Sammy Butcher

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Sammy Butcher is an PitjantjatjaraWarlpiri musician who formed the Warumpi Band.

Biography[edit]

Butcher was born at Papunya, Northern Territory in Central Australia.

His mother's side is from the south, the Pitjantjatjara tribe and his father's side from the Walpiri from Pikilyi, near Yinjirrimardi area.[1]

He formed the Warumpi Band with George Burarrwanga, Neil Murray and Gordon Butcher in the late 1970s.[citation needed]

Butcher released a solo album Desert Surf Guitar on CAAMA music.[2] The album's name was inspired by the sand hills surrounding Papunya, "you can imagine them as being huge red waves on the ocean"[3] He was the subject of the documentary Sammy Butcher, Out of the Shadows, part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series. The documentary looks at his life after the Warumpi Band.[4]

He is renowned as one of the best guitar players to come out of Central Australia. He now lives in Papunya, 250 kilometres (160 mi) west of Alice Springs.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Warumpi Band's trail-blazing legacy: 'We just wanted to give our music to everybody'". the Guardian. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  2. ^ Issue 28 Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Sammy Butcher surfs with his desert guitar
  3. ^ "Riding the red waves of success" Deadly Vibe, Issue 79, Sep 2003
  4. ^ australianscreen Sammy Butcher, Out of the Shadows