KEV CARMODY was born to be a storyteller. With his Aboriginal and Irish heritage - both cultures being famous for oral histories in song - it was almost preordained.
Even so, individual fame eluded him until the age of 41, when, from almost out of nowhere, he released his highly acclaimed first album, Pillars of Society.
Four more lyrically rich albums followed over the next 17 years, earning him a legion of fans.
Now, at the age of 73, Carmody will be presented with the JC Williamson Award, the foremost honour that the Australian live entertainment industry can bestow.
He will join greats including Dame Joan Sutherland, Barry Humphries, Kylie Minogue, John Bell, Paul Kelly and Archie Roach.
It's the latest stop on a winding life's journey that began on a cattle station in the Darling Downs where he grew up.
At 10 years of age, Kev and his brother were taken from their parents and sent to a Christian school, which he's described as "little more than an orphanage". He didn't finish his senior schooling and did hard, physical rural work for the next 17 years.
Life changed when at the age of 33 he picked up his education again, progressing through to PhD studies at the University of Queensland.
His lecturers allowed him to bring along his guitar to his first tutorial to allow him time to learn to write and construct an academic essay. He had never been in a library before and had never read a book.
Since then his fame has grown, especially after penning his most famous composition with Paul Kelly, From Little Things Big Thing Grow.
The song is based on the story of the Gurindji Strike, when Vincent Lingiari led a walk-off of 200 Aboriginal stockmen, house servants and their families from Wave Hill station in a protest against work and pay conditions.
Starting as a protest against work and pay conditions, it became a seminal event in the struggle for land rights and reconciliation.
Carmody said receiving the award is an acknowledgement of our ancient Indigenous oral musical and storytelling history. "I accept the award on behalf of this cultural recognition, with humility and gratitude," he said.
