Produced by Multicultural Arts Victoria in association with Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring.




Songs of love, friendships and fallouts, unquenched passions, reflection, praising nature and life, the joy of the new and the fragrance of a special woman ... !

Be transported to East Africa in this unique musical collaboration between Maltese Australian reggae dynamo Nicky Bomba and Ethiopian born Azmari musician Dereb Desalegn. The two established Drums and Lions in early 2006 after being linked through Multicultural Arts Victoria's Visible arts project. They have since catapaulted onto the international world music scene with the launch of their debut self titled album, two video clips and performances at WOMAD (UK and Australia), WOMEX (Spain) and an Ethiopian tour in 2006.

The musical roots of Drums and Lions are bound deeply in traditional Ethiopian music. Dereb, coming from a long line of musicians and singers, is a master of the Ethiopian one string violin, masenko and is a singer of rare talent. He specialises in new wave Azmari music - a style that developed when the Azmaris, the wandering minstrels of rural Ethiopia, migrated to inner city Addis Ababa. Combining soul, blues, reggae and Bollywood, with the musical heritage of Ethiopia's 70 ethnic groups, the Azmari's created a new generation of music. In Drums and Lions, Dereb and Nicky have stayed true to the Azmari tradition of improvisation and non conformism, even further evolving the music into a new African Australian sound.

Listening to Drums & Lions for the first time, one is struck by the unusual melodies and lyrics sung in Dereb's native language, Amharic. However the music itself is unbearably catchy (in classic Bomba form) and you can't stop tapping your toes. This dynamic combination makes the Drums and Lions sound extremely versatile and accessible to almost any audience.



The tour of Drums and Lions is supported by: