Redgum occupy a significant place in Australian music history through their politically charged folk-rock, which exerted tangible effects on contemporary political discourse. Their signature protest anthem, "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)," experienced renewed popularity amid Australia's involvement in the second Iraq war. The group originated in 1975 at Adelaide's Flinders University among students enrolled in the same politics and art course. John Schumann (vocals, guitar), Michael Atkinson (guitar, piano, vocals, mandolin), and Verity Truman (flute, saxophone, tin whistle, vocals) chose to contribute an original musical work for a class project. Their politically themed performances proved so well received among peers that performance invitations for parties, rallies, and pubs arrived before the trio had even chosen a band name. Violinist Chris Timms, another Flinders student, completed the lineup, at which point they adopted the name Redgum.
Their debut album, If You Don't Fight You Lose, appeared in 1978 after a radio station reported roughly two hundred listener requests for copies of an early demo the station had aired. The members maintained jobs and studies while gigging only on weekends and holidays until the success of their second album, Virgin Ground, in 1981 prompted them to commit full-time. Tom Stehlik (drums) and Dave Flett (bass) joined, and Hugh McDonald (violin, bass, guitar, vocals) replaced departing violinist Chris Timms. The 1983 live release Caught in the Act elevated Redgum to lasting national prominence; its single "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)" reached number one. The track's candid account of a Vietnam veteran's experience, drawn from Schumann's brother-in-law, prompted widespread reconsideration of Australia's military policies and, within a year, a Royal Commission examining the armed forces' deployment of Agent Orange and related chemicals. All royalties from the song were directed to the Vietnam Veterans of Australia Association.
By 1984 both Flett and Stehlik had departed. Brian Czempinski assumed drums, while Michael Spicer (piano) and Stephen Cooney (didgeridoo, bass, mandolin, banjo) augmented the group for the subsequent album Frontline. At the peak of their success in 1986, Schumann exited to pursue a solo contract with CBS before entering politics. The remaining members issued Midnight Sun later that year. Atkinson departed in 1987, and the band formally disbanded in 1990 without further recordings. Unexpectedly, Redgum's catalog regained currency with a younger audience in 2005 when political hip-hop act the Herd began performing their own version of "I Was Only 19" in concert and later recorded an acoustic rendition featuring Schumann as guest vocalist for the reissue of their album The Sun Never Sets.
