Press Release
Singer Songwriters Mitch Walking Elk and Wade Fernandez To Perform at Cedar Cultural Center Sunday, April 25, 7:30 PM
(Saint Paul, April 7, 2010). The Cedar Cultural Center will be featuring a very special concert by award-winning singer songwriters Mitch Walking Elk and Wade Fernandez on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Walking Elk and Fernandez have been friends since they met in the early 90s. Both played at Woodstock '94. They have toured Europe together six times, and last played the Cedar in 2007. Mitch and Wade are Native Americans with a repertoire that encompasses folk, rock, and blues, in addition to contemporary indigenous songs.
A Genre Crossing, International Performer
Mitch defines himself as a singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and political and environmental activist. “I’ve been labeled a folk singer, but to Native Americans, I’m a protest singer,” Mitch said. Mitch escaped his label as a folk singer with the release of his fifth CD, a blues recording titled, Time for A Woman that won him an award for Best Blues recording at the 2005 Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fernandez played guitar on that recording. “I don’t think I would have won that award without Wade’s guitar,” he explained. Mitch considers Fernandez “one of the best guitar players in the world, but the world doesn’t know it.”
Mitch has toured Europe, mostly German speaking countries, fourteen times, which speaks to the universality of his songs. He has also performed in Japan, Mexico City, Columbia, South America, and Canada. In a departure from most of his appearances, Mitch Walking Elk will be performing with Sugar Point, a versatile, four-piece band. “I’m lucky to have them willing to play my music,” he commented.
Versatile, Award-Winning Talent
The music of Wade Fernandez also crosses many genres, including country, rock, and blues. “I have a blues background but also include rock, flamenco, and some R&B in my music,” he explained.
Fernandez has received Grammy consideration in three categories for the songs on his 2007 album 4 The People, and recently composed a piece for classical choir. Winner of the 2006 NAMMY (Native American Music Award) for Male Artist of the Year, Wade has grown from his Menominee Indian Reservation roots to become a versatile musician who sings, writes his own material, and plays guitar, flute and drums, Wade honors tradition while simultaneously forging ahead into his ever-expanding musical universe. For this concert, Wade will be backed by the Black Wolf Group.
For more information, or to arrange interviews with either artist, contact:
Media Notice
Contact: Larry Englund, Hiawatha Communications
651-290-2497, lenglund@isd.net
Larry Englund, Hiawatha Communications
651-290-2497, lenglund@isd.net