Stage of Nations Blue Rain Ecofest Schedule of Events

(5:30 to 6:30 p.m.)

These singers and dancers bring the traditions of their ancestors to life. Dances vary according to different activities, resulting in the standing quiver dance, moccasin dance, pigeon dance, ferrying (fishing and canoe) dance and the shake the bush dance, among others. The troupe arrives in full colorful and vibrant dress, and will perform several times throughout the weekend.

Morris and the Hepcats

(6:45 to 8:15 p.m.)

This three-piece rockabilly band can best be described as a rockin’ good time. Guitarist and vocalist Morris Tarbell has traveled along the East Coast from Montreal to Key West, Fla., and east to west between Bangalore, India, and San Antonio, Texas. Throughout his journeys, he’s had the opportunity to play President George W. Bush’s Inaugural Ball in 2005, at the Native American Smithsonian Institute, at the Native American Music Awards (Nammys), and the 1999 Woodstock Festival. Tarbell has shared stages with musical legends including the Beach Boys, D  iamond Rio, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy.

After years of playing sideman, Tarbelll got together with singer and drummer Rock Carbone and electric guitar and upright bass player, Bob Sherwood, to form Morris and the Hepcats, delivering a combination of rockabilly, blues, surf and original material.

Corn-Bred 

(8:30 to 10 p.m.)

This Native blues band got their start in the late 1990s and can still reel in die-hard fans wherever they play. They have shared the stage with national recording artists such as the Beach Boys, Diamond Rio, Jana, Martha Redbone and Los Lobos.

Jerome Lazore has had a passion for music since he first started playing guitar as a teenager. Although he had to set his dream aside to support his family, he held on to his aspirations of being a musician. Having paid his dues for 30 years as an iron worker, he retired and picked up his hobby of playing once again. In 1999, joined by Howdy Edwards, the two formed the band Corn-Bred. John “J.B.” Buck was recruited to play bass guitar, Rick Edwards to play Harmonica and Lenny Printup to play drums.

Word spread like wildfire about Corn-Bred, quickly growing a large Native American fan base. The Edwards brothers left the band and were replaced by Morris Tarbell from the Mohawk Nation and Curtis Waterman of the Onondaga Nation. Corn-Bred has released four albums to date, their latest being, Rez-Bomb (independent), released in 2011. 

Saturday, July 28

Alfie Jacques

(12:30 to 1 p.m.)

Onondaga Alfie Jacques demonstrates how he makes lacrosse sticks, the old-fashioned way, by hand and out of wood.

Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers

(1, 3:45 and 6:45 p.m.)

Los Blancos

(2:15 to 3:30 p.m.)

Los Blancos is a crew of kindred spirits brought together in back-porch harmony by their shared passion for music. This ever-evolving band delivers a smooth blues sound with moments of Latin jazz, soul, rhythm and some New Orleans flavor.

Los Blancos has won several Syracuse New Times Best of Syracuse awards and is a multiple Syracuse Area Music Award (Sammy) winner. Lead singer and guitarist Colin Aberdeen brings an original blues sound through his honest voice and heartfelt guitar work. Mark Nanni is an unmatchable asset to the band, sharing his talents on keyboard and accordion. Backed by the undeniably tight, steady and funky rhythm section of Mark Tiffault on drums and Steven T. Winston on bass, the combined experiences and taste round out Los Blancos’ signature danceable sound.

Los Blancos has released eight albums to date. And after more than a decade of live performances and miles on the road, the band continues to deliver their same infectious energy at every one of their many shows. 

The Fabulous Ripcords

(5 to 6:30 p.m.)

What began as a project of exploration by guitarist and vocalist Rex Lyons through some of his favorite music of roots, rockabilly, country, blues and swing has evolved into the Fabulous Ripcords.

The band started when Lyons got together with fellow musicians from the renowned Central New York roots band, The Roustabouts. Dugan Henhawk, the frontman, was a longtime friend of Lyons from their days of jamming in the punk band Whiteboy and the Wagon Burners. They eventually brought in Rex Lyons’ cousin Irv Lyons on guitar and vocals, Phil Regan on the drums, Jay Gould on bass, and Scott Ebner on keyboard. Each member is a veteran of the local music scene and their combined experience and expertise have made the Fabulous Ripcords the local juggernaut they are today.

Over the years, the band has opened for and performed alongside musical talents like Santana, Steve Miller, Blues Traveler, Ry Cooder, Rick Derringer, Phish, John Lee Hooker, Edgar Winter, Leon Russell, Kim Simmonds, Terrance Simien, Gene Taylor, Bill Kirchen and Chip Taylor. 

In 2009 the band won a Sammy for Best Americana CD, and they released their latest album, Voodoo Girl (independent) earlier this year.

Oren Lyons Introduces the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team 

(5:45 to 6:30 p.m.)

Jana

(7:45 to 9 p.m.)

See story, page 24.

Joanne Shenandoah

(9:15 to 10:30 p.m.)

Joanne Shenandoah is a critically acclaimed musician who has traveled the world promoting her message of universal peace. In addition to winning a Grammy for Best Native American Music Album in 2006, Shenandoah has won 40 music awards, including a record-breaking 13 Nammys. Her ancestrally inspired music comes from her roots as a Wolf Clan member of the Haudenosaunee. 

Shenandoah has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, three presidential inaugurations, Madison Square Garden, Crystal Bridges Museum, the NMAI-Smithsonian, the Ordway Theater, Hummingbird Centre, Toronto Skydome, the Parliament of the World’s Religions (Africa, Spain and Australia) and Woodstock 1994.

Over the years, Shenandoah has combined the rhythms of pop, classical and folk blended with her own Native American style. She has collaborated and performed with Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, Brian Kirkpatrick, Willie Nelson and Rita Coolidge. In addition, her music has been featured on a number of soundtracks for television shows.

Her experiences go beyond those of a musician, having acted in The Last Winter, a thriller about global warming that received a five-star review at the Toronto Film Festival in 2006, as well as a number of documentaries and films as both actor and narrator. Shenandoah has also delivered hundreds of inspirational speeches and participated in workshops around the world.

Shenandoah’s latest recording Life Givers (independent) is a tribute to the different cycles in life and the passages of women from the moment they are born, as they mature and then die.