Log In


Reset Password
Arts and Entertainment

Nahko has cultured positivity

Nahko and Medicine for the People to help kick off Celefunktion

Here’s a band on its way up.

Nahko Bear, a native of Portland, Oregon, and leader of Medicine for the People, moved to the Big Island in Hawaii nine years ago with an identity crisis and a curiosity about where he came from. He acquired an organic farm, which is where he now lives, and now the band he and his friends formed in Hilo is touring the world performing their brand of acoustic/folk/world music.

It’s uplifting, danceable and teaching.

Nahko is a storyteller. Take “So Thankful,” for example. He talks about his family and where he comes from. He sings, “I never thought I’d give thanks for rape, but that’s how I got here today. Oh, so thankful.”

His grandmother forced his birth mother into prostitution when she was 14, and eventually Nahko, whose heritage is a mix of Apache, Filipino and Puerto Rican, and whose full name, Nahkohe-ese Bear, means “Little Bear” in the Cheyenne language, was born.

He was adopted when he was 9 months old by a white, Christian family who taught him about music and enrolled him in classical piano lessons.

Nahko, 29, spent many years not knowing his birth parents. Eventually, after moving to Hawaii, he found his birth mother and siblings and discovered his birth father had been murdered in 1994. Nahko even met his birth father’s killer in prison.

That experience, his website says, compelled him to truly consider the idea of forgiveness – a looming message you’ll find in his music, along with compassion. In 2013, a writer from The Huffington Post compared him to Bob Marley.

“I would never see myself playing that,” Nahko said during a phone interview Sunday while traveling with his band from Steamboat Springs to Aspen. “I think it’s very kind of him to say that. I think I know what he means when he says that. There’s a grounding and a depth of love and appreciation of culture and justice and a need for story for our time and what’s goin’ on. I thought it was funny when he said it.”

After playing shows in Southern California and Phoenix, Nahko and MFTP are on their first real tour of Colorado. They’ll be in Durango at Animas City Theatre on Wednesday night after playing at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride.

“I’m super impressed and super inspired by the fact that we haven’t really ever toured Colorado. Great towns, awesome people. We really couldn’t ask for a better turnout,” he said.

This past weekend, they sold out the Ogden Theatre in Denver and the Fox Theatre in Boulder.

And in two weeks, they’ll tour Europe for the first time with the well-established California reggae band, Groundation. And, MFTP just played in Australia and Hawaii, where they are regulars.

Nahko and MFTP seem to have a knack for connecting people with deep lyrics and uplifting beats.

Do a search on Twitter, and you’ll find people expressing their thoughts within the last week. “Nahko & medicine for the people make the rainy days a little less gloomy,” one girl Tweeted. Another person Tweeted, “Nahko & medicine for the people cure souls world wide with their lyrics.”

Nahko attributes their success to being open to the fans and connecting with them on a human level.

“There’s an honest, raw message. I think people really are looking for music like that,” he said. “I think at our live shows, people, when they come to see us, it’s like there’s an honest explosion of love. We share ourselves so openly that it’s contagious.”

One of his lyrics from the song “Black as Night” sings, “I believe in the good things coming.” This could be the band’s motto.

“I think they’re (good things) different for everybody. How people receive music, there’s not one way. That was really frustrating at first, when I was getting started. Now that I’ve realized, you know, the point of it in some way is to create it on your own. It’s a broad mantra to remember that we are existing on this planet at this time, and there’s always better things to happen, in which case is a good word to those who are struggling and can look at it and say, ‘You’re right. I’m ready. Let’s go. Let’s do it,’” he said.

Nahko and MFTP have released two full-length albums, the first in 2010. They’re not stopping anytime soon. Nahko says they have more songs in the works.

“I hope we continue learning new formats of having ceremony with our audience and to continue to empower and strengthen communities and water the seeds that we’ve planted. We’ll watch people grow, and at the same time, we’ll grow with them. It’s ever-changing, which is good. It’s where it’s at,” Nahko said.

mhayden@durangoherald.com

Celefunktion 2015

Celefunktion 2015 begins Wednesday and runs through Saturday. Get tickets at Southwest Sound or www.animascitytheatre.com. They cost $8-50, depending on the show. VIP passes (21 and older only): Three nights (Thursday-Saturday) is $50, daily is $20.

Wednesday

Nahko and Medicine for the People, with openers John Wayne and the Pain, Animas City Theatre, 9 p.m., doors open at 8 p.m., $25

Juno What?!, Balcony Backstage, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., doors open at 9 p.m., $10

Ace Revel, at Eno, 6 to 8 p.m.

Thursday

Euforquestra, Animas City Theatre, 9 p.m., doors open at 8 p.m., $10

Elder Grown, Balcony Backstage, 10 p.m., doors open at 9 p.m., $10

Benjamin K, Moe’s, 6 p.m.

Sky Pilot, El Rancho, 10 p.m.

Friday

Euforquestra, Animas City Theatre, 9 p.m., doors open at 8 p.m.

The Main Squeeze, Backstage Balcony, 10 p.m., doors open at 9 p.m., $10

DJ CK & Baby Bel, Moe’s, 10 p.m.

Diabolical Sound Platoon, El Rancho, 10 p.m.

Andreas Kapsalis, BREW Pub & Kitchen, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Fort Knox Five, Benjamin K, 9 p.m., doors open at 8 p.m., $15

Jaden Carlson Band, Balcony Backstage, 10 p.m., doors open at 9 p.m., $8

Juicy Money, Moe’s, 10 p.m.

Lawn Chair Kings, El Rancho, 10 p.m.

Magi Nation, Moe’s, 6 p.m.

Andreas Kapsalis, El Rancho, 12:30 p.m.



Reader Comments