New album by CHELLE! and Friends brings Louisiana spirit to the Bay Area
Oakland, CA
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Michelle Jacques always chose French as her elective language in school. “I never knew what attracted me to the French language, and I never knew why The Bay never quite felt like home until I started my research.” In 2008 Jaques, also known as “Chelle” to her many listeners, fans, and students, was awarded a City of Oakland Individual Artist Grant to travel to New Orleans “to research my people. Creole people. New Orleans music, culture, language, and people.”
This research ultimately sprouted the heartfelt new album “Voodoville” by her group, CHELLE! and Friends, which will celebrate with a CD release party and concert Sunday, April 18th at Coda Jazz Supper Club in San Francisco.
“There are lots of New Orleans natives in the Bay Area, and we want to reach out to them,” proclaims Chelle. “Join in the celebration! It’s not just a celebration of the new CD, it’s a celebration of New Orleans – of the music, of the people, of the culture.”
It was Chelle’s quest for her own identity that began that journey. “I wanted to know who I was. I knew there was more to me. I wanted to know the history of my family.” Chelle’s mother had worked as a young woman in the French Quarter and her father was a trumpet player from New Orleans. “I grew up with the music,” she explains, “but my research has helped me understand how creative New Orleans people are, and all about the history, the Creole language, and the culture.”
Chelle will debut the culmination of her work with her group CHELLE! and Friends, a unique blend of talented instrumentalists and well-versed a cappella style singers, whose vast experience ranges from Al Green and Zap Mama to Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra. The album “Voodooville” is out April 18th on Jenpet Records, and the CD release party at Coda Jazz Supper Club is not to be missed, so laissez le bon temps rouler!
http://www.chellemusic.com
Thursday, April 15, 2010
SF Weekly Article
Saw this great article in the SF Weekly, enjoy! Goodfeather will be playing at the Red Devil Lounge, 1695 Polk at Clay in San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 21st at 8pm with Bright Blues and Red Penny One.
http://www.sfweekly.com/events/goodfeather-1936367
Song Stories
By Hiya Swanhuyser
Warm, honest vocals à la Jack Johnson, a honeyed acoustic guitar, and philosophical lyrics characterize the songs of Goodfeather. Fans of Dave Matthews, this is the up-and-coming artist you dream of: the folky, Indian John Mayer; the one-man Bay Area ALO. Goodfeather is about positivity, an occasional reggae beat layered on his own elastic strumming, and most of all about finding redemption. His own story is a rather irresistible cinematic journey: Born in Wasilla, Alaska (we’re guessing he was never a Palin voter — too young), he lived in foster homes until he emancipated himself at 16 to go be a heavy metal dude in Los Angeles, where he picked up guitar skills and some bad habits. Enter stage left an uncle, with whom he traveled the country, getting a grip on his culture and his approach. Then when beloved troubadour Floyd Red Crow Westerman passed on a few years back, Goodfeather picked up a guitar again in Oakland — he knew some of Westerman’s great old songs, and people wanted very much to hear them. They liked Goodfeather’s original songs, too. “Basically,” he explains on his Web site, “the (Native American) community instantly plugged me in.” An eponymous album produced by Greg Landau soon followed; hear the results tonight.
Bright Blues and Red Penny One.
http://www.sfweekly.com/events/goodfeather-1936367
Song Stories
By Hiya Swanhuyser
Warm, honest vocals à la Jack Johnson, a honeyed acoustic guitar, and philosophical lyrics characterize the songs of Goodfeather. Fans of Dave Matthews, this is the up-and-coming artist you dream of: the folky, Indian John Mayer; the one-man Bay Area ALO. Goodfeather is about positivity, an occasional reggae beat layered on his own elastic strumming, and most of all about finding redemption. His own story is a rather irresistible cinematic journey: Born in Wasilla, Alaska (we’re guessing he was never a Palin voter — too young), he lived in foster homes until he emancipated himself at 16 to go be a heavy metal dude in Los Angeles, where he picked up guitar skills and some bad habits. Enter stage left an uncle, with whom he traveled the country, getting a grip on his culture and his approach. Then when beloved troubadour Floyd Red Crow Westerman passed on a few years back, Goodfeather picked up a guitar again in Oakland — he knew some of Westerman’s great old songs, and people wanted very much to hear them. They liked Goodfeather’s original songs, too. “Basically,” he explains on his Web site, “the (Native American) community instantly plugged me in.” An eponymous album produced by Greg Landau soon followed; hear the results tonight.
Bright Blues and Red Penny One.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Interview with Francisco Herrera
I interviewed Francisco Herrera about his new album, Honor Migrante, out now on Round Whirled Records. The video is on YouTube, enjoy.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Spirit of Carnaval
In February Carne Cruda went down to San Diego with Dandara Bracken / De Bahia a Bahia. My cousin Nicole Landau shot this video while we were there. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
New Puppy
There's a new puppy in the family, she's half Chihuaha and half Yorkshire Terrier, or Chorkie for short. Here is a video of her trying to get my other dog RockXena the Warrior Princess to play with her.
Friday, February 12, 2010
San Diego Brazilian Carnaval
Heading down to Carnaval San Diego this Saturday to play with De Bahia a Bahia featuring Carne Cruda and Dandara. It's gonna be a blast! Here's a preview:
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Native Singer Dons Baseball Cap in Lieu of Feathers
When Native American singer and activist Floyd Red Crow Westerman passed away in 2007, Jeremy Goodfeather’s Hunka (adopoted) mother asked him to play a few songs at the Oakland memorial, a request that launched an unexpected series of events for the San Francisco resident. “I had established myself as a community member within the Native circle, but people had no idea I could sing,” recalls Goodfeather, who’s debut album is out now on Round Whirled Records. “When they heard me playing Floyd’s songs, and some of my own, Native Americans are so politically involved that they began asking me to play shows and perform in public. Basically, the community instantly plugged me in.”
Another community member suggested that Jeremy Goodfeather apply for the Native American Cultural Equity grant through the San Francisco Arts Commission, culminating in his collaboration with four-time Grammy®-nomminated record producer and San Francisco native Greg Landau, who produced his touching and profound 12-song album, simply titled “Goodfeather.”
“With all this support from the Native community, I feel like I just wandered into music again,” Goodfeather modestly proclaims. But in reality the road to discovering his true inner songwriter was a long and arduous one; sharing the conservative hometown of Wasilla, Alaska with Sarah Palin left it’s mark on the songwriter as well. His father was a Mohawk from New York State and his mother was a mexicana from Texas, tracing her roots to before it was part of US, it’s own country, or part of Mexico. When his family dissolved, young Jeremy became a ward of the state, living between extended family and foster homes until he finally emancipated himself at 16.
“I wanted to be a rock star, so I moved to LA and joined a bunch of heavy alt-metal bands.” But after struggling with drug and alcohol abuse and the LA lifestyle, Jeremy realized that he didn’t have anything to say and called it quits. “I stopped writing music, hung up my guitar, and just traveled around with my uncle for a few years. I learned about what it is to be native, ideals, values, belief systems. That also includes political views, because as Native Americans we have no separation between church and state, political parties, and all that. It’s all the same to us.
“My whole world view changed during that period traveling around with my uncle. I learned who I was, or at least who I wanted to be. But I was just doing all that for myself, so I could find a way to live that worked for me. It wasn’t about the music.” The song “Wonderful Teacher,” track 10 on Goodfeather’s new album, is dedicated to his uncle, who passed away.
But the lessons live on in Jeremy’s songs. “When I write, I have no agenda of portraying any particular thing. It’s a reversal of me, me, me, self, self, self, and a move toward interdependence, interconnectedness, and symbiotics. The truth.” In his song “Dance Into the Light” he describes that relationship:
And everything is beautiful/
And everything is good/
From an insect to the space shuttle/
To this strung-up piece of wood
“We’re all part of the same system. Everything depends on everything else. If essentially we’re all related, we should respect one another. It’s real simple. You wouldn’t chop off your own foot.”
While Goodfeather’s songs stem organically from this basic philosophy, he is wary of classifying his music as “Native American.” After all, music is music. “I’ve been on stage with performers wearing fake feathers, loin clothes, just doing it up. I don’t carry that external image, and the Native community seems to really appreciate it. It’s Hollywood that pushes the image, but Native people are hungry for something more authentic. Now I’ve wandered into this area where the Native community has asked me to represent it, and when I go on as ‘the Native American act’ many people are surprised that the music actually has substance.”
And the substance is there. Each song has a story, a deeper message inspired by his connection with his community. “Many people might not know it,” Goodfeather explains, “but there is a large Native American population right here in the Bay Area. They were lured here off of the reservations with the promise of jobs in the 1960s.” It’s this very community that has encouraged Goodfeather’s creative spirit and pushed him to the forefront of the Native American music scene, armed not with the cliché feathers and hackneyed songs about the four directions, but with his everyday construction worker’s baseball cap and something real to sing about.
“I struggle against the stereotypes because they’re limiting,” Goodfeather asserts. “’Oh, you’re the Native artist, we’ll put you between the magician and the marionettes.’ You end up being treated like a novelty act.” But when you hear Jeremy belting out his heartfelt lyrics while he strums his “strung-up piece of wood” also known as a guitar, it’s clear that the vibrations causing the air to transmit sound are modern-day continuations of something set in motion ages ago, and that those vibrations are being transmitted throughout the universe for all to feel and hear.
Find out more about Jeremy Goodfeather at http://www.goodfeather.com. His new album, Goodfeather, is available on iTunes and http://www.roundwhirledrecords.com.
Another community member suggested that Jeremy Goodfeather apply for the Native American Cultural Equity grant through the San Francisco Arts Commission, culminating in his collaboration with four-time Grammy®-nomminated record producer and San Francisco native Greg Landau, who produced his touching and profound 12-song album, simply titled “Goodfeather.”
“With all this support from the Native community, I feel like I just wandered into music again,” Goodfeather modestly proclaims. But in reality the road to discovering his true inner songwriter was a long and arduous one; sharing the conservative hometown of Wasilla, Alaska with Sarah Palin left it’s mark on the songwriter as well. His father was a Mohawk from New York State and his mother was a mexicana from Texas, tracing her roots to before it was part of US, it’s own country, or part of Mexico. When his family dissolved, young Jeremy became a ward of the state, living between extended family and foster homes until he finally emancipated himself at 16.
“I wanted to be a rock star, so I moved to LA and joined a bunch of heavy alt-metal bands.” But after struggling with drug and alcohol abuse and the LA lifestyle, Jeremy realized that he didn’t have anything to say and called it quits. “I stopped writing music, hung up my guitar, and just traveled around with my uncle for a few years. I learned about what it is to be native, ideals, values, belief systems. That also includes political views, because as Native Americans we have no separation between church and state, political parties, and all that. It’s all the same to us.
“My whole world view changed during that period traveling around with my uncle. I learned who I was, or at least who I wanted to be. But I was just doing all that for myself, so I could find a way to live that worked for me. It wasn’t about the music.” The song “Wonderful Teacher,” track 10 on Goodfeather’s new album, is dedicated to his uncle, who passed away.
But the lessons live on in Jeremy’s songs. “When I write, I have no agenda of portraying any particular thing. It’s a reversal of me, me, me, self, self, self, and a move toward interdependence, interconnectedness, and symbiotics. The truth.” In his song “Dance Into the Light” he describes that relationship:
And everything is beautiful/
And everything is good/
From an insect to the space shuttle/
To this strung-up piece of wood
“We’re all part of the same system. Everything depends on everything else. If essentially we’re all related, we should respect one another. It’s real simple. You wouldn’t chop off your own foot.”
While Goodfeather’s songs stem organically from this basic philosophy, he is wary of classifying his music as “Native American.” After all, music is music. “I’ve been on stage with performers wearing fake feathers, loin clothes, just doing it up. I don’t carry that external image, and the Native community seems to really appreciate it. It’s Hollywood that pushes the image, but Native people are hungry for something more authentic. Now I’ve wandered into this area where the Native community has asked me to represent it, and when I go on as ‘the Native American act’ many people are surprised that the music actually has substance.”
And the substance is there. Each song has a story, a deeper message inspired by his connection with his community. “Many people might not know it,” Goodfeather explains, “but there is a large Native American population right here in the Bay Area. They were lured here off of the reservations with the promise of jobs in the 1960s.” It’s this very community that has encouraged Goodfeather’s creative spirit and pushed him to the forefront of the Native American music scene, armed not with the cliché feathers and hackneyed songs about the four directions, but with his everyday construction worker’s baseball cap and something real to sing about.
“I struggle against the stereotypes because they’re limiting,” Goodfeather asserts. “’Oh, you’re the Native artist, we’ll put you between the magician and the marionettes.’ You end up being treated like a novelty act.” But when you hear Jeremy belting out his heartfelt lyrics while he strums his “strung-up piece of wood” also known as a guitar, it’s clear that the vibrations causing the air to transmit sound are modern-day continuations of something set in motion ages ago, and that those vibrations are being transmitted throughout the universe for all to feel and hear.
Find out more about Jeremy Goodfeather at http://www.goodfeather.com. His new album, Goodfeather, is available on iTunes and http://www.roundwhirledrecords.com.
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