Covering over 500 years of history, religion, and cultural evolution, Rise Up! combines deep research with personal stories by four dozen award-winning Indigenous musicians - providing an unprecedented eye-and-ear-opening look at Indigenous music, spirituality, and life. More than powwow drums and wooden flutes, Indigenous music intersects with rock, blues, jazz, folk music, reggae, hip-hop, classical music, and more. In conjunction with Rise Up’s publication, Craig Harris will present a 90-minute multimedia and participatory introduction to today’s Indigenous music, incorporating songs, stories, a video montage, and guided music-making.
Music historian, percussionist, and Washington, DC radio host, Craig Harris is the author of The New Folk Music, The Band; Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow; Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-time, & Americana Music, Crossing Borders, and the forthcoming Rise Up! Indigenous Music in North America. Playing drums/percussion since his teens, Harris has played with C.J. Chenier, Greg Brown, Jonathan Edwards, Rod MacDonald, Melanie, Mustard’s Retreat, Merl Saunders, Rick Danko (The Band), and Los Texmaniacs. Since 2014, he’s co-hosted the syndicated Gaea Crystal Radio Hour. After teaching music in public/charter schools in Boston, Somerville, Chelsea, and Springfield, MA for twenty-six years, Harris launched Drum Away the Blues in 2009.