MusicNT To Celebrate 20 Years With Talent Showcase & Industry Events

From comfortable, populous seats in the south, it can be easy to overlook the vibrant and vital live music scene that exists and thrives in the wide expanses of the Northern Territory — but woe betide those who do, because the isolated north has been a hotbed of creativity as long as anywhere else in this great nation.

Industry organisation MusicNT has been fighting the good fight in the Territory for 20 years now, albeit in a different guise from its roots as Music Industry Development Incorporated, aka MIDI, in the early '90s. The organisation has its origins in live music advocacy — it was originally formed to campaign for a venue to replace The Old Workers Club in Darwin before broadening its scope to support musicians across the Territory. In 1996, the group changed its name to MusicNT, and began a two-decade spree of asserting itself as one of the country's most capable music bodies, operating within one of its most challenging scenes.

In order to celebrate the great achievements of both MusicNT and Territory musicians over the past 20, the organisation is hosting a series of exciting events this July to sate all corners of the industry. They'll kick off the revelry on Friday 8 July with the MusicNT 20th Birthday Showcase at the Darwin Railway Club, featuring performances from eight of the NT's finest, chosen from more than 25 applicant acts. This year, punters will be treated to the broad and beguiling sounds of Barra — West Wind (Birrtjimi), Colin Lillie (Alice Springs), Dan The Underdog (Darwin), GAIA (Darwin/Palmerston), Serina Pech (Katherine), Southeast Desert Metal (Santa Teresa), Tapestry (Darwin) and Wildwater (Maningrida), traversing all manner of sounds from pop, rock and reggae to hip hop, metal, funk and beyond.

For more information about the showcase, see MusicNT's website.

Following the performances, on Saturday 9 July, MusicNT will host its Music Industry Connect event at the Darwin MusicNT office from 11am-2pm, featuring workshops, one-on-ones and a good old-fashioned sausage sizzle with industry luminaries from around the country including triple j's Dom Alessio, Ditto Music's Sarah Hamilton, Footstomp Music's Graham Ashton, Damien Cunningham of the Live Music Office; Amrap Airit's Chris Johnson; The AU Review's Sose Fuamoli; Marcus Thaine, from Spotify; and Nannup Music Festival's Phaedra Watts. See MusicNT's website for more details about Music Industry Connect.

That's not all — the evening's activities encompass the fifth annual NT Song Of The Year Awards at the Museum & Art Gallery of the NT from 6pm. Hosted by Dom Alessio, the awards will this year unveil their finalists on Tuesday 14 June, with People's Choice voting opening on the same day.

For a full rundown of information about this year's NT Song Of The Year Awards, as well as information on past ceremonies and winners, see the event's website.