The Water Runners will debut new music at Kiama’s Folk By The Sea. Photo: Supplied.
A haunting new song about a young victim of the 1902 Mt Kembla mine disaster will echo through Kiama Showground this month, as hometown favourites The Water Runners debut songs from their upcoming album Shelter at Folk By The Sea.
The band’s fourth album was recorded live at Syd Green’s Jervis Bay recording studio earlier this year and is set to be released in late September. The Kiama festival will be a chance for the band to also share new tales of South Coast life from the album.
Lead singer John Littrich said Mickey Brennan’s Lament told the story of a 19-year-old miner who died in the 1902 Mt Kembla coal mine disaster, an underground explosion that left 96 workers dead and more than 120 years later remains one of Australia’s biggest industrial tragedies.
“Mickey Brennan had only started working at Mt Kembla mine four days before the explosion and his was the only victim’s body that was never recovered after the explosion,” Littrich said.
“His father, who also worked in the mine, searched the mine shafts for two years looking for his son. It is such a sad story.”
He said while the album was unlikely to be ready to launch during the 12-14 September festival event, he was looking forward to introducing the new “relatable” songs live during its three sets.
And for Illawarra audiences, the songs will be just that.
“For example, The Last Train from Central, as the name implies, is about trying to make it on to the last South Coast train of the night from Central after a big night out in Sydney,” he said.
“I am sure plenty of South Coast people will be able to relate to that.”
Among the setlist will also be award-winning song Emily Smith, about a man who was the only survivor of a colonial-era shipwreck off Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
Penned by the band’s mandolin and banjo player Neil McCann, who is also Folk By The Sea’s festival director, it was specifically written for a competition during the Fleurieu Folk Festival in South Australia in 2023 at which the band was performing.
“I had recently been on Kangaroo Island with my wife Wendy and we were really taken by the number of shipwrecks that had occurred in that part of Australia,” McCann said.
“We heard this story about the one person who had survived a particular shipwreck, so I wrote the song from his perspective.”
This year’s Kiama festival will be a return for the band after having a break last year due to Littrich travelling Australia with his wife, which gave McCann the opportunity to take on the festival director’s job.
McCann said he enjoyed the role so much he was back this year with the dual roles of festival director and performer.
“I’m really looking forward to combining the roles,” McCann said.
“I really learnt a lot about running the festival last year and really enjoyed the experience of doing it in my own town.”
Littrich and McCann both live in Kiama, while double bass player James Turk hails from Gerringong and violist and vocalist Danita Harris grew up in Bowral and now lives in Campbelltown.
The Water Runners have three shows during Folk By The Sea – Thursday, 11 September Charity Preview Show at Group Seven Leagues Club and shows on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at The Pavilion Kiama at the showground.
Folk By The Sea will be held at various venues in Kiama from 12-14 September. Full program and ticket information is available on the festival website.
