Xavier Rudd
| Xavier Rudd | |
|---|---|
Xavier Rudd in concert
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| Background information | |
| Born | 29 May 1978 |
| Origin | Torquay, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Folk, blues, indie folk, folk rock, reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, harmonica, yidaki, banjo, lap steel guitar, percusion |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels |
Universal Music Australia SaltX/Universal/Fontana Records (US/Canada) |
| Website | xavierrudd |
| Notable instruments | |
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Weissenborn slide guitars, yidaki |
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Xavier Rudd (born 29 May 1978) is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Aboriginal peoples.
Xavier Rudd grew up in Jan Juc, near Torquay, Victoria. He attended St Joseph's College, Geelong. His maternal grandfather was Dutch, born in Tilburg, a town in the Netherlands, before migrating to Australia. One of his grandmothers was from an Irish potato-growing family and grew up in Colac, Victoria. His father was born with Aboriginal, Irish and Scottish heritage, and Rudd has Wurundjeri background, one of his great grandmothers was an Aboriginal Australian, and her child (Rudd's paternal grandmother) was taken away from her.
Rudd showed a keen interest in music growing up in a family of seven children. While primary school-aged, Rudd used his mother's vacuum cleaner as a makeshift didgeridoo and he began playing his brother's guitar. He also played saxophone and clarinet as a child. Rudd's brother can still play guitar, but went on to become an accountant in Orlando, Florida.
As a child, Xavier Rudd sold recycled wood through his own furniture business. Immediately after finishing school, Rudd traveled to Fiji. He lived in villages around the country for nine months, returning to Australia at age 19.
Before launching his solo career Rudd began playing music as part of the band 'Xavier and the Hum'. He drew inspiration from artists such as Leo Kottke, Ben Harper, Natalie Merchant and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, as well as music from diverse sources, such as Hawaiian and Native American music. His music first took him overseas when he traveled to Whistler, British Columbia—Rudd was in a band and would play each night after a day of snowboarding.
Rudd was in Canada when the September 11 attacks happened. Rudd felt "spun out" watching the American media coverage, including graphic imagery of the destruction of the World Trade Center. Rudd wrote the song The 12th of September, which would feature on his first studio album To Let, about the day after the attacks. In 2006, discussing the song, Rudd said:
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Wikipedia