As the daughter of Central Australian folk music royalty, it is little wonder Sally Balfour has found her way to the stage as a singer-songwriter. While the isolation and extremes of the NT loom large in her songwriting, Sally's music connects on an individual level. Through Sally’s deeply personal, acoustic guitar driven songs you're taken on the journey of one woman's life in Australia's outback. This lifestyle and upbringing has shown its influence in her songwriting. Sally recently released Clara Crocodile stories and so 3KND welcome Sally to KoolNDeadly.
Clara Crocodile is a unique NT story developed by singer/songwriter Sally Balfour. When Sally's first child was born, sleep deprivation hit her hard, but through the fog she found the story of Clara Crocodile. This family album is multi-genre and features many NT talents. The album features musicians Xavia, Ted Egan, Katie Harder, Genise Williams, Dave Crowe, Ashley McDonell, Warren H Williams, and many more! Clara Crocodile was recorded at Red House Recordings in Alice Springs and is produced by Darcy Davis.
After Clara Crocodile discovered her mum and dad were going to eat her, she decided to leave her billabong and find a new, empty waterhole to live in. The problem is the Top End is over-crowded with crocodiles and Clara cannot find a place to live. Clara learns about a place called Mparntwe, Alice Springs from a friendly Dragonfly and decides to head South. Clara meets many animals along the way that help her on her journey, but will she make it to Alice Springs...?
The Idea…. I was sitting on the couch in our yellow brick house in the tropical suburbs of Darwin, watching my newborn son sleep. I was mesmerised by those shallow breaths and felt consumed by a fog of newborn love and sleep deprivation. It was in this moment that a thought crawled into the back of mind, 'what now?’ That question haunted me and I knew I needed to create… something… It was in this fog that the idea of a crocodile leaving her home in the Top End of Australia to move to the red centre came to me. As the story began to unfold in my mind so did the ways in which I could tell it. I started having visions of how I wanted the story to sound, look, feel, be interacted with and it was becoming larger and larger and really an unrealistic project. Like most creative processes, there was a draft and then another draft that was then redrafted and redrafted until I held something in my hand that was realistically manageable. I would tell a story through song - I would create a musical album for the whole family that showcased different musicians from Central Australia.
"Sally Balfour's voice has a resonance that just draws you in and keeps you captivated. Balfour is that special breed of folk singer who is able to entrance an audience with just a guitar and her beautiful voice”