Singer Seaman Dan's association with CQU Bundaberg academic Dr Karl Neuenfeldt has paid off with a win in the World Music Album category of the 2004 ARIA Awards (due to be televised on Sunday, October 17).

The category was among those pre-announced on Tuesday (October 12). Seaman's competition had come from Jane Rutter and Slava Grigoryan, Mohamed Bangoura, Joseph Tawadros and Saltwater Band.

The good news for Seaman and Karl was featured in metropolitan media outlets including 'The Courier Mail', 'The Australian' and the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.

Dr Neuenfeldt helped to discover Seaman's talent while researching the music of the Torres Strait and has since produced several of his albums.

Seaman Dan has had a life steeped in the music and culture of the Torres Strait and tropical Australia thanks to long stints as a pearl shell diver and boat skipper in the Coral, Arafura and Timor Seas. However, by age 70, he had never been recorded professionally.

That changed about five years ago, when Seaman teamed up with Dr Neuenfeldt.

"We started working together on his first CD, 'Follow the Sun', and eventually had enough success to record 'Steady, Steady' and his latest 'Perfect Pearl'," Dr Neuenfeldt said.

"He had always sung maritime songs but we started collaborating on songs as I did more historical research. We decided to write new songs that encapsulated the experiences of many Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal men and women of his generation.".