Australian Spirit

Country-music icon Slim Dusty takes centre stage alongside Joy McKean, his wife and lifelong artistic collaborator, in Kriv Stenders’ affectionate documentary portrayal of the couple and their work. Packed with songs and archival material, the film is a timely reminder of the place the pair’s oeuvre holds in Australian culture – though its reverent approach and lack of tension may ultimately limit the documentary’s appeal beyond the artists’ existing admirers, as

Barnaby Smith discusses.

Within the first few minutes of Kriv Stenders’ Slim & I (2020), the Australian singer/songwriter Missy Higgins recalls the first time she was exposed to the music of Slim Dusty, which she describes as ‘the most Australian sound I’d ever heard’. Anyone with even a passing awareness of the country singer she’s referring to will surely know what she means. Slim Dusty’s music represents a distinct brand of Australiana, defined by that conversational, grandfatherly singing voice and those simple and undemanding songs (often bush ballads) about ordinary people, rural issues, travelling, family life and so on. And then there is the image: the floppy akubra, the rolled-up shirtsleeves and the welcoming grin on a weatherworn face. Even his chosen stage name – he was born David Gordon Kirkpatrick in 1927 – feels like an expression of the country. The Slim Dusty package is, indeed, as Higgins affectionately puts it, very Australian – or, at least, a certain kind of Australian.

But in 2021, with cultural values evolving and Australian history undergoing thoughtful