Kiwi singer and songwriter Dave Dobbyn is unveiling his latest piece of work at a special concert in Wellington this evening.
The song, called 'This Love', is a tribute to the 29 men killed in the Pike River Mine disaster, and Dobbyn says it flows straight from his heart.
"Thankfully it's a hopeful song," he says. "It deals with the loss and the sadness but it also deals with the love and the hopefulness that that community has."
The Orpheus Choir commissioned Dobbyn to write the eight-minute piece as part of a wider concert called Dreams Lie Deeper.
It's a tribute to mining communities worldwide, with a particular focus on Pike River.
Dobbyn spent time with families on the West Coast last November, and visited the mine.
"You stand there at the portal and you know there's 29 bodies there through the wall, and each time I went up there I'd take a family member with me, so it was pretty moving," he says.
The families' on-going pain moved Dobbyn, and so did seeing the miners' children.
"There were at least two down there that were born afterwards, and they're fatherless kids, and they're cute little things, you know – you fall in love."
Dobbyn will be joined in performance by the Wellington Young Voices and the Orpheus Choir, including one member with a family connection to Pike River.
"It's nice to be able to sing to family; it's a really emotional piece," says Orpheus Choir singer Ellen Walsh. "Even though it's a wee-away connection, it's still nice to give that to, not just my family, but the other miners'."
The song is a musical gift that Dobbyn hopes will offer the families some consolation and encouragement tonight, and into the future.
3 News
source: newshub archive
