Xavier Rudd wins the $20,000 Environmental Music Prize for Stoney Creek
Roots musician Xavier Rudd plans to donate the Environmental Music Prize money to grassroots organisations, as he once again wrestles with the ethical dilemmas of touring the globe.
Roots singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd has won the $20,000 Environmental Music Prize for an ode to nature titled Stoney Creek, which he began sketching in the Queensland coastal town of Yeppoon while reflecting on the pandemic’s enforced pause.
“We were heading out to Keppel Island and the wind was howling, so we decided not to take the boat out and just sit back,” he said of the song’s origin.
“These ‘winds of change’ were happening, and it was about appreciating what we have and where we are. During Covid, although it was a devastating thing, there was lots of great stories about ecosystems that were thriving because the humans stopped their activity, and the song grew from that space.”
Accompanied by an eye-catching music video filmed on the Portugal coastline, Stoney Creek was chosen as the winner by about 15,000 online voters from 59 countries, ahead of songs by the likes of Midnight Oil, Troy Cassar-Daley and King Stingray.
Rudd plans to donate the prize money to environmental organisations, as yet undecided. “If we did it in four lots of $5000, that would mean heaps to them, rather than bigger organisations that are already well-funded,” he said.
Established last year by entrepreneur Edwina Floch, the prize is a non-profit funded by donors and pro-bono partners.
“Xavier’s moving and deeply personal music reminds us that nature brings life, beauty and meaning to all of us,” said Floch. “For decades he has used his voice, both on and off stage, to shine light on various environmental issues, supporting the work of countless groups and organisations along the way.”
Based on the Sunshine Coast, Rudd – who released his 10th album, Jan Juc Moon, last year – is performing in the Netherlands this week, beginning a six-week European festival run.
Playing to big crowds overseas has long been par for the course for the multi-instrumentalist: few Australian solo artists can sell as many tickets in as many territories as he can. Yet for an environmentally conscious performer, touring has always presented an ethical dilemma.
“I’ll call a spade a spade: what we do is not carbon neutral,” Rudd, 45, told The Australian. “We don’t have a light footprint; we’re travelling on jet planes and buses, using huge power systems and all the rest.”
“Activist friends of mine say, ‘It’s so important because you help us do what we do on the front line’, but it’s not a very sustainable environment,” he said. “We try to use reusable stuff, and we don’t have any plastics on our rider — but it’s a bit disheartening at times, because you’re at the mercy of promoters and the industry. It’s a head-scratcher; that’s the truth.”
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