Merindi Briscoe’s journey has taken her from Mossman, the country of her people the Yulanji, right across Australia and back again.
Starting out singing sweet soulful melodies with her sisters Deline and Naurita in The Briscoe sisters, she then toured the East Coast with artists such as the late Aunty Rita Mills and The Descendants, Tiddas, Sara Storer and many more.
“There’s just something you get from performing with siblings, harmony wise on stage, every now and again when I’m with one of the sisters and I’ll hear that third harmony missing and its just like damn, how does she do that!… we do get together still when we can…I’ve been singing with Deline a little of late, but i realise we all have different paths in life.”
Motherhood came next for Merindi and her music career began to take somewhat of a hiatus.
“In 2005 when we went our separate ways, with the other two sisters moving to Melbourne, I decided to do the family thing and sing at the kids for awhile!” she laughs, “only it’s in a different tune!”
Merindi and her partner moved to Perth and opportunities arose to perform at schools, private functions and community events in which she was able to share her culture, beliefs and stories through song and dance alongside her family, but her home country beckoned.
“We were in Perth for two years, but then we decided to come back home in 2011 and since I’ve been doing workshops, singing and I’ve been doing traditional weaving handed down to me by my Nanna, so that’s in the mix there too.. it’s so beautiful to know the culture is still surviving.”
Merindi – a bubbly and genuinely funny woman, is obviously devoted to making sure she passes on her knowledge of her culture to her children and to anyone she can, “I cherish and relish those things” she enthuses, “I feel so honoured to be able to pass these things on to my children and my grandchildren.”
She’s excited to share the stage on Friday night with Kutcha Edwards and Shellie Morris at The Tanks, as she explains in respectful tones – “These are people who have gone before me in a sense and that I look up to and I feel so privileged to share the stage with them, they continue to create beautiful compositions that incorporate their culture and language, which touch the heartstrings of many.”
I ask Merindi what it’s like to sing songs in language, and you can hear the pride in her voice grow, it’s obviously something that means a lot to her as an artist and as a person.
“Singing in language, is… I guess for me so important..just to root myself in my heritage.. that I’ve been blessed with and given, I didn’t grow up with that constant fluent language around and it’s so great to be able to take that back you know and sing our own songs, getting tips from Aunties and Uncles on language and preserving it, it’s a great experience to reconnect with it.”
“It’s just like Friday night, Singing Up Country – there’s nothing better than that, standing on your own country, singing your own songs and in your own native tongue”
This years NAIDOC theme is – We all stand on sacred ground: Learn, Respect, and Celebrate – and when asked about what this theme meant to her, Merindi humbly offers, “That’s what it’s all about, I’m always learning… always.. and I have so much respect for those that have come before me, but yeah I want to learn more and I want to do it here where my roots are.”
Merindi Briscoe appears on Friday night at The Tanks Arts Centre at “Singing Up Country” alongside Kutcha Edwards and Shellie Morris in a panel discussion and performance show hosted by Sam Davis.
Tickets available here: http://ticketlink.com.au/whats-on/popular-music/singing-up-country
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