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Jeremy Dutcher isn’t easy to pin down. Performer, composer, activist, musicologist — these roles are all infused into his art and way of life. His music, too, transcends boundaries: unapologetically playful in its incorporation of classical influences, full of reverence for the traditional songs of his home, and teeming with the urgency of modern-day struggles of resistance.
A member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Jeremy was studying music in Halifax when he had an epiphany. “I started to look into the canon of classical music for content that dealt with indigenous issues, or was written by indigenous people,” he recalls, “and there’s not too much…”
“So when you don’t see something out there, you have to make it yourself.”
Jeremy worked in the archives at the Canadian Museum of History, painstakingly transcribing Wolastoq songs from century old wax cylinders. “Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast went underground.” As a measure of the Canadian Government’s Indian Act, all ceremonial songs and dances were banned in public for decades. Jeremy heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago.
“I started to listen to this amazing archive and understood at once that it was my responsibility to bring these back to the people,” he explains, “and think about all the good things these songs could bring into our community if we start to sing them again. Song is just one part of a multifaceted project of reclamation of Wolastoqiyik identity.”
For Jeremy, it was clear early on that this project would be about much more than just recovery. As he listened to each recording, he felt his own musical impulses stirring from deep within. Long days at the archives turned into long nights at the piano, feeling out melodies and phrases, deep in dialogue with the voices of his ancestors.
These “collaborative” compositions, collected together on his debut LP Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, are like nothing you’ve ever heard. Delicate, sublime vocal melodies ring out atop piano lines that cascade through a vibrant range of emotions. The anguish and joy of the past erupt fervently into the present through Jeremy’s bold approach to composition and raw, affective performances.
“I’m doing this work because there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left,” he says. “It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”
“We need to be insistent and unapologetic in telling our story on our own terms.”
FIRST NATION COMPOSER JEREMY DUTCHER
USING MUSIC TO SAVE HIS LANGUAGE
LISTEN TO “LINTUWAKON ‘CIW MEHCINUT” VIA
VICE NOISEY
“The future meets the past as Dutcher’s resonant operatic voice is paired with a recording made over 110 years ago of a speech by Wolastoqiyik ancestor Jim Paul, on death and what comes after. Layered with crystalline strings and booming horns, the result sounds grandiose yet intimate.”
–VICE NOISEY
WATCH JEREMY PERFORM & TALK ABOUT HIS DISTINCT SOUNDSCAPE :
NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Jeremy Dutcher is a Toronto-based performer, composer, and classically trained operatic tenor. He is also a member of the Wolastoq First Nation indigenous community and will release his debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonaw (Our Maliseets Songs), on April 6th, 2018. The album is a collection of “collaborative” compositions that blend Jeremy’s ancestors archival recordings with both classic and contemporary influences. The result transcends musical boundaries: dramatic, infused with emotion and reverence for the songs of his home, sweeping piano solos and stunning vocals.
All of the songs are sung in the Maliseet language and there are less than 500 speakers of the language left in Canada. Jeremy feels strongly this album is an imperative tool to get younger generations engaged with and excited about Maliseet. “If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”
Listen to the first song “Lintuwakon ‘Ciw Mehcinut (Death Chant)” via Vice Noisey HERE
Now 27 years old, Jeremy was studying music years ago in Halifax when he had an epiphany, “I started to look into the canon of classical music for content that dealt with indigenous issues, or was written by indigenous people,” he recalls, “and there’s not too much….so I decided to find it myself”
Jeremy poured through archives at the Canadian Museum of History to painstakingly transcribe Wolastoq songs from 100 year old wax cylinder recordings. “Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast went underground.” As a measure of the Canadian Government’s Indian Act, all ceremonial songs and dances were banned in public for decades. Jeremy heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago.
“I started to listen to this amazing archive and understood at once that it was my responsibility to bring these back to the people,” he explains, “and think about all the good things these songs could bring into our community if we start to sing them again. Song is just one part of a multifaceted project of reclamation of Wolastoqiyik identity.”
For Jeremy, it was clear early on that this project would be about much more than just recovery. As he listened to each recording, he felt his own musical impulses stirring from deep within. Long days at the archives turned into long nights at the piano, feeling out melodies and phrases, deep in dialogue with the voices of his ancestors.
These “collaborative” compositions, collected together on his debut LP Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, are like nothing you’ve ever heard. Delicate, sublime vocal melodies ring out atop piano lines that cascade through a vibrant range of emotions. The anguish and joy of the past erupt fervently into the present through Jeremy’s bold approach to composition and raw performances.
He’s performed songs from Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa in small concerts and workshops, and on recent tours through Asia and Scandinavia, as well as on the cross-country New Constellations tour. In November 2017, he joined several promising artists and thinkers from indigenous communities on this tour across Canada, an exciting one-night showcase of new music and revolutionary ideas curated by RPM Records and The Basement Revue.
The tour was a natural fit for an advocate and experimenter like Jeremy. RPM Records also released Jeremy’s first official music with Honor Song, a new interpretation of the Mi’kmaq’ anthem written by George Paul.
Says Jeremy, “We need to be insistent and unapologetic in telling our story on our own terms.”
JEREMY DUTCHER 2018 North American dates:
February 15-17: Folk Alliance, Kansas City
March 2: Forward Current Festival, Regina
April 10: Canadian Opera Company, Toronto
May 25: First Baptist Church, Ottawa
June 27: Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver
Praise for JEREMY DUTCHER:
“If you caught the New Constellations show in December, you were likely blown away by Jeremy Dutcher’s booming operatic voice and sweeping performance… a powerful message that both proclaims and reclaims. ” –NOW MAGAZINE
“What he makes by combining both worlds is astoundingly beautiful”
–CBC CANADA
“The future meets the past as Dutcher’s resonant operatic voice is paired with a recording made over 110 years ago of a speech by Wolastoqiyik ancestor Jim Paul, on death and what comes after. Layered with crystalline strings and booming horns, the result sounds grandiose yet intimate.”
–VICE NOISEY
FIRST NATION COMPOSER JEREMY DUTCHER
USING MUSIC TO SAVE HIS LANGUAGE
NEW ALBUM
WOLASTOQIYIK LINTUWAKONAWA (OUR MALISEET SONGS)
OUT APRIL 6, 2018
Album artwork credit: Matt Barnes Photography
ALBUM PRE-ORDER NOW AVAILABLE:
https://www.smarturl.it/jeremydutcher
—
NEW SINGLE OUT TODAY:
“POMOK NAKA POKTOINSKWES”
LISTEN & SHARE:
https://soundcloud.com/jeremy-dutcher-535022345/pomok-naka-poktoinskwes
Now available on Apple Music, ITunes, Spotify, Google Play & Deezer:
https://smarturl.it/pomok
Artwork credit: Auralast
—
“The future meets the past as Dutcher’s resonant operatic voice is paired with a recording made over 110 years ago of a speech by Wolastoqiyik ancestor Jim Paul, on death and what comes after. Layered with crystalline strings and booming horns, the result sounds grandiose yet intimate.”
–NOISEY (VICE)
LISTEN TO FIRST SINGLE “MEHCINUT” VIA NOISEY (VICE)
WATCH JEREMY PERFORM & TALK ABOUT HIS DISTINCT SOUNDSCAPE :
NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
—
Jeremy Dutcher is a Toronto-based performer, composer, and classically trained operatic tenor. He is also a member of indigenous community, Tobique First Nation, and will release his debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (Our Maliseet Songs), on April 6th, 2018. Today, March 9th, he releases his second single, “Pomok naka Poktoinskwes.”
Dutcher sheds light on the meaning of the song, saying, “This is the song of the Fisher and the Water Spirit. This was the only archival recording that I recognized from my childhood. It was recovered in the 80s by song carrier Maggie Paul and has been sung in Maliseet communities ever since.”
The album is a collection of “collaborative” compositions that blend Jeremy’s ancestors’ archival recordings with both classical and contemporary influences. The result transcends musical boundaries: dramatic, infused with emotion and reverence for the songs of his home, sweeping piano solos and stunning vocals.
All of the songs are sung in the Wolastoqey language and there are less than 100 speakers of the language left in Canada. Jeremy feels strongly that this album is an imperative tool to get younger generations engaged with and excited about Wolastoqey. “If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”
Now 27 years old, Jeremy was studying music years ago in Halifax when he had an epiphany,
“I started to look into the canon of classical music for content that dealt with indigenous issues, or was written by indigenous people,” he recalls, “and there’s not too much….so I decided to find it myself”
Jeremy poured through archives at the Canadian Museum of History to painstakingly transcribe Wolastoq songs from 100 year old wax cylinder recordings. “Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast went underground.” As a measure of the Canadian Government’s Indian Act, all ceremonial songs and dances were banned in public for decades. Jeremy heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago.
“I started to listen to this amazing archive and understood at once that it was my responsibility to bring these back to the people,” he explains, “and think about all the good things these songs could bring into our community if we start to sing them again. Song is just one part of a multifaceted project of reclamation of Wolastoqiyik identity.”
For Jeremy, it was clear early on that this project would be about much more than just recovery. As he listened to each recording, he felt his own musical impulses stirring from deep within. Long days at the archives turned into long nights at the piano, feeling out melodies and phrases, deep in dialogue with the voices of his ancestors.
These “collaborative” compositions, collected together on his debut LP Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, are like nothing you’ve ever heard. Delicate, sublime vocal melodies ring out atop piano lines that cascade through a vibrant range of emotions. The anguish and joy of the past erupt fervently into the present through Jeremy’s bold approach to composition and raw performances.
He’s performed songs from Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa in small concerts and workshops, and on recent tours through Asia and Scandinavia, as well as on the cross-country New Constellations tour. In November 2017, he joined several promising artists and thinkers from indigenous communities on this tour across Canada, an exciting one-night showcase of new music and revolutionary ideas curated by RPM Records and The Basement Revue.
The tour was a natural fit for an advocate and experimenter like Jeremy. RPM Records also released Jeremy’s first official music with Honor Song, a new interpretation of the Mi’kmaq anthem written by George Paul.
Says Jeremy, “We need to be insistent and unapologetic in telling our story on our own terms.”
JEREMY DUTCHER 2018 North American dates:
Apr 10 – Toronto, ON – Canadian Opera Company – NOON Performance Time
May 4 – New York, NY – Joe’s Pub
May 25 – Ottawa, ON – First Baptist Church
Jun 9 – Toronto, ON – The Great Hall
Jun 27 – Vancouver, BC – Queer Arts Festival
Jul 4 – Montreal, QC – GESU (Montreal International Jazz Festival)
—
Jeremy Dutcher on his the context of his album art:
“Ninna-stako was his name.
Her name was Frances.
Mountain Chief of the Blackfoot,
shared songs.
I sit today as object and subject
Of that gaze
Both studier and studied.
All I came to do was time travel
Bringing voices forward
In dances.
We will create our own conversations.
The iconic image of ethnographer Frances Densmore collecting songs from Blackfoot chief Ninna-Stako in 1916 is one that has followed me through the process of working on Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa; maybe haunted me.
I wanted to flip this image on it’s head and reflect on a contemporary musical self-determination, while interrogating the supposed objectivity of the archival project and how it reinforces detachment from communal rematriation. We are reclaiming it.
I approached Cree visual artist Kent Monkman to help me realize this vision and he gave some stellar advice and even allowed the backdrop to be his stunning work “Teaching the Lost” (2012). The photo was taken by Matt Barns and I want to thank his amazing team for bringing this photo to life. I also must thank Wolastoq designer Stephanie Labillois for this beautiful custom jacket. Eci-wolinaqot, nmosissol.
Thus, I humbly submit the album artwork for Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.
Psi-te npomawsuwinwok, kiluwaw yut.
Koselmoltipa♥”
Photo Credit: Frances Densmore
PRAISE FOR JEREMY DUTCHER:
“If you caught the New Constellations show in December, you were likely blown away by Jeremy Dutcher’s booming operatic voice and sweeping performance… a powerful message that both proclaims and reclaims. ”
— NOW MAGAZINE
“What he makes by combining both worlds is astoundingly beautiful”
— CBC CANADA
1500x1500
Auralast
Pomok Naka Poktoinskwes
800x533
Matt Barnes Photography