Fun day – adding some sparkle and glitter with these cool instruments on the new Jess Penner project.
Today, I had the unexpected honour to play with Lew Silver, a Chumash Indian. Lew played Native flute, Michael played traditional First Nations drum whilst I accompanied them with my Irish bodhran. Read More
This weekend I heard a story about how whilst driving in a Hopi reservation, a wrong turn was taken and a group of people found themselves in a cul-de-sac. As they turned around to retrace their tracks they noticed what seemed like eagle sculptures on each of the 5 house roofs. On closer examination, they were astounded to see that they were in fact live Golden eagles! Apparently the Hopi people in years past used to bind their prayers to their feet, a bird that flies higher than any other, in order that they would carry their prayers closer to God. They would risk climbing cliffs and the attacks of the mother birds in order to catch chicks, which they would then raise and train for this special tradition.
We are very honoured to have been invited to be part of a gathering of First Nations people this weekend at Morongo and Soboba Indian reservations.
Pictures ….. Read More
Thanks Bonnie Low for passing on this video which tells the story of a photographers journey amongst the Oglala Lakota Nation. It changed his life. What encouraged us is that through the building of relationships and hearing their stories, his reason for taking pictures suddenly takes a back step as he starts to look at the deeper issues of life on Native American Indian reservations. Well worth a watch.
Just had a wonderful afternoon discovering more about an area in Mexico that has fascinated me for a long time since I read an article in National Geographic. For most people Mariachi will be the music that is synonymous with Mexico. Yet this wonderful country is rich in different types of indigenous music that goes back for at least 4000 years. Singer Eugenia León explores this wonderful heritage in a 3 part series. Here is one of the episodes.
Just saw 2 great short films recently on a flight home. Lumaajuuq (pronounced Loo-my-you) an Inuit cartoon about the futility of revenge and Shi-shi-etko the story of a First Nations child being forced into residential schooling by the Canadian government. Here is a trailer.
There is a story attributed to Cherokee wisdom:
One evening a grandfather was teaching his young grandson about the internal battle that each person faces. “There are two wolves struggling inside each of us,” the old man said. “One wolf is vengefulness, anger, resentment, self-pity, fear…”The other wolf is compassion, faithfulness, hope, truth, love…” The grandson sat, thinking, then asked: “Which wolf wins, Grandfather?” His grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”
Thoughts – Read More
Kitimat in northern British Columbia, “the end of the road” is known for it’s salmon fishing and stunning scenery. A small community that has grown since Alchem (a company who smelt aluminium) invested into the area in the 1940’s. I was fortunate enough to be asked to play at a music festival in this area and met some wonderful people. This short video is an amazing boat trip up river …. chasing the elusive big fish. Read More
A big thank you goes out to Jim and Cathy for lending us their 22 year old Cadillac whilst staying here in Amarillo. We have enjoyed cruising around …. even in the snow. We have had a fun week recording 2 projects at Third Ear music studio. A live album for Heidi Baker with all sales going to help her work with children in Mozambique, Africa and a studio project with Helen Burgess from England. Read More
