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New EP Album Out Now
MEERTA - The Ballad of James Arden - Fifth Release EP Album 2023
To Our Ancestors Who Have Come Before Us, May They Walk With Us In The Present, Guiding Us Towards What Was Lost. Together With The Knowledge Of Our Ancestors, Planting The Seeds, For Our Future & The Next Generation.
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Meerta - Means "Rise Up" Is the Gunditjmara - Keerray Wooroong Languages Translation From Yoolongteeyt, Dr Vicki Couzens.
MEERTA– Rise Up! The Ballad of James Arden, powerful storytelling led by acclaimed singer-songwriter David Arden (Kokatha/Gunditjmara Songman).
MEERTA tells the story of Arden’s Great Grandfather James Arden, and the Gunditjmara People– a story of identity, urban and tribal life, friendship, repatriation, racism, freedom and fighting for your rights.
In 1916, his Great Grandfather James Arden, an activist, made a stand for Gunditjmara people, to fight for their rights, against the missionaries and the station manager who controlled the movement of the Gunditjmara people. He was a tribal man born on the lands of Gariwerd, where his lore, his dreaming, and his cultural ways and traditional country were important to his identity. He was taken from his country to Lake Condah and Framlingham missions.
MEERTA is inspired by all those who have gone before on this ancestral land, along with David’s own life experiences, to help audiences understand past injustices & promote cultural understanding. As a talented songman David Arden is continuing his cultural responsibility, healing community and sharing culture through music.
Meerta – The Ballad of James Arden, is the title tracks, For his fifth EP album release the 5 songs from David Arden latest’s album, Tell's the stories of the Gunditjmara Peoples, Family, Identity, Friendship, Repatriation of Ancestral Remains, Racism, Freedom, Fight for Your Rights, Urban & Tribal Life. To maintain the cultural integrity of this work.
David Arden and Australian Venezuelan Daniel Jauregui producers on the fifth album, David Arden collaborated with fellow First Nation Singers, Deniece Hudson, Paul Ah Chee and Emma Donovan. And Musician Brad Brown on Bass Guitar.