ONE Western Australian folk band is shining light on historical events which aren’t widely known, including the Pinjarra Massacre.
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The Littlest Fox’s latest album, Under the Apple Tree is Australian history in song form, a concept which developed after the band members Ashlea Reale and Jenny Gaunt realised how little Western Australians know about their past.
“It’s really important for WA to know what’s happened in WA,” Gaunt said.
“For whatever reason we didn’t learn this in school but these are still important historical events.
“We’ve selected stories from West Australian history that touched our hearts and we have found that they have touched audience's hearts too.
“I think people like the fact the songs are about historical events which they didn’t know about.
“The stories are interesting and about really courageous people and all of the things which make us human.”
The duo learned of the Pinjarra Massacre after performing at the Fairbridge Festival.
It was this knowledge which lead to the song, Bridges that We’ve Burned.
“When we start writing our own folk songs with historical stories, we wanted stories worth telling, especially the Battle of Pinjarra,” Guant said.
“Neither of us had heard about it in school so we wanted others to know about this as well.
“With our songs we certainly try and get the main story across but we also wanted the emotion and meaning behind it as well because that is also important.
“In the case of Bridges that We’ve Burned, the chorus is simply: ‘The voices of the fallen can be heard, as we’re building up the bridges that we’ve burned’.”
Other historical events which are covered in the album include the shipwreck of Georgette near Margaret River and the Batavia shipwreck off the coast of WA.
The pair also wrote a song about what it would be like to be a farmer’s son who had no chance but to follow in his father’s footsteps.
So far, The Littlest Fox’s musical rendition of WA’s history has grabbed enough attention to be included in this year’s Perth Fringe World line-up, with performances on January 29 and February 15, at the Kidogo Arthouse in Fremantle.
The duo will also be performing at the Sandy Cove Tavern on January 18 and February 1.
For more information go to thelittlestfox.com
