Fresh from international touring, King Stringray will headline a bumper line-up celebrating NAIDOC Week at the Art Gallery of New South Wales next month.
The Yolŋu surf rock five-piece lead a line-up featuring singer-songwriters Alice Skye and Keanu Nelson for Volume presents: Lightning song on July 9, for what the gallery is billing as a free one-off evening celebrating cutting edge First Nations music in the Naala Badu building.
The evening also features a world-premiere of work from icon Kev Carmody.
Lightning song coincides with the host of events on the gallery's NAIDOC Week program, including the major winter exhibition Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala, a collection of close to 300 works from 90 Aboriginal artists with connections to the small coastal Arnhem Land community, Yirrkala.
During the school holidays, guided tours of the exhibition for children end with an art-making activity.
Commencing NAIDOC Week on July 6, the work of female First Nations filmmakers, including the likes of Tracey Moffatt, Oomera Edwards and Essie Coffey are featured in Black Film Worker.
Other exhibitions include The Mulka Project's Yalu, High Colour, and Juanita McLauchlan's yilaa minyaminyabal maaru-ma-lda-y (soon everything will be healing). Ms McLauchlan takes part in-conversation on Saturday, July 5.
The Gallery will also host NAIDOC storytime sessions, weaving masterclasses and school holiday workshops.
On the Wednesday night, Lightning song things are set to get a little bit louder.
Off the back of their second full-length record, 2024's For the Dreams, King Stingray are currently hitting the stage on their UK and European tour.
The band smashed onto the scene in recent years, blending stories and contemporary rock sounds with English and Yolŋu Matha.
They picked up the Australian Music Prize and Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist ARIA Award in 2022, the year of their debut self-titled record, with a host of nominations and wins since.
Indie favourite Alice Skye supports King Stingray on the night. The multi award-winning artist is still running with momentum from 2021's I Feel Better But I Don't Feel Good, while the synth-driven sounds of Keanu Nelson, from the Northern Territory town of Papunya, also joins the bill.
An extended, single song composition stretching more than 30 minutes from Kev Carmody provides an additional element to the night.
Played across various sites around the Naala Badu building, the world premiere of CarnavonG irraween Bunyas will 'take listeners on an immersive 30-minute journey through Country', the Gallery said.
Volume presents is the Art Gallery of NSW's flagship music event.
Lightning song is free to book, set for Wednesday July 9 from 5:30pm.