ABC To Celebrate Live Music & Inclusion With New Series 'Headliners'

ABC is set to celebrate live music and inclusion with its heartwarming forthcoming five-part series, Headliners.

Set to premiere on Tuesday, 19 November, at 8 pm on ABC TV (all episodes will also be available to stream on ABC iView), the series will follow Elly-May Barnes – musician and passionate advocate for inclusion and accessibility in the music industry – as she embarks on creating two bands made up of musicians with disabilities.

Joining her will be You Am I’s Tim Rogers and Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper, who will help mentor and guide the bands. Elly-May’s father, Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes, will also offer inspiration and support to the bands.

The end goal? Getting the bands to perform at the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash. The catch? They have just seven weeks to transform the bands and get them to perform on the festival's main stage.

With an already impressive cast of Aussie stars, Headliners also features Delta Goodrem AM and Silverchair’s Ben Gillies offering advice on performing during two masterclasses. The series is also narrated by Spicks And Specks host and disability activist Adam Hills MBE.

As you can see in the trailer below, the bands prepare for their experiences as Headliners tracks the creative process, struggles, and triumphs that come with chasing their dreams.

ABC notes that almost 20% of Australians live with a disability – the country’s largest minority group – but that community is under-represented and excluded in the music industry. Headliners aims to start the change.

Last November, Elly-May Barnes – an artist living with cerebral palsy – appeared on Australian Story to spotlight her life as an artist with a disability.

For two and a half years, Australian Story filmed Elly-May’s story as she stepped out as a cabaret singer and passionate advocate for people with disabilities.

“I’m in a place where I am comfortable with who I am and to tell my story. It’s OK to be happy and disabled,” Elly-May said on Australian Story.

“If you have any opportunity to give disability a platform, you’ve got to take it.”

Later that month, Elly-May Barnes kickstarted her solo career with a cover of Radiohead’s Creep, the first cut people heard from her debut album, No Good, released in March of this year.