History

Blackfire were formed in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in late 1992 by Bradley Brown (ex-Watbalimba, Interaction) on bass guitar, drums and vocals; Selwyn Burns (ex-

Coloured Stone Coloured Stone is an Aboriginal Australian band whose members originate from the Koonibba Mission, west of Ceduna, South Australia. They first became known for their 1984 single, "Black Boy". The band performs using guitar, bass, drums, and A ...

, Mixed Relations,

No Fixed Address In law, no fixed abode or without fixed abode is not having a fixed geographical location as a residence, commonly referred to as no fixed address. This is applicable to several groups: * People who have a home, but which is not always in the ...

) on lead guitar and vocals;

on lead vocals,

(ex-Interaction, Mercury Blues) on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Kelli McGuinness (ex-Dr Koori, Interaction, Watbalimba) on drums, bass guitar, guitar and vocals. Their first album, ''A Time to Dream'', was released in 1994 by

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in ...

(CAAMA). Leroy Cummins (ex- Christine Anu Band) joined the group on guitar in 1997 to expand the line-up, as did Corey Noll later on. Blackfire toured extensively throughout Australia before travelling to Asia (Japan, China and Taiwan), alongside

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian (Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalung) singer-songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach wa ...

and the Naroo Dancers. They recorded their second album, ''Night Vision'' (1998), with

producing at his studio, the Lodge, in Melbourne. Hansen compared their two albums, "some different sounds and different range of music. I'd say that it's much more universal than the first album. The first one was about being Kooris living in the city. It was a full-on rock album. This one's much more about hope for the future. The style of songs is a bit different – they’'re not as quick paced and rocked up, it's more mellow."

People

Kelli McGuinness is the son of activist

Bruce McGuinness Bruce Brian McGuinness (17 June 1939 – 5 September 2003) was an Australian Aboriginal activist. He was active in and led the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League, and is known for founding and running ''The Koorier'', which was the first Ab ...

, who made two films associated with the band: ''Black Fire'' in 1972, and ''A Time to Dream'' in 1974.

References

* * * * *

External links

Caritas
(pdf) reconciliation. Stories of the heart / Sounds of the rock (study guide) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackfire Indigenous Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups from Melbourne