Thursday 18 December 2014

Christmas Time

I was with my kola (friend), Elwin Braveheart from Kyle, SD. We were throwing rocks into the night. One of the rocks I threw kissed some barbed wire on its downward flight. It flashed brilliantly in the distant darkness. It was magic on an enchanting evening. It took me years to understand that songs can travel on a flash of light. . 

It was Christmas, Christmas morning, it was early in the morning, it was below freezing, here comes the Santa Claus, Ho, ho, ho, ho, hey, heyda.    

I heard this song in Laguna, NM in 1983. Todd Jiron sang it on a hand drum— an ancient beat with a contemporary figure.  It was the kind of song that needed to be shared with children.

                                 
Christmas Time has two parts, one slow and one fast. I wrote the music on the piano in the key of the C (the people’s key).  It is one of the best instruments to have. It teaches pitch to singers, passing chords to musicians, melody to songwriters, and harmony to choirboys. I play it like I do guitar. The piano has been a major inspiration for me. I have written a number of songs on it, including those from the Rock Opera, Seeds

Christmas Time needed some chords, a storyline and a melody. I filled the lyrics with as many metaphors that bring about positive thoughts as possible. The symbol of Santa Claus is the spirit of Love, a dream of angels, peace on Earth, being good all year long, singing in a church mouse’s choir band. 

We recorded Christmas Time in two evenings at recording engineer Christian Leefeldt’s studio in Tempe, AZ. Our former drummer lived in the space before and we had been practicing there for years, so we were very comfortable.

The night before, we practiced the song with a slow tempo all the way through, but the next day, I heard something different and suggested we speed up the second part. It took a couple hours of trying to communicate my wishes with the drummer.  You can hear us disagreeing on the outtakes. It’s hilarious.  “Well, tell me what you want me to play Paul, or I won’t play at all,” kind of thing. We eventually did get it together. We tracked the instruments, bass and drum the first night.  

On the next evening we recorded the vocals for Christmas Time. You can hear two fantastic female vocalists on it. Martha Redbone, an accomplished studio vocalist and live performer from Brooklyn, NY, who just happened to be in AZ. Martha and her husband Aaron came down from Sedona to Tempe for the recording. Aaron laid down a track, as well. He’s a jazz pianist. Happy Frejo is the other female vocalist.  She was living in Arizona at the time.

Even though the song has Native crossroads influences, the sound of the band is all Tempe, AZ.  Jangly guitars, melancholy melodies, and tight rhythms are trademarkx of the bands that came out of the Mill Ave (Tempe) scene in the 90’s. Tempe is a college town and one popular band to come from it was the Gin Blossoms. Doug Hopkins was a songwriter in the band and he was a friend of mine. Sadly, he committed suicide. One time he jumped a train in Tempe and couldn’t jump off until Tucson, one hundred miles later. He got off right next to the Congress Hotel and Bar, a haunted site, but that’s another story. I remember sharing songs with him and others after hours at the Hollywood Alley. One good thing about some of the music spots in Tempe is that they only want original music. You couldn’t get a gig playing just covers. When a town supports songwriters like that, it creates a more artistic local music scene and that is what was happening, we were writing our own songs. Jason Kay (drums), Charles Bond (Guitar/vocals) Jimmy Vickers (Bass) are Arizona musicians on the track.

When we finished recording Christmas Time, I took a break from the studio to catch some air. I remembered the song in its original form. I liked how the two came together to create a new song. Transformation took place and alchemy ran its course. The muse works in mysterious ways.  When spirits enter a room they sing, Ho, ho, ho, ho, hey, heyda.  Now I understand the flash of light.


To all the Children of the Earth, Merry Christmas, we Love You.


Two New Interviews with Keith Secola on A Conversation With Dawn Karima


Listen to two new interviews on A Conversation With Dawn Karima. Keith talks about the creative process, song writing, and inspiration, and shares a few songs. 





Tuesday 25 November 2014

Something Special We Just Had to Share

Here at the NDN Kar we received an extra special submission for Keith’s You Got Land? video. So, we just had to share. 



These beautiful pictures come from Dr. Dawn Karima who is Creek/Cherokee from the Qualla Boundary Reservation in the Great Smoky Mountains. Did we mention she’s a Native American Music Award Winner?  She is also a professor, and prominent NDN Country journalist, a documentarian, an author, a motivational speaker, a Miss American Indian Beauty, a Powwow dancer, and the list goes on and on. Wow! We feel honored here. 

You can check out Dr. Dawn Karima’s ethereal music and full bio at www.reverbnation.com/honeydawnkarima 


Then be sure to head out and take your own pic for us for the You Got Land? video. Submissions are still open, so keep them coming! For all of you on the south side of the border, what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than to THANK AN NDN! And for all of you on the north side, where are some Burnaby Mountain pics???? We'd love some Burnaby Mountain pics! Sending good vibes to all you warriors out there.



Here's how you can be a part of the You Got Land? video:

1.   Make a poster with the words 
        “Got Land? Thank an NDN” on it.

  2.   Take a picture of yourself holding it:
a.       at a rally
b.      your favourite place in nature
c.       an ecological war zone (i.e. tar sands, Mount Polley,
         dam sites, etc)
d.      steps of a government building
e.      any place that speaks to you  on Turtle Island

  3.   email it to us at  thendnkar@gmail.com

  4.   Please only send photos that belong to you and
        you have permission to use.

  5.   We ask for no profanity, as we would like to make  
         this video in a good way for the children and elders too.

  6.   Feel free to substitute “Thank an Inuk” for all of you far
          Northerners out there. Settler allies are welcome to 
          participate, also.



We will do our best to include every submission we receive, but cannot guarantee usage of all images submitted. Inclusion will be based on creativity and how big the statement you make is.

Thursday 6 November 2014

This Thanksgiving Thank an NDN


Keith Secola (NDN without land) standing in the removed section of the town of Parkville, MN. Behind him is where the neighborhood he grew up in used to be. It has also been removed to make way for expanding mining operations. Whole communities throughout the Mesabi and Vermillion portions of the Iron Range of Minnesota have been dismantled to make way for mineral extraction. The modern history of Turtle Island is the history of the removal of people from the land for the benefit of big business and resource extraction: It is both the history of the blood of NDNs removed through brutal, constant, and ongoing acts of genocide, and ironically it is also the history of settlers and colonizers who largely arrived on Turtle Island soaked in the sweat and tears of their own exploitation, and removed from their own homelands. Acknowledging the truth of our past will help lead us all to a better future. So, You got land? …Thank an NDN. And then let us unite against systemic greed for the sake of a better way for the next seven generations. (photograph by James Paavala 2011)

If you would like to appear in Keith's video for YOU GOT LAND? here's how http://www.thendnkar.blogspot.ca/2014/11/appear-in-keith-secola-music-video_4.html

Wednesday 5 November 2014

First Submission for the Video!

And... we have received our first submission for Keith's You Got Land Video! We're pretty excited here in the NDN Kar! Thank you Erin Browne! You look fabulous, and the scenery is stunning. Thank you also to all of you who have been spreading the word about this grassroots project. 



If you would like to appear in the video for Keith's You Got Land? here's your chance:

1.   Make a poster with the words 
        “Got Land? Thank an NDN” on it.

  2.   Take a picture of yourself holding it:
a.       at a rally
b.      your favourite place in nature
c.       an ecological war zone (i.e. tar sands, Mount Polley,
         dam sites, etc)
d.      steps of a government building
e.      any place that speaks to you  on Turtle Island

  3.   email it to us at  thendnkar@gmail.com

  4.   Please only send photos that belong to you and
        you have permission to use.

  5.   We ask for no profanity, as we would like to make
         this video in a good way for the children and elders too.

  6.   Feel free to substitute “Thank an Inuk” for all of you far
          Northerners out there. Settler allies are welcome to 
          participate, also.

We will do our best to include every submission we receive, but cannot guarantee usage of all images submitted. Inclusion will be based on creativity and how big the statement you make is.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Appear in a Keith Secola Music Video

Want to be in a music video for 
Keith Secola’s song 
YOU GOT LAND? 
  

Here’s your chance:

  1.   Make a poster with the words 
        “Got Land? Thank an NDN” on it.

  2.   Take a picture of yourself holding it:
a.       at a rally
b.      your favourite place in nature
c.       an ecological war zone (i.e. tar sands, Mount Polley,  
         dam sites, etc)
d.      steps of a government building
e.      any place that speaks to you  on Turtle Island

  3.   email it to us at  thendnkar@gmail.com

  4.   Please only send photos that belong to you and
        you have permission to use.

  5.   We ask for no profanity, as we would like to make  
         this video in a good way for the children and elders too.

  6.   Feel free to substitute “Thank an Inuk” for all of you far
          Northerners out there. Settler allies are welcome to 
          participate, also.

We will do our best to include every submission we receive, but cannot guarantee usage of all images submitted. Inclusion will be based on creativity and how big the statement you make is.



Here’s a link to a video for YOU GOT LAND? Keith himself made for the fans this summer. (Pictures submitted will go toward making the new "official" video.)



Tuesday 24 June 2014

Woman of the Moon

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped with the Ultimate Underground Album! This is going to be an amazing project. As a thank you, Keith is offering the rough cut of Woman of the Moon as a bonus perk for any contribution, but you only have until 11:59 pm PT. After that you will have to wait until the album comes out and the finished version is available. Again, thank you all for getting behind Keith! http://igg.me/at/keithsecolasalbum

                              Woman of the Moon


Thursday 22 May 2014

Update: the Ultimate Underground Album

34% of the way there with 34 days to go... the grassroots Marginals have raised $1,340 toward the making of the Ultimate Underground Album

And for those of you who want to know how to get your copy of Keith's new song You Got Land? we'll email you an MP3 of it for any contribution over $5
http://igg.me/at/keithsecolasalbum

TBT Guitars I Have Carried: Pete Seeger

It is my ritual of honoring artists by carrying their guitar after the show.

I got to carry Pete Seeger’s guitar after a show I did with him in New York. After the gig, I walked him to his car with his wife, and carried his guitar. He told me that had not heard my sound since the New Port Folk Festival. He was on a little hill between the two stages. Bob Dylan was on one stage. A Native singer on the other. It was a very high compliment. He liked my version of Woody’s song This Land very much.

check out Keith's upcoming Ultimate Underground Album at http://igg.me/at/keithsecolasalbum


Keith and the Wild Band of Indians singing This Land






Peter Seeger singing This Land





Woody Guthrie singing This Land




Monday 28 April 2014

Get Your Own Copy of YOU GOT LAND?

Since you all seem to like You Got Land? so much Keith is making the MP3 available to all you Marginal Creatures out there ahead of the album release. Go to http://igg.me/at/keithsecolasalbum and for a $5 contribution toward the Ultimate Underground Album it's all yours!

And we would also like to acknowledge Jeff Menard from Pine Creek FN, Manitoba for inspiring with the slogan you all know and love: Got Land? Thank and Indian.

Keith Secola's Video for the Fans... You Got Land?

Keith has been hard at work this weekend making you all a video. And wow! It is amazing! If you like this song and want to hear it on an album, you can be a part of Keith's Ultimate Underground Album by checking out http://igg.me/at/keithsecolasalbum 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw-6tG45YrQ&feature=youtu.be






Friday 25 April 2014

A F* the System Friday New Song and Help Keith Make the Ultimate Underground Album starts.... NOW!

Keith is the original indie artist, having released six albums under his own label, Akina Records. It has allowed him to develop into a unique and eclectic musician with a sound all his own. But working at the grassroots has held him back at times from realizing his full artistic vision. We think artists as seasoned as Keith should have no barriers when it comes to making good music and we're helping Keith take it to the people by giving you all a chance to be a part of making the Ultimate Underground Album! So, pass the hat (and drop in a little change if you can spare it) and let's get Keith rock n rolling on this new project! 
 Ultimate Underground Album
click here


It is going to be unlike anything he has done to date. Keith is going to offer a deluxe version with outtakes, acoustic versions, and all sorts of goodies... and he's pressing vinyl!

In return for your support, Keith is offering up all kinds of perks: autographed merchandise, box sets, personally guided hiking trips, and he'll even play your house party!

Check it out! And share, share, share. If you share this blog, or the Indiegogo and add #thendnkar to it, we'll enter your name to win a copy of Keith's album Life is Grand.

Keith Secola's Ultimate Underground Album

The New Song: You Got Land?

Here is a song that comes from way down in the deep deep grassroots of NDN Country.





Thursday 24 April 2014

REMINDER

Just a reminder that Keith has a new protest song to share with us tomorrow... and it is going to be huge! Also, don't miss the kickoff of his Indiegogo campaign. Keith is a seasoned artist and an original indie musician. This is our chance to give him, as a man of the grassroots, the freedom to realize his vision for this new album. And true to his generous nature, he is offering some amazing incentives! Let's just say, if you've ever dreamed of Keith playing your house party... it could happen ;) 


Friday 18 April 2014

New Song, Big News, and Contest Winners!

As promised, here is the big announcement:

Keith has a new album coming, and it is going to be unlike anything he has done before. First, as a man of the grassroots, every aspect of this album will happen at the grassroots—from funding to recording… and there will even be an opportunity for every one of you to participate in an upcoming video!



The relationship between an artist and their audience has traditionally been a communal and symbiotic one. Keith is the original Indie artist, and here is a chance for you personally to participate in getting this new project off the ground. One week from today we are launching Phase 1: Get the Tracks Recorded with a crowd funding Indiegogo campaign. I’ve seen the incentives Keith is putting up for offer, and he really is taking this project to the people!

As I said, this album is going to be unlike any other. Not only is Keith pressing vinyl this time around, but he’s also going to put together a deluxe version for you die-hards out there, which will include outtakes, acoustic versions, and exclusive tracks. I think we can all agree that Keith is a seasoned musician and it is more than time for him to make the album he has always dreamed of. Here’s a little taste of what you can expect to be on the album: 



Now imagine how amazing that can sound with a proper recording budget!

Watch next week for another rough cut of a song that is tapped right into the heart of NDN Country in a big way. Got Land? Hint Hint

And keep sharing this blog with the hashtag #thendnkar. We still have four more copies of LIFE IS GRAND to give away.


Harrison Friesen and Robin Foster Osorio-Pedraza CONGRATULATIONS! You will be contacted tonight with information on how to claim your prize. 

Blessings all and have a safe holiday weekend.

Friday 11 April 2014

World's Strongest Man


I was in Denmark with an Indian hoop dancer, Eddie Swimmer (he’s on a USPS stamp). We came in from a night of reverie around 4:00 am and this giant man (6’7” 300+lbs) was on the couch in the lobby with his arm around a beautiful model type woman. He looks at us and says, “Indians.”

Eddie Swimmer USPS Stamp

I look at him and say, “Vikings.”

He says, “That’s right.”

I tell him, “I think Vikings were in America before Columbus.”

“That’s right,” he says. “We came there, chopped off a few of your heads and came home.”

“We chopped off some of your heads, as well,” I add.

“F* you!” he says and flips me the bird.

So, I tell him “F* you!” and return the bird.

Eddie grabs me out of there, pushes me in the elevator and nervously presses the button to our floor, before something really starts.

Breakfast in Europe is early and if you miss it, you miss out. So, I was up again in a few hours. I had made friends with the Pakistani night clerk and he calls me over. “Keith, come here. Look who you say ‘fuck you’ to last night.” The bulky Viking we’d had the run-in with was from Iceland and it turns out he’d just won the World’s Strongest Man competition.



Later, I’m eating breakfast alone and the World’s Strongest Man comes up to my table. Towering over me, he makes a chopping sign at his neck and stares down at me. He says, “No one ever told me ‘Fuck you.’ I like you Indian,” and lets out a big laugh.

We shake hands and become friends over the next few days. Every time we’d meet after that, we would say “F* you!” to each other. People couldn’t figure it out.

Keith


And the Winners are...

Robert Twylitejones Torres Lagunas and Tahyun Weed
Congratulations!!! You will be contacted this evening with details on how to claim your prize.

For the rest of you, we are doing this again for the next few weeks. It's easy to enter. Simply post this link to Facebook or Twitter http://www.thendnkar.blogspot.com and add the hashtag #thendnkar and you could win a copy of Life is Grand. Enter as often as you like.


And, next week Keith is sharing a new song and making a big announcement.

Thursday 10 April 2014

First Draw Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the first draw for Keith's LIFE IS GRAND album. All you have to do to enter is share this blog on Twitter or Facebook and use the hashtag #thendnkar. Already have the album? It makes a great gift. Keith will be by tomorrow also with something new to share.

Thursday 3 April 2014

CONTEST

It's contest time at the NDN KAR! And we're giving away free copies of Keith's album LIFE IS GRAND for a whole month! It's easy to enter. Just share a link to this blog on Facebook or Twitter and add the hashtag #thendnkar. You can enter as many times as you like. Each Friday Keith will announce two winners, (along with some very special surprises for everyone else... new song, big announcement... hint, hint). So, start sharing http://www.thendnkar.blogspot.com and hashtagging #thendndkar for that free album (you have to do both to be eligible). First draw happens on the 11th of April.




Unsure how hashtags work? Check out this tutorial on Facebook and this one on Twitter.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Red Lake Skate Park

Here are some pictures of the Red Lake Skate Park that Keith wanted to share. It was the location for the NDN Kars Punk Version video which you can watch here. Keith wanted to give a big shout out to everyone who got behind the project and brought it together for the youth-- the youth are our future. A big thanks to Margarite Secola (Keith's daughter), Sam Strong, Buck Jordain, the Red Lake Tribal Council, and tribal members and to everyone else who helped make this happen. 

Have an exciting youth initiative going on in your community? Let us know about it. 















Friday 21 March 2014

F* the System Friday: Open the Door



Being on the road with Floyd Red Crow Westerman was always an adventure. We were doing a gig in New Town, North Dakota, performing at a rodeo. Floyd and Carla, (Floyd’s personal assistant) picked me up at the airport in Bismark and we made the drive to Newtown.   


We did our gig (two songs) at the rodeo early in the evening. Then, we set up a little impromptu gig at a local Indian bar, The Buffalo Nickel. It was a Saturday night and the bar was a real loins’ den. Jackie Bird sat in on drums for a few songs. We played one long set, but it quickly became too crowded and people were getting over enthusiastic. We had to stop before midnight, though we weren’t ready to turn in. So, Floyd and I left the bar and went and jammed at a friend’s house. Jamming afterwards with Floyd was always fun. He would sing all kinds of songs: Cash, Kristofferson and Dylan were his favorite to cover.

Finally, I hit the sack at the Four Bears Casino and Hotel. Floyd’s room was right across the hall from mine.  About an hour and a half later something wakes me up. I look through the peep hole and it’s some drunken cowboy pounding on the door next to Floyd’s. “Frankie, open the Door. I’m all f’d up…Frankie, open the door. I’m all F’d up.” He repeats it twenty times, using every voice inflection imaginable, from angry and loud, “FRANKIE! OPEN THE DOOR! I’M ALL F’D UP!” to whimpering very sympathetically, “Frankie…open the door…I’m all f’d up.” That’s all he says. He staggers his pounding and rants. Just when you think he’s gone, or fallen back to sleep…BAM BAM BAM, “Frankie, open the door. I’m all f’d up!” The cowboy was so drunk he would pass out between episodes.

Floyd and I meet for coffee the next morning and the first thing we say to each other in unison is, ‘Frankie, open the door. I’m all f’d up”.  I told Floyd I was going to write a song about it.

A few weeks later, back in LA, Floyd calls John Trudell on his cell phone. “John, come on down to the studio. We got a protest song going on.” We did the demo at a Hen House Studio in Venice, CA. John Densmore of the Doors set up. I’d done a little work there before with him. Floyd eventually recorded his tribute to Jonny Cash at the studio.  

Floyd and I had many talks about protest music. He liked the way I would lead people gently to a brutal truth. He would just kick them in the shins. Floyd and Bob Dylan would always say, “America won’t get right, until we get right with the American Indian.”  Here are a few brutal dates in American history I used in the song.

Listen to Open the Door by clicking here


Open the Door
Open the door I’m all _______ up

1519 Cortez/Montezuma 1531 Inca Empire
1540 Coronado 1565 St. Augustine 1607 Jamestown
1619 Slave Ships 1620 Plymouth Rock
1622 Powhatan Indians vs. settlers 1637 Pequot Wars
1675 King Phillip 1680 Pueblo revolt
1754 French and Indian Wars 1756 Indian Wars
1763 Pontiac’s Rebellion 1775 Revolutionary War
1779 Scorched Earth 1780 Dragging Canoe
1787 Northwest Ordinance 1794 Fallen Timbers
1803 Louisiana Purchase 1811 Tippecanoe
1812 War of 1812 1819 Florida Land Transfer
1824 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 1830 Indian Removal Act
1831 Trail of Tears1832 Black Hawk 1832 Bad Axe 1837 Small Pox
1837 Chippewa Treaty 1848  California atrocities began
1851 Fort Laramie
1852 Eat Grass 1854 Lake Superior 1861 Civil War
1862 Sioux Uprising/ 38 Sioux 1864 Sand Creek Massacre
1866 Fetterman’s Massacre 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn/ Custer
1887 Dawes Allotment Act 1889 Nelson Act 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
1890 Census Bureau declared the frontier ended
1902 more timber 1918/1975 Wounded Knee 1620 Plymouth Rock
1637 Pequot Connecticut settlers 1619 Slave ships 1518 Cortez 1519 Montezuma
1511 help Cuba conquer 1540 Coronado Seven cities 1531 Inca Empire
1492 first voyage 1493 second 1498 third 1502 fourth
1565 St. Augustine 1607 Jamestown 1638 first rez