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Reddmen to play Live Earth
Local punk band to play at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
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FarkRAPID CITY — In April, “Grey’s Anatomy” gave a local band the opportunity to share their music with millions of viewers when one of their songs was featured on an episode.
Saturday, as many as 2 billion people may be able to experience the music of the Reddmen.
The Reddmen have been invited to Washington, D.C., to perform at 4:30 p.m. MDT today for a special concert called “Mother Earth” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
“I’m totally excited,” the Native punk band’s lead singer and guitarist, J. Waylon Porcupine, said about the appearance.
The Reddmen include Porcupine, his brother Miyo One Arrow on drums and friend Trevor Leo on bass. Porcupine and his brother are of Lakota and Northern Cheyenne ancestry and have played music since they were little boys, their mother, Shirley Hunter of Parker, Ariz., said.
“They (Porcupine, Leo and friends) used to bribe him with a dollar or a pop to get him to play drums,” she said about younger brother One Arrow.
Speaking about longtime friend and bass player Leo, Hunter said with a laugh: “He’s adopted. He eats just like them — dry meat and fry bread.”
The Reddmen’s appearance is part of a larger event today called Live Earth, a 24-hour, seven-continent concert that will bring together more than 100 musicians worldwide to raise awareness about climate change
Live Earth will reach a worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms — TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels.
The “Mother Earth” concert, including the Reddmen’s appearance, will be available online at www.americanindian.si.edu/motherearth, and is the best place to catch the performances. A full schedule also is available on the Web site.
The “Mother Earth” event will feature musical performances and speakers from the scientific and American Indian cultural communities in the spirit of the Live Earth message.
The full-day event will feature films; guest speakers; and American Indian rock, funk, punk, reggae, gospel and Andean music.
“There is no more important matter before us than the question of how to live sustainably on the Earth,” Tim Johnson, a Mohawk Indian who is acting director of the museum, said. “As an institution of living cultures, the National Museum of the American Indian is committed to elevating human understanding of global climate change through education and cultural performances,” he said.
Porcupine agrees with that commitment.
“I see it as a chance for us to represent the Midwestern tribes,” he said. “Right now, I can’t really grasp it until I probably actually get there. I have to see it before I believe it.”
He credited ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” as being “a direct link” for the “Mother Earth” opportunity door being opened. The hit television show featured their song “The Secrets of Amanda Prines” in an April 26 episode.
It all started when Ed Ornelas, an editor for the TV show, heard one of their songs playing on his cousin’s MySpace profile. Porcupine received an e-mail from him asking where he could find their music. After some skepticism on the band’s part that anything would come of it, the pieces fell into place.
After the show aired, Porcupine began receiving more feedback from friends and from people he did not know. He also saw the band’s name appear more often in blogs and Web sites when he did Internet searches on the Reddmen.
“It’s bizarre. That show’s so huge. I never knew how big it was,” he said.
After the Smithsonian concert event, the Reddmen will return home to Rapid City for a performance at The Retired Enlisted Association at 7 p.m. Friday, July 13.
On the Net
Watch the Reddmen’s performance live at 4:30 p.m. today and see the schedule of the rest of the “Mother Earth” performers online at www.americanindian.si.edu/motherearth
The Reddmen are, from left, J. Waylon Porcupine, Miyo One Arrow and Trevor Leo. They will perform Saturday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. (Seth A. McConnell, Journal file)
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