Emma Donovan Draws Strength From Keeping Her Grandfather’s Legacy Alive In ‘The Old Rugged Cross’

“Uncle Archie [Roach] asked me to be part of a session for his gospel album [2019’s Tell Me Why] that he was collaborating on with Paul [Grabowsky],” Emma Donovan, a proud Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Yamatji woman, recalls of first meeting her collaborator for The Old Rugged Cross show.

“There were a lot of familiar songs – Uncle’s tunes, that I’d known over the years – and just the arrangements for that album! I did a session for Uncle Archie and Paul. We did a live recording here in Melbourne, and it made the album for Uncle. I worked on a tune called Just A Closer Walk With Thee, and it was gorgeous.

“I’m a big fan of Paul’s work and his amazing musicianship. I remember the times he’s done stuff with Kate Ceberano [see: 2019’s Tryst, Ceberano and Grabowsky’s award-winning collaborative album]. I heard a beautiful interview once where Kate described the magic that Paul has, and I’ve heard this repeatedly: musically, he just takes it somewhere else.

“It's a different thing, a different feeling, playing with someone like Paul. He is absolutely exceptional, and I just think the way that he arranges music – you know, he hears this whole other world. He can open you up and introduce you to lots of different sounds. We had always kinda talked up doing other songs together, and then The Old Rugged Cross, as we call it, came about.” 

After premiering to great acclaim at 2021’s Melbourne International Jazz Festival, The Old Rugged Cross was reprised for Sydney Festival in 2023, and now it’s finally Brissie’s turn!

As part of Grabowsky’s two-year, The Art Of The Possible-themed partnership with Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), the legendary pianist, composer, arranger and producer will participate in a triptych of collaborative performances, the first of which is The Old Rugged Cross. 

“When Paul was first talking to me about doing some gospel tunes – and we were talking about what to pick – it was funny, he had more like the old Motown kind of vibes in mind; he was thinking along those lines,” she shares. “And I said, ‘Oh, I see gospel in another kind of era.’ I grew up mostly with my mum’s mum and dad, who both come from two different missions on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. They had that mission life, and so they were brought together by a lot of old mission gospel songs.

“My grandfather passed when I was really young; I must’ve been about nine or 10, so I spent more time with Nan; she didn’t pass until I was about 16. They were just this respected couple – known for what they stood for – and they sang quirky little country love songs as well as all these gospel tunes. I think the family’s always been very grateful for what they left behind, which is their songs and this collection of music that we all still draw from today. 

“Everything that I do with my tunes, where I’m going now and where I see myself, I wanna always include and acknowledge ‘em. I just feel very lucky. I feel very humbled that I come from this family ‘cause it was always about music. Look, it was about two things, music and football, to be honest,” she corrects herself, chuckling. “The players and the barrackers, they used to say. If you wasn’t a singer, you’d be playin’ footy!” 

Billed as “a journey through the country music, gospel hymns and rich legacy of soul that shaped [Donovan’s] life”, The Old Rugged Cross features songs popularised by the likes of Johnny Cash (including the title song, we’re tipping) and Aretha Franklin alongside re-imaginings of some songs by Donovan’s grandfather, Micko Donovan. Audience members will also be treated to a selection of tunes from Til My Song is Done, Emma Donovan’s sensational debut solo album, which was released earlier this year.

Of forming her solo musical identity for “the first solo album after 15 years”, she recounts. “When I had the opportunity to do my solo stuff, it’s like, ‘Who is Emma Donovan on her own?’ you know? ‘Well, I’m the granddaughter of Micko and Aileen, which is mum’s parents that sang and were known in the community, and I’m this niece and granddaughter. So I thought, ‘That’s where I’m gonna park myself.’ 

“I thought, ‘That’s the easiest thing that I can kinda grab onto, comin’ out of somethin’ like The Putbacks because it’s so familiar to me,’ you know? I’ve been singin’ them songs for years, and so I thought that’s kinda like the first homebase, being on my own.

“I’ve been in such a long, ten-year relationship – you know, funk-soul bubble – with The Putbacks,” Donovan points out, laughing. “We’re with the record label Cooking Vinyl, and they were keen to know what I would do if I was to do a solo record. 

“So, yeah, songs like Sweet By And By, I thought, ‘I’ll give that a go. I’ll make that a part of the album and these tunes that I’ve just started writing.’

“I’ll definitely do Sweet By And By with Paul. The last time we played The Old Rugged Cross, I actually would’ve done it in English. And then I made an effort for my solo album to honour my grandfather and do it in his language, Gumbaynggirr [Yibaanga Gangaa (Sweet By & By) closes Til My Song Is Done]. So, yeah, I actually meant to tell Paul the other day we should update a little Gumbaynggirr version [of Sweet By And By for The Old Rugged Cross].

Donovan reveals that during the song selection process for The Old Rugged Cross, “I spent a bit of time with Paul at his home. We just shared the basic gospel tunes that I knew – like the couple of ones that my pop had written, originals as well as the standards that we know – or that I know – that are from years of learning with my family when I first started singing. 

“Songs like The Old Rugged Cross, Sweet By And By – they’re kind of standards in [the] Aboriginal community, where mob have come from church or mission influences, musically. I feel I said to Paul, ‘We should make sure that we celebrate them songs.’ There’s a bunch of songs that a lot of Indigenous mob can relate to. And that’s where it all started for me, too; my early days of singing.” 

Donovan is descended from a long line of musicians and sang with local country music royalty, The Donovans, alongside her mother Agnes and five uncles, as a child. 

“I kinda learnt music – how to harmonise and learn lyrics and stuff – when I was really young, so I’d been singin’ these songs for a long time,” she says. “The Donovans, my family – my uncles, my mum’s brothers, and that – we were always asked to sing at any gatherings in community, where there was money getting raised, or church services.

“Even the other day – so when I did the Blak Day Out in Brissie, I actually drove over that morning to Bowraville, which is the mission where my grandfather had been raised. One of his old cousins passed away. So we still get them requests from the family today, and it doesn’t matter if one or two of us aren’t there. 

“I come from a big family, so there was my Nan and Pop, then they had a family of six – one of them was my mum, the oldest daughter, and all her brothers. And then all their kids. So there’s always a whole bunch of family there.

“I rocked up [to the service in Bowraville] and, well, the family asked me to sing Amazing Grace, actually, for this old lady, old nanna. And there was one uncle – you know, I had my uke, and I was plannin’ on havin’ a little sing, but then I seen all my uncles and that there. And we both just jumped up and did it together. 

“But that’s how we kind of grew up, you know? The family would even request some of these old songs of my Pop’s, which are still known. 

“My grandfather wrote gospel music in the 1970s, and there was a time when they didn’t really have a lot of access to recordings. We’ve got some really precious old family recordings on cassettes and stuff. I shared some of the songs that my grandfather wrote with Paul, so we’ve put them in our show.

“There’s one song in particular called The Promised Land, which my grandfather wrote about his vision of the afterlife. It's a real gospel number, and it’s kind of like a family favourite, a traditional song that everybody knows after years of the families continuing to sing my grandfather’s songs. So, I was really excited to share these old songs.

“And they’re standard country tunes that I can play. I’m not too flash when it comes to chords and playing music, you know? But I knew enough to share these tunes with Paul, and I knew he’d take it to another place with all these amazing things that he does.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done these tunes. But that style of music and them songs, they’re still in my life. Like I said, I was honoured to be asked to play at my Great Aunty’s funeral the other day, and the family and the community know: that’s where we’ve come from, them songs and that era.

“We can draw strength singing these tunes, and I think that’s what I take with me, you know? Even though I will be collaborating with Paul, it’s bringin’ him into that feeling as well. I think the thing that I love about working with Paul is I knew he had a beautiful relationship with Uncle [Archie] and Aunt [Ruby], and it’s just been nice to continue that with him, yeah.

“I followed Uncle Archie for such a long time over the years and saw the relationship he and Aunty Ruby had with Paul on gigs that they used to work on with the orchestra, as well as other gigs. 

“I’m lookin’ forward to havin’ a sing. I love to sing my best with him, you know? We’re listening to each other, yeah, and I love it.”

The Art Of The Possible with Paul Grabowsky presents The Old Rugged Cross with Emma Donovan at QPAC’s Concert Hall on 13 October at 6 pm. You can find more details about the event and tickets here.