TOWER- When Keith Secola visited Vermilion Country School on April 8, it wasn’t solely to give a concert for the students and staff. Secola, a nationally known, award-winning Native American musician, writer, and singer, was raised on the Iron Range, but now lives in Arizona. He had recently met Vermilion Country School students during a performance he gave at the Ely Film Festival, and his visit was a chance to share his knowledge, not just of music, but of how students can write and record on their own. He had just finished up a three-day music festival, the Ancestral Embers Tour, which performed in Nett Lake, Cloquet, and Duluth.
While telling stories of his youth and his own history, he talked about his philosophy of both writing and recording music. Then he demonstrated how easy it is to use Garage Band software, which comes bundled on Apple computers, to produce professional-quality tracks.
VCS students Wilbur and Jake Lien helped Secola, with Wilbur adding tracks on both an electric and traditional guitar, and Jake ready to add vocals.
“I like to think about this as sketching with audio,” Secola said, showing how to capture tiny snippets of melody and turn them into more polished music. He talked about taking melodies and chord progressions and turning them into finished songs.
He said he often feels like a song has just captured him. He gets a melody, and then an idea for the song, and then is inspired to write the lyrics.
“I am honored that I was asked to come here,” he said. He sang a rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” with lyrics that honored the Ojibwe/Anishinabe view of the world, “this land, this earth, we were made for her,” he sang.
He talked about the inclusivity of the Ojibwe language, and the many layers of meanings in words.
“Miigwech,” he said, “is not just the word for thank-you. It means I will hold what you give me in the highest honor.”
This language connects with our earth, he told the students.
Secola talked to the students about the importance of living “in the present tense.” He said concentrating on the present helps ease anxiety about the past and the future.
Secola’s music continues to be widely distributed and he has received much recognition for his work. He told the students that some of his songs were used on the recently-released third season of the hit television series “Dark Winds.” In 2011, Secola was inducted into the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame,  joining Jimmy Hendrix, Hank Williams, Crystal Gayle, and Richie Valens among other inductees. He is a seven-time Native American Music Award winner including Artist of the Year, Best Producer, and Best Country/Folk Recording. Learn more about his career at www.secola.com.