Billy the Rabbit is a collaborative album by Australians Gyan and

Michael Leunig Michael Leunig (born 2 June 1945), typically referred to as Leunig (his signature on his cartoons), is an Australian cartoonist. His works include ''The Curly Pyjama Letters'', cartoon books ''The Essential Leunig'', ''The Wayward Leunig'', ' ...

. released in September 2006, the project involves Gyan adapting several of Leunig's poems to music; with some additional lyrics contributed by Gyan. The album was released on the Muse Agency label containing a booklet of poems and illustrations by Leunig. The album contains a duet with Paul Kelly on the closing track "The Path to Your Door" and contributions from

James Cruickshank James George Watson, who performed as James Cruickshank (1962 – 8 October 2015), was an Australian musician. He was the long-term guitarist and keyboardist for indie rock group, the Cruel Sea. As a solo artist he released three albums, ''Hym ...

of The Cruel Sea and Tim Gaze; formerly of

Rose Tattoo Rose Tattoo are an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice ...

. Gyan and Leuing launched the album at the

Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature. The Festival runs during early September each year. Melbourne Writers Festival is part of the Word Alliance, ...

where Gyan sang and Leunig accompanied her whilst illustrating. The two artists' also performed together at the Byron Bay Writers Festival and performed at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in March 2007 and the

Adelaide Cabaret Festival The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is an annual arts festival featuring cabaret held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It has been held in June each year since 2001, with the exception of 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, ...

in June 2007. The show won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Cabaret of 2007.

Track listing

# "Artist, Leave the World of Art" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Shadow Minister for Joy" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Little Tendrils" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Summer Palace" (Gyan, Leunig,

Tim Gaze Tim Gaze (born 8 August 1953) is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer and producer. He was a member of several Australian groups from the 1960s to 1990s including Tamam Shud (1969–70, 1970–72 1993–95), Kahvas Jute (19 ...

) # "Magpie" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Billy the Rabbit" (Gyan, Leunig) # "The Bottle" (Gyan, Leunig, James Cruikshank) # "Us" (Gyan, Leunig, Cruikshank) # "Manifesto" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Daffodils" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Literature" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Precious Vote" (Gyan, Leunig, Simon Greaves) # "The Missile" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Poor Old Mother Earth" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Let It Go" (Gyan, Leunig) # "The Smile" (Gyan, Leunig) # "Owed to Autumn" (Gyan, Leunig) # "The Path to Your Door" (Gyan, Leunig, Cruikshank)

References

{{Authority control 2006 albums Gyan Evans albums Collaborative albums