Proceeds from the track by Earthwork Music’s Seth Bernard and The Go Rounds’ Mike Savina support the cause in North Dakota. Listen and buy it here, plus get details about two benefit shows by other bands.
In Solidary to Protect the Sacred: Seth Bernard, at right, said sales of the instrumental track will help support the protest at Standing Rock. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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The protest camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota has become more than a symbol for protecting the environment and sacred Native American sites.
It’s also become a rallying cry for those around the globe – and many in Michigan – who share concerns about corporate interests overriding environmental protection, and the right to peaceful protests.
And many of those supporters are West Michigan musicians and bands.
“Standing Rock Vigil”
Michigan musician and Earthwork Music collective founder Seth Bernard, of Lake City, sees it “as enormously significant and emblematic in these times: the biggest and most diverse alliance of First Nation people ever assembled on this land, peacefully and prayerfully holding space to protect their land and water from the corporate fossil fuel industry.”
To aid efforts to block construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under the Missouri River, Bernard and Mike Savina of Kalamazoo’s The Go Rounds created “guitar-based soundscapes,” with the track “Standing Rock Vigil” officially released last week with all proceeds from digital sales donated to the cause.
The track was recorded at Earthwork Farm outside Lake City in October, part of a weekend vigil they kept “going strong for a weekend.” It was recorded “on Frank Youngman’s old cassette four-track machine” and mastered by Ian Gorman in Kalamazoo.
“We had been planning to get together with our daughters and our guitars for a long time and carved out several days in late October with some grandma support for the recording sessions,” said Bernard, whose young daughter, Iris, created the artwork for the atmospheric 8-minute-and-19-second instrumental track. The song was released “in solidarity with the people putting their lives on the line to protect the sacred.”
‘TIMES OF GREAT POETIC MYTHOLOGY’
“The American Indian movement had never received so much attention and support worldwide, and citizen media that was able to circulate on the media kept the truth from being repressed,” Bernard said.
“We are living in times of great poetic mythology unfolding in real time – times that demand we not only bear witness but take action and reveal to the world who we are and what we’re made of.”
Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced it would deny the pipeline developer a permit to cross the river, many have speculated the victory for those opposed to the project may be short-lived due to the impending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Lee Sprague
So, Bernard said, “the struggle continues. Any funds raised from this music will be split between our friends with Michigan’s cold water rescue team at Standing Rock, and our friends with Earth Guardians – an alliance of young environmental activists currently suing the federal government for blatant environmental degradation and perpetuating climate change.”
Bernard noted that “friend and collaborator” Lee Sprague, of Mount Pleasant’s Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, has been on the front lines of the protest in North Dakota.
“He is still there,” he said. “We hope to send more food and coffee and winter supplies for him to distribute.”
Listen to the track and buy it here. Get more information online at earthworkmusic.com.
LISTEN: “Standing Rock Vigil”
Other West Michigan musicians and bands are raising money for the Standing Rock cause as well:
• Desmond Jones will take a $5 donation at the door for its usual residency show on Monday night at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill. Get details online here.
• Mystic Dub will host “Reggae for Standing Rock” at 9 p.m. Saturday at Diamond Street Hall, 435 Diamond Ave. NE in Grand Rapids. The show — also featuring “sights by the Blue Rhythmic Monkey Liquid Oil Light Show” — suggests a $10 donation at the door, with attendees also encouraged to bring supplies needed by protesters at the Standing Rock camp. Get more information online here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Seth Bernard is one of the featured artists in the 2017 Local Spins Calendar, which spotlights 18 Michigan acts in images by Local Spins photographers. The photo of Bernard at the top of this post highlights the calendar’s December page. Part of the proceeds from sales of the calendar will go to support Access of West Michigan’s anti-poverty programs. The calendars are available for purchase online here.
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
