Clement Paligaru: String bands are popular across the Pacific but nowhere more so than in Vanuatu. My co-presenter on In the Loop on Radio Australia, Isabelle Genoux, met one group who started singing together in church but are now taking their brand of string band music to the world.

Isabelle Genoux: Shakura is one of Vanuatu's most popular and most innovative string bands. There are 15 members in the group - they all come from different island communities, Makira, Pentecost , Émaé, Tongoa and Santo.

Tari Tamata, band member: The name Shakura is made up of two separate names: Shaqs Youth Group, we used to perform at the Anglican Church as a choir group and "kura" comes from an island of the Shefa province - it's also known as Makura, so we join the two together and you have Shakura.

Isabelle Genoux: Their journey began 15 years ago in the capital, Port Vila, as a community initiative for local youths.

Tari Tamata: The group has really brought the boys together it's helped us keep our values, to keep respect for each other. It's really a good thing because of deteriorating Western values all over town

Isabelle Genoux: Shakura represents the new generation of string band music is Vanuatu. The group blends customary beats and contemporary rhythms to produce a unique sound which appeals to young and old.

Now Shakura is on its way to perform at the Australasian World Music Expo in Melbourne - worlds away from Vanuatu's biggest outdoor festival.

Tari Tamata: It will be a the first for Shakura, because we have not really performed in a crowd that is not full of ni-Vans (ni-Vanuatu) so it will be a great experience to see how the outside world sees the music.

Isabelle Genoux: Only 11 of them make it to Melbourne. First up, a live appearance on local radio.

Bruno Ilo, band member: We're all family and most of us are students. those who finish their exams come, those who have exams left to do, stay. We're the lucky ones.

Isabelle Genoux: But it's a dream coming true for the whole community.

Bruno Ilo: It was our dream, we decided, or we agreed to any opportunity that would come our way, because we dreamt about it since we were little children. Some of our brothers are grown now, they're married, having little children hopefully with dreams but we lucky to be representing them. The good thing is we're brothers - same blood so wherever we are, we're still one.

Isabelle Genoux: Whatever challenge comes their way, they embrace it with calm and confidence drawn from solid cultural roots.

Malama Tamata, band member: We never travelled before so we're trying to put the music out there, it's our culture, how we play is how the rhythm, the bongo and the songs, that's a cultural type of rhythm so that's what we want to put out there.

Isabelle Genoux: Next is one of Melbourne's newest and most prestigious venues: the Recital Centre in the heart of the city.

Malama Tamata: Everything's fine, everything's great. Excited as well because we like to go on stage in a different atmosphere. I feel good.

Jaslyn Hall, announcer: The Shakura string band from Vanuatu....

Silas Binihi: (Translation.) This place is really good because I'm able to hear myself very clearly when I sing.

Malama Tamata: It was our dream that one day we would come out there but we didn't expect Australia - we thought it was New Caledonia or Fiji or Solomon Islands but now that we're in Australia, wow!

Isabelle Genoux: And there will be lots of fond memories to share back in Port Vila.

Steven Selwyn, band manager: Too many things that makes a highlight to me. Too many, too many.

We feel at home every day, we feel free wherever we go, you know the people look after us. So we love all the people from Melbourne.