Joseph Benjamin Geia was born on 1959 and is an Aboriginal Australian musician of Murri heritage.
12 Facts About Joe Geia
1.
2.
Joe Geia has worked with artists, No Fixed Address, Shane Howard and Rebecca Barnard.
3.
In 1988 Joe Geia composed the track, "Yil Lull", which has been recorded by other artists, Paul Kelly, Archie Roach, Jimmy Barnes, and the Singers for the Red, Black and Gold, which included Howard, Kelly, Christine Anu, Renee Geyer, and Tiddas.
4.
Joe Geia was born in 1959 in Ingham, Queensland and grew up as a member of the Murri peoples.
5.
Joe Geia's father, Albert Geia, was a cane cutter and Indigenous elder, who was one of the leaders of the Palm Island strike of 1957.
6.
Joe Geia is a composer, guitarist, singer and didgeridoo player and has been recognised as one of the most influential figures in the development of contemporary Indigenous music.
7.
Joe Geia moved to Adelaide to attend the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the University of Adelaide.
8.
Joe Geia left in mid-1983 to live in Sydney where he formed a reggae band, Nya Nunga.
9.
Joe Geia was granted $90,000 by the Australia Council for the Arts to fund his first solo album, Yil Lull, which was released in 1988, on the Only Gammin' label.
10.
Joe Geia has been cited as an important influence by almost every Aboriginal musician to achieve prominence since that time.
11.
Joe Geia has worked with many other Australian musicians including a long-term close relationship with ARIA award-winning Tasmanian band Wild Pumpkins at Midnight, who often appeared as his backing band in various combinations.
12.
Joe Geia has contributed songs to other projects and worked as a session musician for other bands.