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African-American Country Music History & Cowboy Lore through Sunday December 14 at Berkeley Public Library DeFord Bailey Legacy Festival December 13-15 at Freight & Salvage Bay Area folks! Dom Flemons and Vania Kinard are curating a music festival and library…
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Let’s take a ride down memory blvd: Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up
Art by Author The excitement I felt when I heard the Debbie Deb sample on Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up off his new GNX project was overwhelming. It took me right back to being 12 and starting to navigate the treacherous…
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Harmonies and healing Frequencies: Musician Cinamon Blair carries On the musical legacy of her grandfather, left-handed Banjo & Guitar jazz musician Lee Blair
As I was recovering from the flu last week I decided to watch the documentary American Symphony on Netflix and it was absolutely heart-wrenching and timely and spoke to the incredible creativity required to survive a history as brutal and…
-
The Cosmic Heart of Fiddler Anne Harris
I first discovered singer/songwriter, roots fiddler Anne Harris, through her work with trance Blues innovator Otis Taylor, who I had seen play at the Doheny Blues festival more than a decade ago. Anne recorded and toured worldwide for nearly a…
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South Dakota’s Bazille is Wakinyan Cante Waokiya Wicasaon
Whether its the Bronx or the Black Hills, All Rap is Local I’ve always thought of rap as a form of folk music or street journalism such that it is a localized art form that springs forth from a specific…
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Staying true to his Philly roots, Chase Flow’s Hip-Hop odyssey takes him around the world
I first met Chase “Flow” Bradley at least 10 years ago when I was working at the Grammy Awards. I can’t remember the context but I do remember him being a genuine and consistently cool person as well as a…
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Collective memory making and healing among GuateMayan survivors of state inflicted violence through embodied testimonies, public art, and music.
Two weeks ago, I published a blog post on the mural & graffiti art and hip-hop music of Lakota artists Derek Smith and Talon Bazille, respectively. As I was writing that post I was simultaneously working on a collage art…
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Reclaiming Lakota narratives & sovereignty: Hip-hop, graffiti art, creating lyrical medicine
Lakota graffiti artist, muralist and community organizer Derek “Focus” Smith has been challenging the power structure of the “Mississippi of the North” since the early 2000s bringing the power of graffiti and muralism to the Reservation and using his craft…
-
Multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winning songwriter Dom Flemons illuminates hidden American history in his music.
Dom Flemons, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter is a veritable musicologist of American folk music. I first heard Dom in his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops back in my days working as the American Roots genre manager at…
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Westward Bound Cowboy and Country with Dom Flemons and Vania Kinard
African-American Country Music History & Cowboy Lore through Sunday December 14 at Berkeley Public Library DeFord Bailey Legacy Festival December 13-15 at Freight & Salvage Bay Area folks! Dom Flemons and Vania Kinard are curating a music festival and library exhibit celebrating the history of African-American Cowboy Culture and Country Music. The weekend of music…
-
Let’s take a ride down memory blvd: Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up
Art by Author The excitement I felt when I heard the Debbie Deb sample on Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up off his new GNX project was overwhelming. It took me right back to being 12 and starting to navigate the treacherous teenage years with the help of music. The first record I remember buying was Fascinated…
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Harmonies and healing Frequencies: Musician Cinamon Blair carries On the musical legacy of her grandfather, left-handed Banjo & Guitar jazz musician Lee Blair
As I was recovering from the flu last week I decided to watch the documentary American Symphony on Netflix and it was absolutely heart-wrenching and timely and spoke to the incredible creativity required to survive a history as brutal and violent as American history. The story really reminded me of the healing and survival power…
-
The Cosmic Heart of Fiddler Anne Harris
I first discovered singer/songwriter, roots fiddler Anne Harris, through her work with trance Blues innovator Otis Taylor, who I had seen play at the Doheny Blues festival more than a decade ago. Anne recorded and toured worldwide for nearly a decade with Otis Taylor. Long time readers of this blog know how central the Blues…
-
South Dakota’s Bazille is Wakinyan Cante Waokiya Wicasaon
Whether its the Bronx or the Black Hills, All Rap is Local I’ve always thought of rap as a form of folk music or street journalism such that it is a localized art form that springs forth from a specific community to define a specific time and place and the lyricist, a poetic scribe, shares…
-
Staying true to his Philly roots, Chase Flow’s Hip-Hop odyssey takes him around the world
I first met Chase “Flow” Bradley at least 10 years ago when I was working at the Grammy Awards. I can’t remember the context but I do remember him being a genuine and consistently cool person as well as a multi-talented, multi-disciplinary rapper, DJ, and producer dedicated to not only his craft but also to…
-
Collective memory making and healing among GuateMayan survivors of state inflicted violence through embodied testimonies, public art, and music.
Two weeks ago, I published a blog post on the mural & graffiti art and hip-hop music of Lakota artists Derek Smith and Talon Bazille, respectively. As I was writing that post I was simultaneously working on a collage art piece for my cousin’s dissertation to illustrate the concept of cuerpo territorio amongst Indigenous GuateMayan…
-
Reclaiming Lakota narratives & sovereignty: Hip-hop, graffiti art, creating lyrical medicine
Lakota graffiti artist, muralist and community organizer Derek “Focus” Smith has been challenging the power structure of the “Mississippi of the North” since the early 2000s bringing the power of graffiti and muralism to the Reservation and using his craft to tell the stories of Lakota history and encourage the youth. The art has taken…
-
Multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winning songwriter Dom Flemons illuminates hidden American history in his music.
Dom Flemons, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter is a veritable musicologist of American folk music. I first heard Dom in his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops back in my days working as the American Roots genre manager at the Grammys. Many of his solo albums since the days of that band have been…
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