ABFoM Headline Act Jessica Mauboy Excited For Airlie Beach Visit

A Warm Whitsunday Welcome For Jessica Mauboy

Multi music award winner Jessica Mauboy will make her first Airlie Beach Festival of Music appearance this November.

The much-loved Australian music legend first gained recognition on Australian Idol, but in an exclusive interview with Whitsunday Life Newspaper, she said performing live is her ultimate joy.

“Being able to play it live is my ultimate favourite. So, it’s an absolute honour and opportunity to be able to do that in Airlie Beach. I'm looking forward to that,” she said.

“I love to get to know the people because that's what really makes it right, the people and obviously the energy and the spirit of the place.

“I'm looking forward to really indulging it, as much as I love performing, I really love getting to know a place.”

Jessica Mauboy is set to bring songs from her entire discography, including her first and second albums, and maybe even some hit songs from the feature film The Sapphires, plus a range of her newer music.

Her newest song ‘While I Got Time’, featured as Irene Roberts' farewell on Home and Away, and Mauboy said the brief she was given by her publisher was inspiring.

“She says to me, I've got dot points that the third party have sent over and they would love you to write a song about your loved ones. What would it be like if you were to venture out and leave? What would you leave behind? What kind of legacy would you like to leave behind? A song about in-depth reflection about life.

“The intentional production was very intimate and just little harmonies here and there, just to kind of hear the guitar play, the emotions of the lyrics and the voice, is what we wanted.

“I've never been a part of a project like that in my life. So this was really unexpected, but such a really warm project and sincere experience I've never been a part of.”

Jessica Mauboy is also fresh off being inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) Hall of Fame.

“I think having grown up in Darwin and the Northern Territory, to receive an award in my hometown that I love so dearly, to be presented that by my own community and my elders and people whom I admire at the NIMA’s, I was really in disbelief,” she said.

“I stand with the award with pride and honour.”

Mauboy is also keen to support local initiatives like Passport to Airlie, which gives emerging musicians the chance to perform at future Airlie Beach Festival of Music events.

“Our local stages are so important, so we need to take care of them, we need to nurture them. As much as the big stages outside are amazing. You always remember the beginning of it, and I still remember my first stage,” she said.

“The one thing I would say is learn from that experience. Learn from the stages. Learn from the people who build the stages from the ground up, and who create the festivals and take care of them.”

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Jessica Mauboy will debut at the Airlie Beach Festival of Music this November, sharing hits from her career and celebrating live performance. Photos supplied

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