Jason Lee Scott
Bio - Jason Lee Scott
A gifted and successful singer/songwriter, Jason Lee Scott is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Indigenous musicians, excelling as a songwriter, guitarist, drummer, bass and didgeridoo player.
Jason’s homelands encompass the coastal regions of the Nullarbor Plains (Undiri) through to Western Australia. His connection to his cultural identity gives his music an unmistakable depth of passion.
Jason’s ambition is to make a difference as a driving force for young Aboriginal artists in the very competitive music business.
Musical hertitage
Jason comes from a long line of family performers. From the age of 13 Jason has played guitar, bass and drums for his father, Bunna Lawrie’s band Coloured Stone, performing several tours throughout Australia and the World.
Jason has performed many times with his father (Coloured Stone) and uncle, Bart Willoughby (No Fixed Address and Mixed Relations), both ARIA Award winning performers.
In 1994, Jason toured the USA as part of a cultural exchange program with the Wirrangu Band.
The Wirrangu language group is part of Jason’s First Nations Heritage.
In 1995 Jason formed the Desert Sea band and played in Ceduna, Darwin, Adelaide, the World Music Festival at Thredbo and then at the first Deadly Awards in Sydney.
Jason toured Vietnam as Jason Lee Scott and with fellow performers, Johnny Huckle and the Bapu Dancers in 1997 and in 1998 Jason performed at the World Cultural Music Festival in Waitangi, Rotorua and Auckland New Zealand.
In 1999 Jason represented Australia, as an ambassador, performing at the 5th World Asian Music Festival Song contest at Almaty Kazakhstan.
Awards and achievements
The success of his hit singles Modern Aborigine, Corroboree Dance and Desert to The Sea from his Album From the Desert to the Sea, further evidenced Jason’s progress as a young Aboriginal musician and a talent that could not be dismissed.
Jason took out the Award for the South Pacific International Song Contest No.1 in the Rock Category for Corroboree Dance Sponsored by Hard Rock Café Gold Coast, From the Single Modern Aborigine 1999. The 16th Annual QRA (Queensland Recording Association) Sunnie Awards Brisbane winning the Best Demo Category for the Song Good Old Days from the Debut Album From the Desert to the Sea 2001. The 17th Annual QRA Sunnie Awards Brisbane winning the Best Album Indigenous Sponsored by 4AAA Murray Country Brisbane and the Overall Award for Album of the Year Sponsored by Spin Creative (QLD) 2002 from the debut Album From the Desert to the Sea.
Three of Jason’s songs were filmed live and shown nationally on the ABC TV show “Message Stick”. Jason was interviewed and his songs played on numerous radio stations around the country including ABC, Triple J, Community and Aboriginal Stations, and Radio National. Jason has continued to tour extensively both as part of “Coloured Stone” and as a solo artist, all the while promoting his cultural background, his heritage and motivating other indigenous performers to reach for their dreams.
Jason was honored to be nominated as an Ambassador for National Youth Week Australia (Rockit) in 2001 alongside pop groups Super Jesus and Scandalous. He was invited to mentor and conduct workshops for Aboriginal children in the Mutitjulu Community for six weeks in the Northern Territory, Central Australia. Jason said of this experience “I found this experience to be a very positive one, both for myself and the children involved and hope to repeat it again in the near future.”
Performances and collaborations
Highlights of Jason’s touring to date included the Shinju Festival in Western Australia, Yeperenye Festival in the Northern Territory (with Slim Dusty and Troy Caser-Daley), The Multicultural Festival Concert in Canberra (ACT) with our own Indigenous Showcase with Christine Anu, the Moomba Festival Melbourne, the Port Fairy Folk Festival (VIC), the Dreaming Festival in (QLD), the Oyster Cove Festival Hobart (TAS), the Spirit Festival Adelaide and the Oyster Festival in his home town of Ceduna (SA).
(Image: Robbie Hirst, Jason, Bunna and Jim Moginie 2021)
Jason Lee Scott is a talented and passionate artist, who moves audiences wherever he plays, and it is only a matter of time before he is acclaimed nationally and Internationally.
Look out for Jason’s new album in 2022 called Love This Country.