Artist Spotlight: Ed Peekeekoot
A few months back we received Ed Peekeekoot's CD "In the Key of Cree" and it is a wonderful 45 minute ride with a master on the guitar. It has something for everyone, folk, country, acoustic, jazz, blues, traditional, spoken word, and even Nature itself! Ed is from the Ahtahkakoop Cree First Nation of Saskatchewan, now living in British Columbia, and he's a singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and artist.
Ed has a voice to go along with his exceptional and masterful guitar work. I love it when Ed combines his classical guitar work with the sounds of nature and his Cree language. Make no mistake, this is a master of the guitar the likes of Andres Segovia and Ruben Romero! Allow us to introduce Ed Peekeekoot.
"I relate in many ways to the man I describe in one of my songs, Wild Lilies to Wheat Fields, as being "a farmer, provider, a warrior and survivor, a daydream catcher, a seeker of visions and truth. He's a hunter, sundancer, and he's a rain cloud watcher..." I'm a musician and an artist but the farmer in my song and I are both blending our cultural ways with the mainstream world, holding our truth, and working to provide for our families when it seems like a long time between those vital "rain clouds" that nurture growth in the things we've been steadily and quitely looking after.
Music, art, and a supportive and loving family have hleped me travel on a good path throughout my life. I can't call myself self-taught but my education has been both intentional and informal, learning on my own as well as going to workshops and classes and spending time with friends who are artists and musicians. I give deep thanks for the creative and generous people in my life who have shared their gifts with me,
For many years, I worked as a solo musician in the mainstream country music scene--mostly in BC but also across the Prairies. Even though my Cree heritage and growing up in a musical family shaped me, I avoided being labeled as a "Native musician". I wanted to be known as a great musician who just happened to be "Native" as I paid my mainstream dues. This all changed a few years ago after a visit to my home community, Ahtahkakoop, in Saskatchewan.
On this trip, I saw signs that the people in my community were starting to practice their cultural ways once again. There were sweat lodges and the sun dance grounds had been reclaimed. This and other important experiences opened me to a deepening interest in exploring my First Nations heritage through music and, in 2006, I released in the key of cree, a CD of original pieces from my cultural perspective.
With guitar, Native flute, fiddle, drum and voice I create what I call "sound paintings". These are the sounds and melodies heard in our dreams that take us on spirit journeys. In songs and instrumentals, I move from evoking nature, myth, and traditional ways of knowing to offering encouragement to First Nation people facing the sometimes stark realities of urban life. Raven and Coyote, tricksters and transformers, make their way into my music, stories, performances, and art." Ed Peekeekoot
Ed Peekeekoot's in the key of cree CD made it from a field of 18 to be one of five nominees for Best Country CD at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, thanks to the many votes he received. His is a different genre of Country: authentic, aboriginal country, or aboriginal roots. It is song-stories of the transition of hunter-gatherer to farmer in the Prairies, guitar instrumentals that paint the Northern Lights, seen best in the stillness of a prairie night, or harvest on the rez, along with hot fiddling of jigs and reels from all the old Prairie dances.
Ed has been asked to perform at the Awards ceremonies at the 6,000-seat MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 7, 2008, to be filmed live by APTN TV (Aboriginal People's Television Network). He will also be part of a Songwriter's Showcase at the Manito ahbee Festival the following day.
Vote For Ed!
Anyone can vote in the second round to help Ed Peekeekoot win the Best Country CD award for in the key of cree at www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com before October 19.
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