Various guitars are stationed at arm’s length. A stand holds three didgeridoos and rhythm-producing stomp boxes rest near his feet. Typically performing solo, Rudd can be found surrounded by the myriad instruments he uses during a concert. It features a diverse group of musicians from Australia, South Africa, Samoa, Germany, Ireland, and Papua New Guinea.Rudd has been winning over fans in the United States mainly on the strength of his live shows. "Nanna", the 2015 album Rudd released as Xavier Rudd & the United Nations champions cultural understanding and condemns racism and intolerance. The album moved away from the heavier sound of Rudd's 2008 album "Dark Shades of Blue" to a more up-beat style. In 2010 Rudd bought 20 hectares of property at Koonyum Range, Mullumbimby, the location was the inspiration for the name of the album Rudd would release with Moloantoa and Nqubezelo, titled "Koonyum Sun", as Xavier Rudd & Izintaba.
Rudd described his connection with Moloantoa and Nqubezelo as musical, spiritual and emotional-"I feel like they were sent to me," he said. Rudd had met Moloantoa and Nqubezelo performing at the 2008 Wiesen Nuke Festival in Austria.
It’s a gift of life as a musician.”Īfter the failure of his marriage in 2009, Rudd was supported in his grief and recovery by new South African bandmates, bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andile Nqubezelo. I’m so blessed to be able to be able to travel around and play music and connect with so many people in so many places in so many cultures. It comes from the audience and channels through me and I put it back in the audience.” I feel like it’s all of us, one big connection and I just happen to be channeling the energy through music. I don’t really feel like it’s me and the audience. “ That’s sort of the blanket that seems to sort of settle in the room, or on the venue when I play, but I sort of feel not solely responsible. “ It’s all about peace and happiness,” he says of his performances. “ What I do now is just more me,” he says. Though it was a short- lived experiment, as Rudd quickly found that it wasn't the right way to go for him. He drew inspiration from artists such as Leo Kottke, Ben Harper, Natalie Merchant and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, as well as music from diverse sources, such as Hawaii and Native American music.Īs with most solo artists, Rudd has experimented playing in a band. He started performing at his school, with solo gigs following. But to see that show and that whole thing happening, I sort of felt comfortable as a human, and thought.” He learned to play the digeridoo, the 50,000-year-old wooden trumpet of the Aboriginal people, by practising on a vacuum cleaner pipe.Īs a teenager, Rudd really got into songwriting. It sort of made sense, because I’d always lived in my head, in this world of song that was my own little secret. “ I remember seeing it and knowing that that was what I was gonna do,” he says. Rudd recalls that when he was 10, his dad took him to see Paul Simon’s Graceland tour. But the real magic comes when he opens his mouth and his soulful voice spills upon his audience. It's an experience to watch him perform his songs live, as he plays the guitar, digeridoo and various percussion instruments simultaneously, using a unique stage setup. Rudd is skilled with a variety of instruments, include guitar, shaker, didgeridoo, Weissenborn slide guitar, Tongue drum, stomp boxe, djembe, harmonica, ankle bells, and slide banjo. The songs are written and sung with compassion and they urge the celebration of life. His songs include stories of the mistreatment of the indigenous people of his homeland they tell of humanity, spirituality or the environment. Rudd's music is compassionate and always manages to render emotion in his fans. In 2004, Rudd released Solace, his first album to be distributed by a major label. He also played saxophone and clarinet as a child.īefore launching his solo career, Rudd began playing music as part of the band 'Xavier and the Hum'. While primary school-aged, Rudd used his mother's vacuum cleaner as a makeshift didgeridoo and he began playing his brother's guitar. Growing up in a family of seven children in Torquay, Victoria (Australia), near the famous surfing location Bells Beach, Rudd showed a keen interest in music. He recorded as Xavier Rudd & Izintaba for the 2010 album "Koonyum Sun" and as Xavier Rudd & the United Nations for the 2017 album "Nanna". Xavier Rudd (born ) is a soulful Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose songs encompass themes such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indigenous Australians.
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