Music is important to Aboriginal communities - it's a way of telling stories and has been done since the dawn of time. Bands often sing about land, culture, people and contemporary life in communities.

In January 2009, the Winanjjikari Music Centre started an Outreach Program that services six remote Barkly communities, including Borroloola, Elliott, Ali Curung and Canteen Creek, with the generous contribution from the Christensen Foundation in the United States. Currently sourcing further Philanthropic funding for 2010, WMC Outreach records traditional music and stories as well as developing and mentoring contemporary Indigenous music.

The Outreach Program helps develop musicians’ networks, promotes the services and accessibility of the Winanjjikari Music Centre, helps with the understanding of the music industry, establishes important community contacts and assists with putting touring circuits in place for bands. In particular, remotely located young people get to work with experienced Aboriginal musicians as role models and mentors. 
 

Boom crash:	On the road: Joe Davey	Sweet sounds: Leslie Thompson

• Two bands, The Storm Riders, from Elliott, and the Sandridge Band, from Borroloola, who honed their skills through the Outreach Program, were nominated for the prestigious Indigenous Music Awards 2009 in Darwin in August.
  
• One of the aims of the WMC Outreach Program is to find mentors within the community, and musician Harold Daly Waters has now taken the reins to develop more music programs in Elliott with the assistance of Barkly Regional Arts.
  
• This year The Storm Riders launched their latest CD, Ride The Storm, Harold Daly Waters' latest album is out and the Young Kulumindini Band has developed material ready to record next year. There are also future plans to build a music centre in Elliott modelled on the WMC in Tennant Creek.
  
• Over at Borroloola, the Sandridge Band have spent the last 18 months recording with the Winanjjikari Music Centre in Tennant Creek. The band launched its first EP Warlajbarkiyi at the Alice Springs Desert Festival in September 2009. A video of the making of the EP is currently being produced by film-maker Giulia Tronci.
  
• In Canteen Creek, WMC has mainly engaged with the school children. Out of 14 songs recorded eight have been selected for an album, called The Canteen Creek School Album, to be launched in 2010. With support from The Song Room, children from Canteen Creek have written a song about donkeys, a local fixture, and a special version of Archie Roach's song Little by Little.
  
• The Ali Curung Ladies Gospel Group has focused on recording a gospel album with Joe Marshall.
  
• To find out what the guys have been up to log on to http://winanjjikari.podomatic.com/ press play on any segment and enjoy.