Post by Okwes on Dec 21, 2006 11:38:59 GMT -5
Brule mixes rock with Native culture
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer
The question hit Paul LaRoche at the first powwow he attended: Why isn't this culture out in the world?
"It was quite an event," he says of the music and dance celebration he enjoyed in 1994. "Something just clicked as I sat there for two days." By combining classic rock with Native American sounds, he figured he could produce something new, something entertaining that could bring the culture the attention it deserved.
Radical? At the time it was. But today, LaRoche's group, Brule, is responsible for introducing thousands to the heritage he almost didn't know he had.
Adopted by a family in Worthington, Minn., LaRoche (then known as Paul Summers) had no clue he had Native American blood. He lived much of his life oblivious to the plight of indigenous people. And then, in the early '90s, he got a call from a biological relative who bridged the gap and told him to "come home" to the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
Paul, his wife Kathy and their two children made the trip, not knowing what to expect.
"Growing up, I wasn't a Native American advocate and I wasn't a racist," LaRoche says. He was, however, aware of perceptions and the baggage they brought. In South Dakota, he didn't find stereotypes; he embraced a new, loving family and an amazing cultural world.
"My children were excited. They thought it was a blast," he says.
Other family members were skeptical. While LaRoche's adoptive parents were deceased, his brother, also adopted, and his wife's family were "nervous and feared a little bit" what would happen. Instead of abandoning one culture for another, LaRoche says, he found a way to bridge both.
"I'm firmly positioned in the middle and I have equal love for both worlds and both families."
That position, he maintains, has helped him bring one world to the other.
With Brule and the American Indian Rock Opera, LaRoche has been able to combine familiar songs with traditional themes. The group's Christmas show, for example, takes recognizable carols and gives them a native beat. A Nativity scene -- featuring Native American dancers -- marries two cultures in one neat package. Surprisingly, "it was controversial in the beginning," LaRoche says. Ten years ago, friends advised him against marrying a Christian holiday with Native American musical. "I had to let it sit for five years before we could breathe life into it." Rather than seek the blessing of others, he did it himself ("much like an independent film company") and won raves.
Today, that "Red Nativity," as he calls it, is the centerpiece of his holiday show. For LaRoche, it seemed a natural. "When I spent my first Christmas on the reservation in the winter of 1993 I expected something totally different." Instead, what he found was a very traditional approach to the holiday -- a large meal, an exchange of presents, a church service "and football."
For this year's production, LaRoche has added more dancers -- "the best of the best" -- and new music. During last year's show, he started to make notes and "as soon as the tour ended, I began to produce tracks in our place down in Phoenix." The result, "Silent Star Night," features more new twists on holiday classics.
Two 2005 releases, "Brule: The Collection" and "AIRO: Tatanka," won LaRoche and company awards at the Native American Music Awards -- proof what they're doing is accepted in Native American circles.
Native American support was key, he says, to going forward with Brule. Others had billed themselves as "Native American" groups but had no ties to the culture. They were simply in it for the money. By featuring native dancers, he's able to help other artists get the kind of exposure he says they deserve.
Next summer, he plans to shoot a PBS special at Mount Rushmore featuring the South Dakota Symphony and a cast of more than 80. He hopes it will serve as a vehicle for healing between Native and non-native Americans. "This could be the pinnacle of our career," he says. "I have waited seven years to do something like that...I hope it can be a concert for reconciliation of the cultures."
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer
The question hit Paul LaRoche at the first powwow he attended: Why isn't this culture out in the world?
"It was quite an event," he says of the music and dance celebration he enjoyed in 1994. "Something just clicked as I sat there for two days." By combining classic rock with Native American sounds, he figured he could produce something new, something entertaining that could bring the culture the attention it deserved.
Radical? At the time it was. But today, LaRoche's group, Brule, is responsible for introducing thousands to the heritage he almost didn't know he had.
Adopted by a family in Worthington, Minn., LaRoche (then known as Paul Summers) had no clue he had Native American blood. He lived much of his life oblivious to the plight of indigenous people. And then, in the early '90s, he got a call from a biological relative who bridged the gap and told him to "come home" to the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
Paul, his wife Kathy and their two children made the trip, not knowing what to expect.
"Growing up, I wasn't a Native American advocate and I wasn't a racist," LaRoche says. He was, however, aware of perceptions and the baggage they brought. In South Dakota, he didn't find stereotypes; he embraced a new, loving family and an amazing cultural world.
"My children were excited. They thought it was a blast," he says.
Other family members were skeptical. While LaRoche's adoptive parents were deceased, his brother, also adopted, and his wife's family were "nervous and feared a little bit" what would happen. Instead of abandoning one culture for another, LaRoche says, he found a way to bridge both.
"I'm firmly positioned in the middle and I have equal love for both worlds and both families."
That position, he maintains, has helped him bring one world to the other.
With Brule and the American Indian Rock Opera, LaRoche has been able to combine familiar songs with traditional themes. The group's Christmas show, for example, takes recognizable carols and gives them a native beat. A Nativity scene -- featuring Native American dancers -- marries two cultures in one neat package. Surprisingly, "it was controversial in the beginning," LaRoche says. Ten years ago, friends advised him against marrying a Christian holiday with Native American musical. "I had to let it sit for five years before we could breathe life into it." Rather than seek the blessing of others, he did it himself ("much like an independent film company") and won raves.
Today, that "Red Nativity," as he calls it, is the centerpiece of his holiday show. For LaRoche, it seemed a natural. "When I spent my first Christmas on the reservation in the winter of 1993 I expected something totally different." Instead, what he found was a very traditional approach to the holiday -- a large meal, an exchange of presents, a church service "and football."
For this year's production, LaRoche has added more dancers -- "the best of the best" -- and new music. During last year's show, he started to make notes and "as soon as the tour ended, I began to produce tracks in our place down in Phoenix." The result, "Silent Star Night," features more new twists on holiday classics.
Two 2005 releases, "Brule: The Collection" and "AIRO: Tatanka," won LaRoche and company awards at the Native American Music Awards -- proof what they're doing is accepted in Native American circles.
Native American support was key, he says, to going forward with Brule. Others had billed themselves as "Native American" groups but had no ties to the culture. They were simply in it for the money. By featuring native dancers, he's able to help other artists get the kind of exposure he says they deserve.
Next summer, he plans to shoot a PBS special at Mount Rushmore featuring the South Dakota Symphony and a cast of more than 80. He hopes it will serve as a vehicle for healing between Native and non-native Americans. "This could be the pinnacle of our career," he says. "I have waited seven years to do something like that...I hope it can be a concert for reconciliation of the cultures."