Redgum

Redgum formed in Adelaide in 1975, when singer-songwriters John Schumann and Michael Atkinson, both on guitars and vocals, teamed up with Verity Truman on flute and vocals. They had all studied at Flinders University, and together they built a folk band with a sharp political edge. Hugh McDonald later came in on fiddle, replacing violinist Chris Timms, and wrote bush songs like "The Diamantina Drover".

Their defining moment is "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", a protest song written by Schumann about the toll that war takes, sung plainly and without a trace of bombast. It went to No. 1 on the national singles chart, turns up on the 1988 EP 4 Play, Volume 19, and was named among the APRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time in 2001. Schumann also wrote "I've Been to Bali Too", their 1984 swipe at Australian consumer culture abroad, and Caught in the Act, a concert record from 1983 with Trevor Lucas of Fairport Convention behind the desk, climbed to No. 5 on the albums chart.

Schumann went solo from 1986, Atkinson left in 1987, and Redgum finally folded in 1990, recording for Larrikin along the way. From 2005 Schumann and McDonald played together again in John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.