ST. GEORGE, Utah – Along with his brothers, Charley and Earl, Randy Wood founded what became one of the most popular and respected drum groups on the pow wow circuit, the GRAMMY and NAMMY nominated Northern Cree, based out of Saddle Lake, Alberta. Wood is currently concentrating on his solo albums of round dance songs, a dance that gives men and women a chance to fall in love. Wood’s earlier album, “Round Dance the Night Away,” was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2002 and he has just released his follow-up, “Round Dance Blues,” on Canyon Records. Wood took time out of his holidays to talk with Indian Country Today about his music.
When asked where his inspiration for round dance songs came from, there was no hesitation in Wood’s answer. “My wife. When we first got together it was really difficult because her family really didn’t want her to be with me and vice versa. We saw each other for a few years; I followed her from pow wow to pow wow and she just kind of eloped with me. She’s my inspiration behind just about everything. The album started out as a tribute to her and it just took off.”
As opposed to the thunder of a pow wow drum, round dance music is soft, slow and gentle. Wood’s vocals are very tender on the album. “Some people watch too much TV and they have the wrong impression of us,” Wood laughed. “As Native people we’re very intimate. People ask me if I’m going to chant at the pow wow, well the way I was brought up, that’s how we express ourselves, especially to God; through song. I think that’s what makes us special as Native people. The intimacy that I’m trying to bring into this album is how we really are. The CD will give people a little taste of something like that.”
Wood talked about how he came into singing naturally, and how his famous group first came together. “My father would always get asked to sing and back then it wasn’t all about money, it was about a place to sleep and some food. It was about people who hadn’t seen each other in a long time getting together and visiting,” Wood said. “There were a lot of times where we would go to a pow wow and nobody would have any money. There was this gentleman, Dave, who would take his TV, his hockey equipment, or whatever, and go pawn it, and we would all pile into his van, sleep in tents, and it was just for the fun. The guys wouldn’t go drink or anything like that; they were there to sing and dance. My father was very traditional. He always said it was the highest honor if someone asked you to sing. Now, pow wows have become pretty commercialized.
“When Northern Cree started we went around and sang as a hobby, and it took off from there. We came from a family of singers, my father and uncles sang together, and my older brothers were in other groups, but the first time my brothers and I sang together was in Idaho. We were broke, trying to make gas money to get home. My brother and I went to the museum, we borrowed a drum, and we took it without looking at it. We were arguing in the car and I unwrapped the drum and it said, in really old and faded, flaking blue and white letters, ‘Northern Cree.’ Here we were on a Nez Perce Reservation, in a different country, three Cree boys who never sang together, from a family of singers, finding a Cree drum like that. It was like fate was saying ‘Here’s your name.’ There was a Northern Cree that originated from Saskatchewan, which is the heart of Cree country, back 30 or 40 years ago. I’m sure that’s where the drum originated. I imagine some singers came through, once again, short on funds, and they sold the drum, or the drum was pawned, for some gas to get home, and they never came back for it. Then here are some other Cree boys who picked it up and brought it back home.”
Wood talked about how a drum group is put together, which is based not only on talent but philosophy. “There are certain people you want to sing with you, and those are people who are very respectful, who believe the same way you do toward the drum and toward the other people sitting with you,” the singer said. “Some people don’t have that; they see the drum as just something to beat on. For example I went to a pow wow and one of my friends left his drum alone, and the way we’re taught, you never leave your drum alone, he (the drum) is just like singer, he does half the singing with you, you take care of him. Well my friend just left his drum there and it started pouring rain. He’ll always be my friend but I no longer sing with him. There are certain protocols that I feel and believe, as a singer, should be met. Some people’s mentalities are just a little different.”
Wood is keeping busy with his solo career and is planning to move back to Canada despite his heavy recording schedule. “I have been approached now by more famous people, one of them is Mr. Nakai,” Wood said, speaking of the iconic flutist and composer R. Carlos Nakai. “He wants me to do a piece with him. I’ve also done some bonus tracks for some pow wow groups, and I’m suppose to be doing two more albums before the end of January. I’m glad people enjoy the music because it makes me feel like my time wasn’t wasted. As far as people asking me to sing, that’s a real honor.”
For more information on Randy Wood and his music, visit www.canyonrecords.com.