Judith Margaret Small is an Australian folk music singer, songwriter and musician and retired judge of the

Federal Circuit Court of Australia The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court hierarchy, Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to fami ...

, as a performer she has been hailed as "The Grand Dame of Australian Folk Music" Small, during her singing career was known for her feminist and political songs, usually following a traditional theme. She produced twelve albums, hundreds of songs and has been described as being among the most popular political singers in Australia, with many such songs based on topical factual events like the Montreal Massacre. She enjoys singing about real people and issues, stating "If an audience comes away thinking about issues and having had a wonderful time it is a worthwhile performance". She toured the country and internationally, playing primarily in clubs and pubs, and at various folk festivals and conventions.

Biography

Judy Small, now based in Melbourne was born in the Sydney seaside suburb of

Coffs Harbour, New South Wales Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

. She moved to Sydney in 1972, studying psychology and began her career as a singer and songwriter in the late 1970s, inspired by the

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Early folk music performers include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl (UK), Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie ...

boom of the 1960s and describing her influences as such folk singers as

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary were an American Contemporary folk music, folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), ...

and

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

. One of her successful ballads is "The White Bay Paper Seller", based on newspaper seller and Sydney icon Beatrice Bush. Apart from her own repertoire she is a renowned interpreter of song both traditional and contemporary. After a successful performance at the

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach, Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually on the third weekend of Jul ...

in 1982 she became a full-time singer-songwriter. Over the next 16 years, she regularly toured throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand. In 1990, she received the "Mo" Award -

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were last awarded in 2016. ...

for Australian Folk Performer of the Year and in 1997 was the

Port Fairy Folk Festival The Port Fairy Folk Festival is an annual four-day music festival based in the historic fishing village of Port Fairy in Victoria, Australia. History The festival began on 2 December 1977 under the theme of "Australian and Irish Traditional M ...

Artist of the Year. She was also invited to Beijing for the United Nations Women's Conference NGO Forum - UN in 1995, where she sang to thousands of women from all over the world. People had been asking for some years for Judy Small to release an album recorded live, so they can hear her introductions and stories of her songs, which have become much a part of her show, as her actual concert performance, so a concert was recorded called "Live at the Artery" in her home town of Melbourne and subsequently was released as a double CD Collection set, spanning her 35-plus years of music. Judy Small retired from full-time performance in 1998. She became a family lawyer in Melbourne working for

Victoria Legal Aid Victoria Legal Aid (VLA), formerly the Legal Aid Commission of Victoria, is an Australian organisation that provides information, legal advice and education. As a statutory authority, VLA operates under the ''Legal Aid Act 1978'' and is funded ...

, but continued to write new songs and to perform regularly. In March 2013, she was appointed as a Judge with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, and retired from performing. Judy retired from the Bench in April 2020 and has been singing occasionally since. She married Charlotte Stockwell in

Wānaka Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wānaka ...

, New Zealand on 10 May 2014. Judy was appointed Co-Chair of Midsumma Festival in September 2019. Since leaving her legal career in 2021, she has again returned to singing.

Music

Judy Small's songs cover a wide range of topics and styles, especially social justice, equity and harmony with a particular emphasis on

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

. Among the most popular are "Mothers, Daughters, Wives", "Women of Our Time", "One Voice in the Crowd" and "Global Village". Her songs have been recorded by numerous artists including Ronnie Gilbert,

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is an Australian folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of to ...

, Charlie King and

Priscilla Herdman Priscilla Herdman (born February 11, 1948) is an American folk singer, whom ''The New York Times'' called "one of the clearest and most compelling voices of contemporary folk music." Although she has written songs, she is notable chiefly for her ...

and groups such as

The McCalmans The McCalmans (originally ''The Ian MacCalman Folk Group'') were a Scottish folk trio. Formed on 6 October 1964, they recorded and toured without interruption until they disbanded in December 2010. Their performance was based on three part harm ...

and

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne contin ...

. Several of her recordings have been translated to a number of languages.

Discography

* ''A Natural Selection'' (1982) * ''Mothers, Daughters, Wives'' (1984) * ''Ladies and Gems'' (1984) * ''One Voice in the Crowd'' (1985) * ''The Anzacs'' (with

Ted Egan Edward Joseph Egan (born 6 July 1932) is an Australian folk musician and a former public servant who served as Administrator of the Northern Territory from 2003 to 2007. Early life Egan was born in Coburg, Victoria, and was educated at Parade ...

, Nerys Evans and the Anzac Band & Singers) (1985) * ''Home Front'' (1988) * ''Snapshot'' (1990) * ''Best of Judy Small'' (1992) * ''Second Wind'' (1993) * ''Global Village'' (1995) * ''Three Sheilas'' (1997) * ''Let the Rainbow Shine'' (1999) * ''Never Turning Back'' (2001) * ''Mosaic'' (2003) * ''Judy Small: Live at The Artery'' (2006) (double 2 CD disc, recorded live in Melbourne)

Awards and recognition

In 1995, Small was invited to Beijing for the United Nations Women's Conference NGO Forum. In 1997 she was the

Artist of the Year. In 2006, Australian Rhymes Magazine named her club/pub entertainer/performer of the year. In June 2013 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to folk music. In 2023 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...

in 2024. The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. (wins only) , - , 1989 , Judy Small , Folk Performer of the Year , , -

References

External links

HTTPS:judysmallsings.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Judy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women singers Australian folk singers Australian political music artists Judges of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia 21st-century Australian judges Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women Australian women folk singers