KBFT and KOJB Radio are proud to present Ancestral Fire Music Tour featuring Keith Secola and Gary Farmer. Keith Secola (Anishinaabe) and Gary Farmer (Cayuga Nation) are renowned Indigenous artists, musicians, and long-time collaborators. Known for their work in music and activism, they will be bringing an all-star show to Minnesota, bringing contemporary Native music and ancestral vibes with special guests The Wind Jammers and the new all-star Rangers band out of Minnesota’s Iron Range. More information about the Rangers album, Keith Secola and Gary Farmer below.
About Keith Secola
Keith Secola is an icon and ambassador of Native music. He is one of the most influential artists in the field today. Rising from the grassroots of North America, he is a songwriter of the people. Critics have dubbed him as the Native versions of both Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. NDN Kars (Indian cars), his most popular song is considered the contemporary Native American anthem, achieving legendary status and earning him a well deserved cult following. It has been the number one requested song on tribal radio since the 1992. In 2011, he joined the ranks of Jimmy Hendrix, Hank Williams, Crystal Gale, and Richie Valens, and was inducted into the Native Music Hall of Fame.
Born in 1957 in Cook, Minnesota, Secola is affiliated with the Anishinabe tribe. He graduated from Mesabi Community College with a degree in Public Service in 1979, and completed a BA in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota in 1982. He is married and has two children.
Secola is an accomplished artist, garnering awards and accolades as a musician, a singer, a songwriter, a composer and a producer. He is highly skilled with the guitar, flute, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and piano, and has played in venues from the halls of the Chicago Urban Indian Centre, to the walls of the bottom of the Grand Canyon. He has also performed at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and Salt Lake City 2002, and toured Europe several times. Among his numerous appearances he has graced the stages of the Rockslide Festival in Denmark, the Grand Opening Gala of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, The Kennedy Center and the SXSW in Austin, TX, and is a staple at the Grassroots Festival in Upstate New York, North Carolina and Florida.
A 7-time Native American Music Award winner, Secola has earned NAMMYs not only for his music, but also his abilities as a producer, to include The Best Linguistic Recording for producing ANISHINABEMOIN (2007). A well respected musician, he has worked with music legends such as Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Secola has also teamed with academics like author Dr. Tom Venum of the Smithsonian Folklife Institute, collaborating on the CD, AMERICAN WARRIORS: SONGS FOR INDIAN VETERANS, and with elders such as Karen Drift, a speaker of Anishenabemoin. His song “NDN Kars” was featured on the TV show Dark Winds and was just nominated for Best Song Written/Recorded for Television by the Guild of Music Supervisors.
About Gary Farmer
Gary Farmer is a Native-Canadian character actor with plenty of character. With over 100 Film and TV appearances attached to his resume, and plenty more in the pipeline, Gary has shown he can adapt easily to any genre when necessary. He is from Ohsweken, Ontario, He is a member of the Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan, and studied photography and Film at both the Syracuse University and Ryerson Polytechnic University. He then began a successful career as an actor, first taking small roles in movies such as Police Academy (1984), the John Schlesinger film The Believers (1987) with Martin Sheen, the Matt Dillon vehicle, The Big Town (1987), and Renegades (1989) starring Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips.
By the early 1990s, Gary was starring in more substantial roles. He portrayed Cowboy Dashee in the Robert Redford-produced thriller, The Dark Wind (1991) – again opposite Lou Diamond Phillips and starred with Corey Feldman and Corey Haim in the drama Blown Away (1993). Lou Diamond Phillips cast Gary in his directorial debut Sioux City (1994) and Ernest Dickerson cast him in the first Tales from the Crypt (1989) horror movie Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) with Billy Zane: Gary played a small town deputy. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his memorable performance as Nobody in the Jim Jarmusch independent western Dead Man (1995), in which he starred opposite Johnny Depp, and again for his role in Smoke Signals (1998).
Jim Jarmusch re-prised Gary’s role as the Native-American spiritual guide – Nobody – for his next film, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and Frank Oz cast him alongside Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro in The Score (2001). Gary continues to work steadily as an actor and has also moved behind the camera – he has directed a few projects, including an episode of the Forever Knight (1992) TV series, episode ‘Father Figure’ (1992). Most recently he has become known for his work in the television show Reservation Dogs.
Gary formed his own band Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers. They play the blues and have released two CDs.
About Rangers
KBFT Community Radio launches their new record label KBFT Records, releasing the album Ranger. A collaboration featuring nine songwriters from the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, the project was produced by 7-time Native American Music Award Winner Keith Secola and recorded by Rich Mattson at his lauded studio in Sparta, MN, where artists like Trampled By Turtles, Dan Israel and Martin Devaney have recorded. Mixing the country, blues, rock and Indigenous music you might encounter in the North Country, the album features songs from nine different songwriters with various singers trading off on lead vocals and various instruments. Opening with Tim Wright’s fun radio-friendly “Want You Back” the album travels through sweet and sad stories, ending with the moving closing spoken word track “The Moment.” The songs are rooted in history but speak to life in the Iron Range today, full of joy and struggle. Featuring: Rosemary Berens (vocals, guitar), Dan Boyer (vocals, guitar), Germaine Gemberling (vocals), Steve Martinetti (vocals, keyboards, guitar, drums), Rich Mattson (vocals, guitar, bass, percussion), John Metsa (vocals, guitar), Chris Petrack (drums), Sharon Rowbottom (vocals, percussion), Tim Saxhaug (bass), Keith Secola (vocals, guitar, flutes, harmonium, percussion, bass, piano), Tim Wright (vocals, bass).
