That’s right, friends. The epic music video that I’ve been threatening to release for months now is finally ready for your eyes and ears on December 12th at 3pm AST. Seven Generations is an almost 6-minute song. It’s a forcefully mindful art-rock ballad. It’s a song about moving through the world in both reverence and awe of the natural landscape, and in mourning for the land - and people - that have been destroyed by colonialism at its most violent.
Indigenous women are four times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be victims of violence.
It’s a protest song calling attention to thousands of unsolved murders of Indigenous women in Canada. It’s a protest song calling attention to the heinous removal of tens of thousands of Indigenous children from their homes without warning or parental consent. It is a protest song calling attention towards the continued need for reparations and justice for everyone who suffered - or died - at residential schools.
It’s a protest song about the lack of federal resources being offered to people living on reservations across the country, without access to clean drinking water, affordable food, or functional infrastructure. It’s a protest song calling for action to stop oil and gas pipelines from being constructed across Indigenous lands without informed consent.
The song is also, at its core, an honest appraisal of one man’s privilege. He contrasts his 7th generation settler Canadian lineage with the profound empathy of the Haudenosaunee philosophy (present in a broader array of Indigenous nations, including Mi'kmaq) guiding decisions based on their sustainability and impact upon future generations.
Follow the link and dive in.
As you surely noticed, I’ve included a video of us performing the song in our home in early 2020.
I figured if anybody would want to see the song in its early-infantile stages, years before we even performed it live onstage, it would be you, lovely subscribers.
This was actually very much an early demo of the song: the first time we’d ever played it all the way through together after working for weeks (months) on the lyrics and harmonies and song structure. We played it along to a drum machine only once: the occasion you’re witnessing in this video.
We’ve since graduated to performing the song both onstage as a duo, and as a four-piece act with our spectacular rhythm section. Every live performance gives the song more grit, more gusto, and roots it ever firmly into our band repertoire and ethos.
Speaking of live shows, we’ve got a big one coming up on Saturday, December 20th at Woodside Tavern in Dartmouth. A cozy space with great food and drinks, kind staff, and four powerhouse rock/metal acts to whisk you away on a big ol’sonic freight train headed North.
Nova Scotia fans: you should definitely come to this one. We will start the night off nice and early, at 8pm.
Finally, Ryan’s having an art sale! He took the time to photograph hundreds of his original drawings for you to peruse in awe and merriment. Consider snagging one of these off of our website before they get sold at in-person art markets in the months to come. We will ship or hand-deliver them to you with gratitude.
Art sales pay our bills.
UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS AND ART MARKETS*:
Saturday + Sunday December 12* - Halifax, NS at Neighbourly Christmas Market, Park Lane Mall
Saturday, December 20 - Dartmouth, NS at Human Missile Crisis Year End Party, Woodside Tavern
