News Articles
The Cedar is pleased to announce the hire of Michelle Woster as Executive Director, effective July 15, 2022! Woster has been serving as Interim Executive Director of The Cedar since February 2022. “We are thrilled to welcome Michelle as our next Executive Director,” said Board President Brent Hickman. “She brings considerable skills and deep experience that will benefit this organization tremendously.”
Our sixth and final spotlight interview is with Kat Parent (they/she). Kat is a singer-songwriter and historian. Their new work for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions Swampling is a visit into the realm of eco-horror through electronic folk music. Swampling looks to honor the heartbreaking realities of humans mistreating the earth, and to highlight the beauty that remains. Kat spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about the importance and value of death and decay, their relationship to studying history, and the 80s comic book series “Swamp Thing.”
Our fifth spotlight interview is with Vie Boheme (she/her). Vie is a vocalist, poet, producer, dancer, yoga instructor, and more as a multimedia artist. Her new work for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions The Edge supportively encourages the listener and viewer to reflect upon being at ones ‘wits’ end,’ and assess what lessons we learn from reaching that point. Vie spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about approaching edges within herself, being connected to ones body, and the importance of stability for an audience.
Our fourth spotlight interview is with Maddie Thies (she/her). Maddie is a bassist, vocalist, and songwriter. Her project for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions Everywhere and Nowhere explores the distinct and simultaneously inconsistent experiences held by Third Culture Kids — a term describing people who spend formative years in a culture different from the culture(s) of their families. In mid-January Maddie spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about finding home in liminal spaces, her love of the bass, and the importance of creative collaboration.
Our third spotlight interview is with Nyttu Chongo (he/him). Nyttu is a Mozambican artist. His new work for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions NKOVU WA XIVAVU imagines the unity that could be tapped into across the African continent by bringing together different African instruments. Nyttu spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about breaking convention, longstanding impacts of colonialism, and the responsibility of artists.
Our second spotlight interview is with Alicia Thao (she/her). Alicia is a singer-songwriter and guitar player. Her new work for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions is self-titled: AS LIS SAM THOJ / ALICIA THAO. In this project Alicia is exploring her Hmong American identity and who ‘Alicia’ is. She spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about her relationship to her name, falling in love with musicianship, and connecting to her parents.
Our first spotlight interview is with Carlisle Evans Peck (they/he). Carlisle is a songwriter and musician. In their project for the 2021-2022 Cedar Commissions titled Iconoclasm, they explore what it means to queer their familial history of storytelling. Carlisle spoke with Marketing and Communications Manager Shasa Sartin about queer representation, uncovering truths, and the beauty of myth-making.
The Cedar Presents
KISS THE TIGER: Virtual Program - An Inside Look at Vicious Kid
Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 7:30 PM CT
View it on our YouTube Channel or Facebook page
The Cedar Public Access Channel is an online stream that presents creative content planned and produced by artists in collaboration with The Cedar. You can tune in through The Cedar’s Facebook or YouTube.
All programs will be available for free with a suggested donation of $10 or more to help cover the costs of the program. If you’re able, please help support continued programming at The Cedar at https://thecedar.org/donate and at The Hook & Ladder at https://thehookmpls.com/donate-2/.
Joining us on The Cedar Public Access Channel, Kiss the Tiger shared four live songs from the Hook & Ladder's 'Under the Canopy' series, and concluded with their most recent music video shot at The Cedar Cultural Center a couple weeks prior to that performance. Each song included in this episode is off of their June release, Vicious Kid, and in between performances, lead singer Meghan Kreidler shared some background on the creation of each song.
Kiss the Tiger pounced onto the Twin Cities’ music scene in late-2016 and have been making big waves ever since. Inspired by the sounds and energy of The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, and Patti Smith, Kiss the Tiger has breathed new life into 21st century rock and roll. In February of 2017 Kiss the Tiger were the runner-up in Star Tribune’s ‘Are You Local?’ Best New Band competition. Shortly after they recorded their EP, Elliot Park which was released in November of 2017. The music video for “Starting to See You” off of Elliot Park was named one of Minnesota’s Best Music Videos of 2018 by 89.3 The Current.
In 2019 Kiss the Tiger released their sophomore album Let Me Bleed. They were recognized that year as a “Picked to Click” band by City Pages, an end-of-year round up of the best local bands voted on by their peers. That same year they headlined the Star Tribune stage at the Basilica Block Party, the largest outdoor musical festival in Minneapolis drawing around 25,000 attendees. The Current included their music video for “Bad Boy” off of Let Me Bleed in their Best Minnesota Music Videos of 2019.
Vicious Kid, released June 3rd, 2021, marks Kiss the Tiger’s 3rd full-length LP, and 2nd full-length studio album. So far, it has received favorable attention locally and abroad. Star Tribune named Vicious Kid one of the Best Minnesota Albums of 2021 so far. Their song “Hold On To Love” off of the new album was inducted into 89.3 The Current’s Chart Show Hall of Fame on August 11th after spending 9 weeks at #1.
Kiss the Tiger has opened for notable acts such as Lake Street Dive, The Hold Steady, Bad Bad Hats, The Suburbs, Ike Reilly, Jackie Venson, and Black Joe Lewis.
To learn more about Kiss The Tiger:
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Programming on The Cedar Public Access Channel is supported by The Nash Foundation.
The Cedar Presents
ARTIST SHOWCASE HOSTED BY KEITH SECOLA on The Cedar Public Access Channel
Mni Sota Native Music Series
Thursday, July 29, 2021 / Premiere at 7:30 pm CDT / ONLINE
Courtesy of INDIGEFI, Modern Indigenous Music website
Growing up on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Northern Minnesota, Annie lived in a home filled with voices made of thunder and nothing could stop it. Her parents were brilliant people individually. Her father, a singer and musician and her mother an artist and poet. Together they made sadness. Each of her parents taught Annie the beautiful things they knew. They showed her that she carried their gifts in her hands too. This is how creating art and music came about for her. This is what saved her. This is how she lives now.
Things my dad taught me:
skin a deer, set net, clean fish, make maple syrup, harvest wild rice, play basketball, ride motorcycle, go without if you can't afford it, play guitar.
Things my mom taught me:
draw, paint, sew, write, laugh, wonder, forgive
Annie has 4 children and 2 grandsons. She has a handsome, Indian, horseman husband. They inspire her spirit and her art.
A lineal descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes and lifetime Minnesota native, Dana Thompson is an acclaimed jazz and Americana vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and music producer, and has released seven albums.
Dana is also the co-owner and COO of The Sioux Chef. Along with her partner Sean Sherman, she works to revitalize Native American cuisine and reclaim an important culinary culture long buried and often accessible. This summer, the Sioux Chef team will open their first restaurant along the Mississippi riverfront, Owamni by The Sioux Chef, featuring one of the nation’s first all Native American menus. Dana is also the founder and executive director of the non-profit NĀTIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems). She has worked for nearly a decade within the food sovereignty movement, traveling extensively throughout tribal communities to engage in critical ways to improve food access and implementing strategies to do the most possible good as a social entrepreneur. Additionally, she focuses her expertise on addressing and treating ancestral trauma through decolonized perspectives of honoring and leveraging Indigenous wisdom.
Dana has been published in the New York Times and the MN Women’s Press, and serves on the leadership committee of the James Beard Foundation Investment Fund for Black and Indigenous Americans.
Courtesy of The Pretendians’ website
Pretendians is a Native rock band based in Minneapolis. Many of their songs have societal/political influence and views from a modern Indigenous perspective.
Courtesy of Bluedog’s website
The band was originally formed in 2001 by Joni (Weston) and Eric Buffalohead. Bluedog released their debut CD “From All Directions” in April of 2005. The CD was recorded at Oyate Studios in Albuquerque, NM. The CD received two nominations (Best Blues and Debut Recording) from the Native American Music Awards; and was also nominated for the best blues category for the Indian Summer Music Awards. Bluedog released its second CD “A Little White Lie” in December of 2006. This CD was recorded in Minneapolis, MN. The recording received a Native American Music Award nomination for Best Blues recording. In 2010 the band released a single called “Get Up & Get Out” and was nominated in the Best Blues category for the 2010 Indian Summer Music Awards. “Get Up & Get Out” was also nominated in two categories (Best Blues & Group of the Year) for the 2010 Native American Music Awards (NAMMY’s). “Just Living the Blues” was released in December of 2011. This CD was recorded at Untouchable Studios in Grand Forks, ND and produced by blues guitarist Little Bobby and Joni. In 2017, Bluedog’s recording, "Red, White & Blues" was released and all songs were written by Joni, Eric and Alexandra. The recording received a Native American Music Award nomination for Best Blues recording.
The music is influenced by life experiences of Native people. Joni states that “Native people have experienced the blues too. For us it reflects a significant part of life for Native people and our relationship with the U.S. government in the past, present and future. All the pain we’ve endured from massacres, boarding schools, and forced removal from our homes, etc… all attempts to erase our culture and our people. We are still here. Our music celebrates life, the good and bad.”
The band has performed across the United States in support of their original recordings in locations such as: Hollywood, FL (Native American Music Awards), Milwaukee, WI (Indian Summer Music Awards), Toppenish, WA (Yakima Tribal Jam), Minneapolis, MN (Indian Summer Music Festival), The Fargo Blues Festival (2012 & 2014); and Thief River Falls, MN (Last Ride Blues Festival 2009 to 2015). The band has fronted notable blues acts including: The Robert Cray Band, Indigenous, Los Lonely Boys, Corey Stevens, John Mayall, Kenny Neal Band, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Coco Montoya, Ana Popovic, Walter Trout, Shannon Curfman, and the Jerry Garcia Band. The Bluedog band is a five member blues/rock band out of Minneapolis, MN.
Courtesy of ampers.org, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
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 seven-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.
Secola has produced six well received independent CDs, since the early 1990s.
The Cedar Public Access Channel is an online stream that presents creative content planned and produced by artists in collaboration with The Cedar. You can tune in through The Cedar’s Facebook or YouTube.
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/thecedar/
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/user/MadeofCedar
All programs will be available for free with a suggested donation to cover the costs of the program. All artists will be paid. You can make a donation to The Cedar at https://thecedar.org/donate.
Mni Sota Native Music Series is made possible by the Rosemary and David Good Family Foundation.
The Cedar Presents
COREY MEDINA & BROTHERS on The Cedar Public Access Channel
Mni Sota Native Music Series
Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Premiere at 7:30 pm CDT / ONLINE
Corey Medina is a Blues-Rock artist from Shiprock, NM and is Áshįįhí clan of the Diné tribe. He moved to Northern Minnesota in 2012 to be closer to his now wife and mother to their 2 beautiful children. After a couple years of community work and getting to know the music scene, Corey was able to debut his first album in 2015 with a local producers collaboration called Incepticons. Corey now plays, writes and produces full time with his band known as "The Brothers", hence Corey Medina & Brothers. Corey refers to the Brothers as a representation of the relationship he likes to keep with his fellow band mates. The Brothers band consist of Eric Sundeen of Bemidji, MN on Drums and Gary Broste also from Bemidji, on upright bass. After 3 years of talking about a full length studio album, in 2019 Corey and The Brothers released their debut full length album, "Better Days". This year they will be recording their studio sophomore album in Minneapolis at the end of July at Winterland Studios.
They set out to spread light in the dark with their raw, soulful, intimate music and stage presence.
Courtesy of Corey Medina’s Youtube channel
The Cedar Public Access Channel is an online stream that presents creative content planned and produced by artists in collaboration with The Cedar. You can tune in through The Cedar’s Facebook or YouTube.
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/thecedar/
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/user/MadeofCedar
All programs will be available for free with a suggested donation to cover the costs of the program. All artists will be paid. You can make a donation to The Cedar at https://thecedar.org/donate.
Mni Sota Native Music Series is made possible by the Rosemary and David Good Family Foundation.
