Gunnedah school aged students were in luck last week when performer and proud Gamilaraay man Mitch Tambo stopped by for his youth tour.
Mitch had the nation’s attention in 2019 as a finalist on Australia’s Got Talent and became known for his bilingual performance of You’re the Voice by John Farnham.
The acclaimed singer and didgeridoo musician has played performances at the Australian Open, T20, NRL Indigenous All Stars, the 2020 Fire Fight Australia Concert with John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Brian May and competed in Eurovision.
Children at the Walanbaa Youth Tour are able to interact with the performer and learn about First Nations culture.
“[It is] all about giving back to the next generation, next leaders, entrepreneurs, forward thinkers. To those who will be doing things we can only imagine,” Mitch said.
“It is amazing that we get to do some incredible shows whether it is the NRL, Australian Open, playing in front of 80,000 people but the way we see it is if we are not giving back to the next generation, are we really on purpose and doing what we have set out to achieve?”
There are about 100 shows on the tour in which Gunnedah schools claimed four of those spots. Children from GS Kidd School and Gunnedah High School met Mitch on Wednesday before Gunnedah Public School and Gunnedah Preschool played host on the Friday.
“It is great to be back here on Gamilaraay country,” Mitch told the Gunnedah Times.
“It is just fantastic to see the local mob here in Gunnedah and schools really show interest and really embrace what we are setting out to achieve.
“It is youth empowerment but it is also a sharing of culture and to be back here on country singing in Gamilaraay language and having all the kids sing back, it is a beautiful thing.
“So, I think it is a great alignment to come to Gunnedah and be on country and sing in the local language, my language, and celebrate.”
He stated the energy of each group is difficult to predict but he was met nonetheless with open arms.
“The kids are great,” he said.
“You cannot really pick and choose how it is going to go because every school has got a different energy and it is led by a different human being that flows down into the kids.
“It does not matter if it is the same town. They are all very different and we have had four different responses but they have all been positive responses.”
