Musical collective Nahko and Medicine for the People will be headlining at Crescent Ballroom on Friday with Satsang as the opening band.
Both of these bands’ genres include a diverse combination of indigenous-influenced rhythms, catchy folk, indie melodies, hip-hop beats, smooth reggae and bluegrass roots.
Nahko and Medicine for the People call their genre ‘Real Talk Music,’ conceivably because their lyrics talk about Native American traditions and their history of pain caused by western invasions, as well as current social and environmental issues.
“I would say, in so many ways do we represent diversity,” band frontman Nahko Bear said. “We represent South America, Australia, Hawaii and Native America.”
“Part of our celebration is what we do with our music, but our celebration is specifically related to that, celebrating diversity — a lot of that stems from our Native American traditions,” Nahko said.
The collective details these Native American traditions with their song ‘Mitakuye Oyasin’ and its concept, which originally derives from a traditional Lakota Sioux prayer.
“We’re all who we are related and part of that in a deeper way is just looking at, okay so if we’re all related from the seeds, to the water, to the human, to the creatures that walk on the planet, then how do we treat those things, how do we treat each other and how are we living in this time especially?,” Nahko said. “(There’s) social change, but also it’s just a violent time against folks who are different.”
Crescent Ballroom hosts a variety of performers, with styles alike and unalike Nahko and Medicine for the People’s percussion-heavy and colorfully envisioned harmonious blend.
Charlie Levy, owner of the Crescent Ballroom, said that at night the venue’s focus is music.
“From the get-go, our whole thought process is if you’re a fan of music, you’re welcomed here, no matter how old or young, or what you look like, no matter if you’re a hipster or a nerd or a computer tech for Xerox,” Levy said. “This is about music and it’s color blind.”
Levy’s appreciation for diversity of music comes from his roots — he grew up in the jazz-loving city of New Orleans, nicknamed the Crescent City, hence the Crescent Ballroom, and he lived in Tucson.
Levy spoke of the band’s deep-rooted messages:
“Anytime you agree or disagree with someone that has a message or viewpoint it’s always special ⎯ it starts a conversation,” Levy said. “I think their subject is a little more — a lot of their stuff is about what’s going on about them, and I think that’s a band that really talks about social issues and things that are bigger than themselves.”
Nahko and Medicine for the People use their tunes’ messages as an apparatus to bring progress to the movements they advocate for.
“I think that through our music and through our work as activists as well, we are able to highlight unifying selective movements,” Nahko said. “Being able to use music as a tool to create that, a message for change, and really moving through a world where we can look at each other (not) by our difference in color, or culture, or spiritual practice but look at each other for the human in all of us and be able to respect each other for that.”
Doors for Friday’s concert open at 7 p.m.
Contact the author at Eileen.Hopkins@asu.edu. Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu.
