A Pow Wow, A Promise Of Collective Future: Jeremy Dutcher Shares A Resistance Song For All Voices
Listen To Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok
Motewolonuwok Out This Friday On Secret City Records
ON TOUR ACROSS CANADA THIS FALL
Today, Jeremy Dutcher — the classically trained Two-Spirit song carrier, composer, activist, and member of Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in Eastern Canada – shares the final single before his sophomore album is released into the world this Friday. Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok translates to “people are rising” and is a “resistance song for all voices.”
Jeremy shares the inspiration behind the piece: “Inspired by a traditional Wolastoq melody that is expanded on, this song was supposed to be on my first record, but I could never find a way to make the chorus right. I wanted to write a song that flowed between Wolastoqey language and English, in hopes of calling as many to the table as possible to witness the rising.”
The video accompianment for the release — directed by tranquilo and Jeremy Dutcher — was filmed during the Tobique Neqotkuk Annual Pow Wow. It is “in support, collaboration, and celebration with the Wabanaki Communities,” say tranquilo. “Gathered on 16mm film and in bright bloom; the promise of collective futures, the Wolastoqey language, the Two-Spirit space. Land Back. It has been an honour to be among your communities’ heartbeat.” It's a glorious, moving capture of identity and culture.
Watch the Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok video HERE.
Jeremy Dutcher has been crowned in the UK as the MOJO Rising Artist in the September issue and the magazine gave the record ★★★★, stating “there is real weight behind these songs, and Motewolonuwok carries it with sombre grace.” Rolling Stone France also shares the ★★★★ status calling the album “a total and captivating success” while Télérama adds “richly orchestrated, his intimate ballads unfold an intense dramaturgy to transcend the pain of oppression and express the soothing beauty of resilience.” Jeremy was recording sessions recently in New York with WNYC “New Sounds” and in Paris for RFI radio.
Pre-order/Presave the album Motewolonuwok HERE.
Dutcher originally vaulted himself into the upper echelons of Canadian performance with his 2018 debut, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. Since winning the Polaris and JUNO Prizes, performing for NPR Tiny Desk, and collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Buffy St. Marie and Beverly Glenn Copeland, Dutcher returns with Motewolonuwok, a moving and radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it, presenting his most expansive work yet. The new album also marks Dutcher’s first time writing and singing in English. A powerful invitation for collective healing and understanding, “Shared tongue is a beautiful gift, with a complicated reason,” Dutcher explains. These new English songs are also a way of singing directly to the newcomer, or settler, in their own language — a direct line of communication that seeks to platform his community’s stories of healing, resilience, and emergence to all that may hear.
Early Praises for Motewolonuwok
★★★★ – MOJO
★★★★ – Rolling Stone France
“”Ancestors Too Young” is an urgent rocker, sung from the perspective of a parent devastated by the loss of a daughter. Amid guitar squalls and jittery brushes on the drum kit, tastefully arranged strings by Owen Pallett offer touches of solemnity.” – NPR Music
“[Ancestors Too Young] is a powerful new prism through which the composer shines his light. His plaintive vibrato still reflects his opera training as he sings, […] but his howl eventually rises to a rock-inspired crescendo […]. It's an exciting new direction for the composer's upcoming sophomore album, Motewolonuwok, mixing art rock influences with orchestral swells and a jazz rhythm section.” – Exclaim!’s Staff Picks
“The song [Skicinuwihkuk] is tender and lyrical, but also takes flight on a wave of orchestral sound that amplifies the song’s emotional content” – WNYC “New Sounds”
‘“Skicinuwihkuk” is a moving piece” – CBC Music
Jeremy Dutcher Tour Dates:
October 19 - wei wai kum - Campbell River, BC - Tidemark Theater
October 20 - lək̓ʷəŋən - Victoria, BC - McPherson Playhouse
October 21 - xʷməθkʷəy̓əm-Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-səlilwətaɬ - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
October 23 - moh’kinsstis - Calgary, AB - Bella Concert Hall
October 24 - amiskwaciwâskahikan - Edmonton, AB - Winspear
October 26 - misâskwatômina - Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place
October 27 - oskana ka-asastēki - Regina, SK - University of Regina Theatre
October 28 - wînipêk - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
November 8 - odàwàg - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre
November 9 - tiohtià:ke - Montreal, QC - Beanfield Theatre (Corona) - SOLD OUT
November 11 - kepek - Quebec City, QC - Grand Théâtre de Québec
November 14 - wasokusegwom - Glace Bay, NS - Savoy Theatre
November 15 - epekwitk - Charlottetown, PE - Confederation Centre
November 17 - eqpahak - Fredericton, NB - Playhouse – SOLD OUT
November 18 - menahkwesk - St. John, NB - Imperial Theatre
November 19 - petkoatkwee'ak - Moncton, MB - Capitol Theatre
November 22 - kjipuktuk - Halifax, NS - St. Matthews – SOLD OUT
November 23 - mtaban - Wolfville, NS - Festival Theatre at Acadia
November 24 - kespukwik - Annapolis Royal, NS - Kings Theatre
November 26 - ktaqmkuk - St. John’s, NL - St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre
December 7 - haudenosaunee-anishinabewaki - St. Catherine’s, ON – First Ontario Performing Arts Centre
December 9 - tkaronto - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
March 16/2024 – Princeton, NJ – McCarter Theatre Center