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Miiesha striking a chord on YouTube by Susan Cullinan 21 August 2013
A
song written and performed by Aboriginal teenager Miiesha Young, pictured, is attracting a growing following on YouTube. The song “Walk By My Side” was written by Miiesha through the Mimosa Studio Project, a music studio operated by Red Cross in the central Queensland Aboriginal community of Woorabinda. The studio is run as a community project with the Red Cross Youth Support Coordinator Stephen Collins. Miiesha, 14, has grown up in Rockhampton and Woorabinda. She says while she’s only had two formal singing lesson’s she has always had a great passion for music. “I just love music,” she says. “It’s part of me. If someone tried to take it away from me I don’t know what I’d do. “I’ve done a lot of singing in Church and while I do get nervous, I feel like people like to listen to me. I like to reach out to people. It does feel good.” Stephen Collins said Miiesha has enormous natural talent. “I’d seen her sing Amazing Grace before and it was literally amazing. It just gave me goosebumps. When she came into the studio, she’d never sung into a studio microphone before and never written music before. “When we wrote the song she said she wanted to write about fighting in families. I played a few chords on the piano and when she spoke the words they were really poetic – they were almost like lyrics already. Within a couple of days we had a song written, recorded and our partners Creative Tracks helped mix the song and filmed and edited the video that goes with it.”
Stephen said he’s teaching Miiesha guitar, which she is enthusaistically learning. “After just one lesson she was already playing several chords and finger picking. She’s just incredibly gifted,” he said. They’re currently working on another song, about a person changing their ways, and moving on from a past of being selfish and greedy. As to the future, Miiesha says she just wants to keep writing and keep singing. “I want to be a positive singer. I’ve always really wanted to be a
gospel singer.” Meanwhile she keeps singing every day and practicing guitar. “I wanted the first song to be about my family. A lot of Indigenous families are going through this type of stuff. But if I can try and help one person in my family I will. “I’m not afraid of trying to help and I think others shouldn’t be afraid of people tyrying to help them.” “Walk By My Side” is at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ju6V291YmmM
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