About Alexander Hood and Annette James

Alexander Stewart Ferguson Hood

Alexander Stewart Ferguson Hood (born 1935) was born in Sydney and educated at Homebush Boys High School. Trained as an electrician, he ran his own electrical business for some years. In 1951, he joined the Communist Party of Australia and the Eureka Youth League, where he met singer Kris Kempster.

Music and performance career

In 1954, Hood joined Kempster in the cast of the musical Reedy River and went on to perform with the Bushwhackers, the Ramblers, and the Sydney Bush Music Band. From the late 1950s onwards, he became a travelling musician, singing and playing multiple instruments at clubs, pubs, theatres, schools, and on radio and television.

Recordings and compositions

In 1964, Hood produced The First Hundred Years, a recording of Australian folk songs. He also wrote several plays and folk operas for children, including:

• Wallaby Track (1971)
• Flying Pieman (1974)
• Bill Jinks and the Whale (1974)
• Speewah (1978).

Folklore and oral history

Hood began recording traditional music, folklore, and oral histories in 1968 while touring rural New South Wales. In 1972, during an Arts Council tour of the Northern Territory, he recorded Aboriginal children of Arnhem Land singing and chanting. He also collected recordings from other sources, such as a Jericho Jazz Band concert (1959) and a Freedom from Hunger concert (1963). From 2002, he and Annette recorded oral histories in Murwillumbah and on travels through New South Wales and Queensland.

Annette James

Annette James (born 1948) was born in Sydney and educated at Riverside Girls High School, Chatswood High School, and Wollongong Teachers College. She began ballet lessons at an early age and later taught classical ballet while also exploring modern dance.

Teaching and performance

James taught dance in Sydney schools and was associated with Margaret Barr’s Dance Drama Group for 14 years.

Partnership with Alex Hood

She met Alex Hood in 1982, and they later married. Annette accompanied him on country tours, contributing puppets, costumes, and backdrops. For nearly two decades, their Australian Folk Theatre—which blended traditional and popular performance techniques—toured widely, often supported by Arts Councils, performing songs, dances, stories, and yarns to children across Australia.