Margret RoadKnight

As part of our commitment to capturing and sharing great Australian music stories, the Australian Music Vault asked some of the country’s most influential trailblazers and unsung heroes to open up about their lives in music.

Born in Melbourne in 1943, Margret RoadKnight has performed folk, jazz, blues and gospel at concerts and festivals for more than 50 years. Throughout her long career, RoadKnight’s interpretations of a wide-ranging global songbook have helped to raise public awareness of many important social causes including women's liberation, nuclear disarmament and the treatment of refugees.

In 1976, she had a Top 40 hit with ‘Girls In Our Town’, a powerful tale of hopelessness and limited horizons for young women growing up in small Australian towns.

In this interview, Margret shares her experiences as a self-taught and self-managed artist performing and exploring music across the globe from Melbourne to Beijing to Gambia. She also reflects on how music of the 60s and 70s led to her political awakening and a belief that music can be a powerful agent of change.

Interviewer: Jenny O’Meara

Location: Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017