Steady Steady

The life and music of Seaman Dan

INCLUDES FREE CD OF SEAMAN DAN'S FAVOURITE SONGS INCLUDING NEW RECORDINGS OF SIGNATURE TUNES

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Listen to a sample of some of Seaman Dan's favourite songs.
book cover

Watch an interview with the authors

   Henry ‘Seaman’ Dan and Karl Neuenfeldt

Availability: May 2013

2013, pb, 230x188mm, 224pp, b&w illus
RRP $40.00 incl. GST
ISBN 9781922059208

 

| Contents | | Foreword | Sample Chapter | Index |

Born on Thursday Island in 1929, Seaman Dan didn’t release his debut album, ‘Follow the Sun’, until his 70th birthday. In the next ten years he released five albums, showcasing traditional music from the Torres Strait, as well as those revealing his love of jazz and blues.

Steady, Steady: The life and music of Seaman Dan is replete with Uncle Seaman’s stories of his active and sometimes dangerous life in the islands in the heyday of pearl diving and other jobs, and his later development as a professional singer/musician.

The book includes many evocative and previously unknown images sourced from family and friends and will include a CD of tracks reflecting important periods in the life of this national treasure.

I've been playing since I was eight-years-old. I'll just go to venues and sing a couple of songs, otherwise I'll just go stale, because I love music. Seaman Dan

Henry ‘Seaman’ Dan is not only one of Australia’s oldest active recording artists and performers, he is also one of its best-loved and well-regarded. Karl Neuenfeldt is a music producer, researcher and performer. He has worked with Henry Seaman Dan for over a decade as co-producer and songwriter. He has co-produced more than thirty CDs of Australian Indigenous music in collaboration with northern Queensland Indigenous communities and artists. Trained academically in Cultural Studies (PhD) and Anthropology (MA), he has written extensively on music-based topics including the didjeridu and Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal music.