Women in music take a bow on their night of nights

Christine Anu, Katie Noonan, Judith Durham and Joy McKean were among those honoured at the second Australian Women in Music Awards.

Katie Noonan and Christine Anu at last year’s launch. Picture: Glenn Hunt

A year after co-hosting the inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards, two of the nation’s leading artistic voices have been recognised for their significant career achievements.

In Brisbane on Wednesday night, singer Christine Anu took home awards for artistic excellence and diversity in music, while singer-songwriter Katie Noonan received the award for creative leadership.

As well, Noonan performed a tribute to the 2019 AWMA honour roll inductee, Judith Durham of folk-pop group the Seekers, who was unable to attend in person but accepted the accolade via video link from Melbourne.

Durham’s induction follows pop singer Helen Reddy, who last year became the first name to be etched into the history of an awards ceremony with a difference: all of the finalists and winners are of the same sex, in line with event founder Vicki Gordon’s long-held desire to see women acknowledged and championed in an industry where their work is sometimes minimised or, worse, erased.

In line with that ethos, the awards celebrate performers in categories that rarely get a mention in more conventional music industry awards nights, including filmmaking and music photography — which were both won by West Australia-based Tashi Hall — as well as live production (won by Laurie May), music journalism (Ange McCormack) and studio production (Virginia Read).

Singer-songwriter Joy McKean received a lifetime achievement award for her extensive work within the country music realm alongside her husband, Slim Dusty, who died in 2003, while at the other end of a life’s work Melbourne-based musician Alice Skye took home the emerging artist award.

The impressive streak of applause for singer-songwriter Mojo Juju continued when she was named AWMA songwriter of the year. Since its release last year, her album Native Tongue also has picked up accolades at the AIR Awards for independent music and at the National Indigenous Music Awards.

The evening concluded with a performance by singer Renee Geyer, who chose the song that became her first Australian top 50 single in 1974.

On Wednesday night, its chorus lyrics resonated loudly and clearly: “This is a man’s world / But it wouldn’t be nothing / Without a woman or a girl.”