Indian Summer Festival will once again be wrapping up the annual season of ethnic festivals at Milwaukee’s lakefront from Sept. 11-13. Amid the vividly colorful native dress, communal and sacred dancing, hearty eating and even a party for the Green Bay Packers’ season-opening game, another element celebrating indigenous North American tribal cultures comprising Indian Summer’s mandate is music.
What this year’s lineup may lack in headlining attractions widely known outside Native American subculture, it makes up for in variety. The most ubiquitous act to be heard at Henry W. Maier Festival Park over the weekend will certainly be The Indian Summer All Star Band. Playing at most every stage on the grounds, the All Stars are led by Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee native Richie Pless. In addition to his work in stand-up comedy, economic development, history, lecturing and other disciplines, Pless’ qualifications for bandleader come from more than 30 years drumming with country group The Wolf River Band.
The most prominent gig the All Star Band may have over the weekend will likely be accompaniment for the 12th annual Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA). Proprietary to its namesake festival, these awards differ from their main competitor, the Native American Music Awards (or Nammys, last hosted at Indian Summer in 2002), by a couple of facets. Unlike the Nammys’ policy of accepting fan votes, an ISMA trophy comes from a smaller panel of judges who debate the merits of nominees in categories ranging from rock, country and blues to pop, classical and folk; sadly, insufficient numbers of hip-hop and spoken-word recordings were made by American Indians to award any ISMA hardware for those genres. The other characteristic distinguishing the ISMAs from the Nammys is the former being less reliant on, for lack of a better term, crossovers. So, you may not see members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Village People, A Taste of Honey and Lynyrd Skynyrd possessed of indigenous blood. You will, however, get a dose of the hardest core of musical creativity. The ceremony, for which there is no extra fee, starts at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 on the Miller Stage.
One award doled out by Indian Summer Music Awards and Nammys alike is for native flute music. Up to 25 Indian Summer attendees with $50 to spare, fest admission included, can receive instruction in playing the native woodwind and its history from flute expert and maker Tommy Lee (no relation to the Mötley Crüe member) at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Better still, the fee also includes an instrument made by the craftsman himself. Further details, among them whether any spots in the workshop are left, may be had at Indian Summer’s website.
Perhaps at the other side of the event’s inclusiveness, closer to the allowance made for the Packers’ fête, is the presence of an Elvis Presley impersonator. The late rock ’n’ roll king’s partially Mediterranean background corresponds as well as any ethnic makeup to an indigenous North American iteration of his persona, which is just what Joseph Hall offers. The mainstay of the Clay Cooper Theatre in Branson, Mo., looks to perform an especially impressive representation of Presley’s lean-and-mean pre-Army era, but dons a swanky white jumpsuit to invoke the legend’s later years as well. Just how well Hall pulls it all off may be seen Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m. on the Miller Stage.
From closer-by environs, Big N Tasty (4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13) proffer blues as only a band hailing from the Oneida reservation near Green Bay can. From the same northeastern Wisconsin area comes Southern boogie rockers Big Snake. Closer by and still with a redolence of blues are The Jamie Kelli Band (9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11), the Grafton ensemble led by its namesake singer who has graced Brewers games with “The Star Spangled Banner.” As lead vocalist, his previous bands include Hounds Tooth and Nammy-winning October Soul.
Nashville’s Michael Jacobs offers a folk rock/Americana hybrid rife with subtle and overt references to native folklore and spirituality in socially conscious song craft. His opening sets each day of the fest on the Miller Stage should be festival highlights.
Indian Summer runs Sept. 11-13 at the Summerfest grounds.
