{{Short description|Australian singer-songwriter}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{use Australian English|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Nancy Bates | image = Nancy Bates performing Old Black Woman at the Fleurieu Folk Festival.png | alt = | caption = At the Fleurieu Folk Festival in 2016 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | burial_place = | occupation = Singer-songwriter | awards = | spouse = | children = | education = | signature = | party = }} '''Nancy Bates''' is an [[Aboriginal Australian]] singer-songwriter, guitarist, and teacher based in [[Adelaide]]. She is known for her music project ''Songs Inside'', in which she taught inmates in a [[women's prison]] in [[Adelaide]] to sing, write songs, and play an instrument, which gave rise to [[Songs Inside|a 2024 film of the same name]] by documentary filmmaker [[Shalom Almond]]. She is also known for her show ''Still Talkin' Bout A Revolution'', based on the works of [[Tracy Chapman]].
==Early life== Nancy Bates was born in [[Far West (New South Wales)|far west New South Wales]], near [[Broken Hill]], of [[Barkindji]] / [[Wilyakali]] heritage.<ref name=unisyd2024>{{cite web | title=Sydney Con announces 2024 Indigenous Artists-in-Residence | website=[[The University of Sydney]] | date=5 March 2024 | url=https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/03/05/sydney-con-2024-music-indigenous-artists-in-residence.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250707234436/https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/03/05/sydney-con-2024-music-indigenous-artists-in-residence.html | archive-date=7 July 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
==Career== Bates worked and toured with [[Archie Roach]] from 2013 until 2017, as a [[backing vocalist]] and guitarist,<ref name=unisyd2024/><ref name=fringe2025/> before starting to work with incarcerated women.<ref name=smith2024>{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Matthew | title=Documentary on music program helping Adelaide Women's Prison inmates survive to premiere at Adelaide Film Festival | website=ABC News | date=29 October 2024 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-30/documentary-features-unique-prison-music-program/104524250 | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> In 2015, she sang Roach's song "Beautiful child" in duet with [[Ellie Lovegrove]] for the 25th Anniversary Edition of ''[[Charcoal Lane]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/singer-songwriter/charcoal-lane-25th-anniversary-edition/682557/|title=Charcoal Lane (25th Anniversary Edition) |publisher=[[JB Hi-Fi]]| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911185855/https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/cd-roach-archie-charcoal-lane-25th-anniversary-edition-2cd| archive-date= 11 Sep 2024}}</ref>
She has worked with and in [[Adelaide Women's Prison]] for many years, teaching inmates how to write songs, sing, and play the [[ukulele]].<ref name=francis2024>{{cite web | last=Francis | first=Annabel | title=Singer-songwriter Nancy Bates hopes to help female prisoners from reoffending through music | website=ABC News | date=24 January 2024 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-25/nancy-bates-helps-female-prisoners-music-program/103380030 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108022044/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-25/nancy-bates-helps-female-prisoners-music-program/103380030 | archive-date=8 November 2024 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> Her project, later called ''Songs Inside'', aimed at preventing vulnerable Indigenous women returning to prison after finishing their term. The women selected for the project were taught to play [[ukelele]]s, and assisted in writing songs. At the end of the program, some of the participants (the "Song Birds Ensemble") performed alongside Bates at an [[Australia Day]] concert, backed by the [[Adelaide Youth Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Doherty | first=Peta | title=Songs Inside: The Indigenous-led music program giving female prisoners a voice through song | website=[[SBS World News|SBS News]] | date=25 January 2024 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/songs-inside-the-indigenous-led-music-program-giving-female-prisoners-a-voice-through-song/7xkd7tkpd | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815102101/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/songs-inside-the-indigenous-led-music-program-giving-female-prisoners-a-voice-through-song/7xkd7tkpd | archive-date=15 August 2024 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Aus Lights 2024 | website=Australia Day Council South Australia | date=18 December 2024 | url=https://australiadaysa.com.au/aus-lights-2024/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709055448/https://australiadaysa.com.au/aus-lights-2024/ | archive-date=9 July 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> She said that she wanted to use her privilege to highlight women who had been incarcerated, not to celebrate Australia Day, but to promote discussion around the concept of [[Invasion Day]] or Survival Day, as it has become known by many Aboriginal people.<ref name=francis2024/>
In March 2021 Bates performed her show with a backing band, ''Talkin' Bout a Revolution'', based on the work of [[African American]] singer-songwriter [[Tracy Chapman]], at the [[Adelaide Fringe]].<ref>{{cite web | first= Sahil |last= Choujar | title= [Review, ''Still Talkin' Bout a Revolution'']| website=Adelaide Fringe | date=23 February 2022 | url=https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringefeed/reviews/1369 | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref><ref name=int2025/> In March 2022, Bates showcased her new show ''Still Talkin' Bout A Revolution'' at the Adelaide Fringe, which won the Best Music award there. In July 2023, she performed the show at [[Theatre Royal, Hobart|Theatre Royal]] in [[Hobart]], Tasmania, as part of the Festival of Voices.<ref name=tr2023>{{cite web | title=Still Talking 'Bout a Revolution | website=Theatre Royal | date=7 July 2023 | url=https://www.theatreroyal.com.au/shows/still-talking-bout-revolution | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250331070744/https://www.theatreroyal.com.au/shows/still-talking-bout-revolution | archive-date=31 March 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> In November 2024, she toured regional towns in [[South Australia]] with the show. Side by side with the tour, she gave workshops to developing songwriters.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nancy Bates: Still Talkin' Bout A Revolution | website=[[Country Arts SA]] | date=12 February 2024 | url=https://www.countryarts.org.au/events/nancy-bates-still-talkin-bout-a-revolution/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250516095831/https://www.countryarts.org.au/events/nancy-bates-still-talkin-bout-a-revolution/ | archive-date=16 May 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
Also at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe, she created the soundtrack for a huge performance piece called ''Sky Song'', with the music of Archie Roach, Allara, Corey Theatre, Aimee Volkofsky, and [[Electric Fields]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Nancy Bates' songs that bring stories to light | website=[[ABC listen]] | date=25 February 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/nancy-bates-take-5/13770938 | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
In July 2024, Bates, along with Indigenous [[Mapuche]] Chilean-Australian singer and guitarist LENI, gave a concert in [[Prospect, South Australia|Prospect]] town hall, Adelaide, as part of [[NAIDOC Week]] celebrations.<ref name=naidoc2024>{{cite web | title=Nancy Bates & LENI | website=NAIDOC | url=https://www.naidoc.org.au/get-involved/naidoc-week-events/naidoc-week-nancy-bates-leni | access-date=7 December 2025| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330111534/https://www.naidoc.org.au/get-involved/naidoc-week-events/naidoc-week-nancy-bates-leni| date=July 2024 |archive-date= 30 March 2025| url-status= live}}</ref>
In early March 2025, she launched her new album, ''Share Your Love'' at a concert titled "Nancy Bates & Friends", at the [[Arts Theatre, Adelaide|Arts Theatre]] in Adelaide, as part of the Adelaide Fringe.<ref name=fringe2025/> On 15 March, she performed at the Umeewarra Downtown Aboriginal Music Festival in [[Port Augusta]], a festival headlined by [[Troy Cassar-Daley]] and [[Dem Mob]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Levy | first=Maximilian | title=The Umeewarra Downtown Aboriginal Music Festival returns to Port Augusta this March | website=Glam Adelaide | date=12 March 2025 | url=https://glamadelaide.com.au/the-umeewarra-downtown-aboriginal-music-festival-returns-to-port-augusta-this-march/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406130814/https://glamadelaide.com.au/the-umeewarra-downtown-aboriginal-music-festival-returns-to-port-augusta-this-march/ | archive-date=6 April 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> In October 2025, she performed at the [[Adelaide Guitar Festival]], opening for [[Troy Cassar-Daley]], with her band and special guests, [[Melody Pool]] and [[Ellie Lovegrove]]. showcasing songs from ''Share Your Love''. She shared a message from prison reform activist Tabitha Lean, and told the audience about the Aboriginal-led organisation prisoner-advocacy group [[Sisters Inside]].<ref name=wilson2025>{{cite web | title=Adelaide Guitar Festival review: Troy Cassar-Daley and Nancy Bates | website=[[InDaily]]| first= Jayda|last=Wilson | date=2 October 2025 | url=https://www.indailysa.com.au/inreview/music/2025/10/02/adelaide-guitar-festival-review-troy-cassar-daley-and-nancy-bates | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
==Other activities== Bates runs her own music promotion, education, and advocacy company for emerging First Nations artists, Deadly Management.<ref name=unisyd2024/>
She continues to advocate for imprisoned women.<ref name=wilson2025/> She is also a strong mental health advocate, and in 2023 was ambassador to the [[Australian Performing Rights Association]].<ref name=tr2023/>
Bates was an ambassador for the Adelaide Fringe in 2025,<ref name=fringe2025>{{cite web | title=Our Ambassadors | website=Adelaide Fringe | url=https://adelaidefringe.com.au/our-ambassadors | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250906072647/https://adelaidefringe.com.au/our-ambassadors | archive-date=6 September 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref> which she saw as her "responsibility as an artist to uphold our values, to promote creativity, to promote the arts, to promote the Fringe".<ref name=int2025>{{cite web | title=2025 Fringe Ambassador Nancy Bates on Art, Representation, and Reconciliation at Adelaide Fringe | website=Adelaide Fringe | date=10 January 2025 | url=https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringefeed/news/2025-fringe-ambassador-nancy-bates | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250809115451/https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringefeed/news/2025-fringe-ambassador-nancy-bates | archive-date=9 August 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
==Film== In 2024, Adelaide documentary filmmaker [[Shalom Almond]] accompanied Bates to the prison over a period of months, and made a feature documentary film called ''[[Songs Inside]]'', which won several awards.<ref name=curb2025>{{cite web | interviewer-last=Peirce | interviewer-first=Andrew F| first= Shalom |last=Almond | title=MIFF Interview: Shalom Almond on putting humanity at the core of Songs Inside | website=[[The Curb (website)|The Curb]] | date=13 August 2025 | url=https://www.thecurb.com.au/miff-interview-songs-inside-shalom-almond/ | access-date=28 November 2025| format= audio + text}}</ref><ref name=rice2025>{{cite web | title=SA doco Songs Inside wins big at Sydney Film Festival |first =Zoe |last= Rice| website=[[SA Life]] | date= February 2025 | url=https://www.indailysa.com.au/salife/people-and-places/2024/12/19/the-power-of-song | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704043505/https://www.indailysa.com.au/salife/people-and-places/2024/12/19/the-power-of-song | archive-date=4 July 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=29 November 2025| quote= The article originally featured in the February 2025 SALIFE magazine.}}</ref><ref name=meet2025>{{cite web | last=Knopoff | first=Alex | title=Meet the Adelaide Studios Tenant: Shalom Almond | website=[[South Australian Film Corporation]] | date=20 November 2025 | url=https://www.safilm.com.au/latest-news/meet-the-adelaide-studios-tenant-shalom-almond/ | access-date=28 November 2025}}</ref><ref name=keast2025>{{cite web | last=Keast | first=Jackie | title='Songs Inside' wins $100K CinefestOZ Film Prize | website=[[IF Magazine]] | date=8 September 2025 | url=https://if.com.au/songs-inside-wins-100k-cinefestoz-film-prize/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908074106/https://if.com.au/songs-inside-wins-100k-cinefestoz-film-prize/ | archive-date=8 September 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=29 November 2025}}</ref>
==Recognition and awards== In March 2022, her show ''Still Talkin' Bout A Revolution'' won Best Live Music at the [[Adelaide Fringe]].<ref name=tr2023/><ref name=fringe2025/> Bates was a finalist in the [[2021 Australian Women in Music Awards]] (which were postponed until May 2022), in the Humanitarian Award category.<ref name=naidoc2024/><ref>{{cite web | last=Brewster | first=Will | title=Australian Women in Music Awards reveals finalists as it pushes event back to 2022 | website=[[The Music Network]] | date=31 August 2021 | url=https://themusicnetwork.com/australian-women-music-awards-event-postponed-finalists/ | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
In 2023, she was awarded the Critics' Choice Star on the [[Adelaide Festival Centre Walk of Fame]]<ref name=naidoc2024/> for her show ''Still Talkin' Bout A Revolution''.<ref>{{cite web | title=Meet our 2023 Walk of Fame stars | website=Adelaide Festival Centre | date=10 April 2024 | url=https://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/digital/meet-our-2023-walk-of-fame-stars | access-date=7 December 2025}}</ref>
In March 2024, Bates was announced as one of two Indigenous [[Artist-in-residence|artists-in-residence]] at the [[Sydney Conservatorium of Music]], along with Tim Gray, a member of reggae fusion group Green Hand Band. In its second iteration of the programme, the two musicians mentor [[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander]] students and collaborate with Sydney Conservatorium students and staff in the creation of original music.<ref name=unisyd2024/>
==Personal life== Bates' partner James, who had also been her manager, died from [[aesophageal cancer]] after they had only been together a few years. Her song, "We Won't Lose", written as a tribute to him, won a South Australian music songwriting award and progressed to a national competition.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nancy Bates' beautiful tribute to partner|quote= Australian singer/songwriter Nancy Bates joined 891 [[ABC Radio Adelaide]]'s Jo Laverty to talk about her latest song 'We Won't Lose' that has won a South Australian music songwriting award and now will be entered into a national competition. The song was written for her partner James who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and played to him in his final days before he passed. | website=Facebook | date=1 October 2025 | url=https://www.facebook.com/abcadelaide/videos/1176906750999896/ | access-date=7 December 2025| format=video + text}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://www.nancybates.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Nancy}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Indigenous Australian musicians]] [[Category:21st-century Australian women musicians]] [[Category:People from the Far West (New South Wales)]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]