Local Musician Spotlight
with Enns of The Earth
I was lucky enough to catch up with local legends Oscar and Ryan Enns from Enns of The Earth who will be part of the lineup to Coffs Con’s very own Conversation Series!
One half of the talented father-son duo Ryan, grew up in Whitehorse in Canada but refers to it as “North Pole because from here it’s close enough.“. Son Oscar, was also born in Canada in Vancouver but moved to Yamba when Oscar was 3. Ryan comments about his sense of community in Whitehorse as it is a place with temperatures of below 40 and darkness with the “sense of community [being] strong because we share the same challenges and we all end up srurrounded by those who’ve found similar solutions…the solution to surviving the long winter months is arts and culture. During the winter we huddle, hibernate and create.” Interestingly, as Oscar was only young when the family moved he has had the opposite experience where it’s always sunny and warm in Yamba with Ryan funnily mentioning that “[He has] always said bad weather makes good music and so Oscar was at a disadvantage growing in a place so habitable as Yamba. He doesn’t seem to mind being warm and tanned all year.” He went on, “I do wish there were more kids like him to eat, sleep and breathe music like I did as a teenager.”
We all start somewhere with our first performances as these two seem like seasoned veterans in performance. They always have the crowd in the palm of their hand with everyone either tapping their feet or dancing along. Ryan’s first memory of a gig was when he wrote his first rap song about the 3 Billy Goats Gruff at around 12 years old. He comments about Oscar getting into performances as a 6 year old, “Oscar started busking with me in Yamba [and] he made a lot of money singing pop songs until he got his first violin at which point he made a ludicrous about of money for a 10 year old.”
If you haven’t seen these two perform yet, you are sorely missing out. The Mid-North Coast is crawling with talented musicians but these two have something truly special about them that sets them out from the rest. You will be able to catch them at our Conversation Series, to connect audiences with local, homegrown artists. The event will take place on November 22nd at 6:30pm with tickets being available through the button or link below
"Just go to gigs and clap when the songs finish. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of the good ones so I guess just bring a friend along too!"
