Stan Grant Sings His Truth With Billy Bragg On Q&A

Journalist, Q&A host and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant surprised the Q&A crowd last night by performing Woody Guthrie's classic I Ain't Got No Home with special guest Billy Bragg. 

Before jumping into the performance, he explained his love for the song and told a short story about his family that inspired him to tackle the performance. 

"I wanted to take the opportunity to play with Billy because I like playing guitar - black fellas grow up playing guitar," He says, strumming away. 

"But more because it told a story about my family and my grandfather, and people see me on television, and they think I was born in a suit, but I wasn't. I was born into an aboriginal family in NSW - a very poor aboriginal family. We spent our time travelling around, moving from town to town." he explains. 

"It meant I never had a home. I didn't have a home for the first 12-13 years of my life. I changed schools 13 or 14 times before I was even in high school. 

"My grandfather lived with me - my mother's father and when he was young, and he had his family, he lost two of his children very young and they lived in a little tin shack on the outskirts of town that he'd made out of tin." 

"They wanted to get the land back, so the police came, and at the point of a gun, they bulldozed the house down and rolled over the graves of his children that were there.

"When he was an older man, he moved from town to town with us.. and all he had in the world was a brown suitcase. That was all he had, but he was the most important person to me in my entire life.

"And there is no way I would be here today without the love of my grandfather, the man who never had a home."

Grant goes on to say that he's a "terrible singer and passable guitar player" before launching into the song, dedicating it to his grandfather. 

Posting the video to Facebook, Q&A has received hundreds of comments on the video from fans of both Bragg and Grant, particularly thanking Grant for his vulnerability. 

Many were impressed by Grant's musical talent as well, with one commenter saying, "You should sing more often Stan. What a brilliant tribute to your Grandfather, he would be so proud of you."

Watch the full story and performance below.