Talented Mighty Mohawks do good ole' country

Fiddles, steel guitars produce sound reminiscent of barn dances

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REVIEW

The Mighty Mohawks, Various Artists.

Independent, 1995

In the early 1960s, four musicians from Kahnawake, sporting Mohawk haircuts and string ties, hit the road with a repertoire of original country songs and cover versions of standard hits of the day. They enjoyed a measure of success playing the local bars and dance halls, performed for the opening 10 days of Expo '67 in Montreal and released one album simply titled The Mighty Mohawks. Although the songs were short (1:25 to 2:40), it was the right length for a song to be 'radio friendly', especially for deejays to quickly sample original material that fit snugly into the genre.

Slim Martin , (whose son Don Patrick released a CD in Canada and Europe in 1991: So...This is America), Allan Stacey, Wally Moon and George Hill performed original songs in the Mohawk language: Caughnawaga, Indian Song and Half and Half alongside The Fugitive and Carrol Country Accident.

Two years ago a souvenir cassette of the original album, The Mighty Mohawks: Kahnawake/Restigouche Great Country Music Stars was independently re-released. George Hill has since assembled some of the finer C&W talent from his home territory on a new CD, The Mighty Mohawks: Indian/Western Showband. George Hill Sings Again With His Friends (featuring Donna Jacobs).

In the spirit of Hank Williams, MicMac singer Ronnie Martin kicks off the album with a mighty fine performance of his very danceable original, Shady Lovin' and makes a second appearance on the collection with a cover of Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn's Lovin' on Backstreets. Originally from Restigouche, New Brunswick, he is a singer/bass player and band leader of Manitou, based in Montreal. Sid Menard and Fugitives, who regularly tour Canada and the U.S., offer their rendition of George Jones' What I'm Worth and Dallas Frazier's I Can't Get There From Here. All of the musicians and singers on the collection show that they are very capable performers who play in a musical field that is often seen as not very challenging, but this collection shows otherwise and with a great amount of ease.

It's been a long time since fiddles and steel guitars have graced country performances in the spirit of the old Saturday night barn dances. It's the type of playing that avoids any new-fangled country-rock-Hollywood-bourgeois sound that is called New Country. Nope, not this one, it's back to the basics, straight ahead, good ole' country music played by some mighty talented folks.

Featured newcomer Donna Jacobs gives a gutsy powerhouse performance with

a vocal flexibility and range that promises to offer more in the coming years. Her talents shines in her covers of Walking After Midnight and Sweet Dreams, two songs made famous by the late great Patsy Cline. Jacobs is also a successful radio, television and recording artist who represented the Mohawk Nation as a story-teller and singer at the 1994 Charlottetown Festival in a multicultural production called Spirit of a Nation.

Gary Rice and his band, the Country Rebels, perform Sanger and Shafer's Ride Me Down Easy. Rice has opened for many country & western stars including Kitty Wells and Steve Earl.

Bobby T., a 20-year veteran of the Montreal music scene, sings his original You Can Take The Blame, a la Dave Dudley.

The studio band that appears on all tracks includes Leo Diabo, who plays lead guitar and also provides the lead vocals for the Mohawk Song, which is sung in that language. Bob Donaldson is not only a drummer but is also known as a composer and arranger in his own right. Donaldson has toured the country with a number of recording stars, some of whom were showcased at last year's Canadian Country Music Awards in Calgary. Ricky Lefebvre on lead guitar also has his own band called Country Dynasty.

Guy Gagne is a self-described as a third-generation fiddle player who provides some outstanding work on this project.

The colletion ends with an old powwow favorite which has been sung by many drum groups and contemporary musicians alike, including the late Jim Pepper, a Kaw Indian who became widely known for his saxophone playing in the jazz world. The Forty-Nine or The Newly-Weds song, as it is sometimes called, is performed by Joe running Deer (Awen-Ra-Ton) who has also worked in television and movies.

The CD was recorded and mixed at Beachroad Recording Studio, Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory, by Daniel Kirby and Sid Menard with special thanks to Ricky Lefebvre. The Mighty Mohawks is being distributed by Owera International: Box 333, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Que. JOL 1B0. 514-638-3584. Fax 635-8693.

While we're still on the subject of Mohawks and country & western music, an emerging performer from Six Nations Mohawk Territory, which is located near Brantford, Ont. is Elizabeth Hill. She provided some of her talents as a story-teller and singer on the Legends CD (First Nations Music).

Her album When The Spirit Moves Me is her first independent release on her own Music Masters label. After working in the Nashville scene for a number of years, she took the giant step in putting her talents and feelings to tape and the results deserve to be heard.

The 10-track CD was recorded at Best Built Studios, Country Q Studios and Top O The Hill in Nashville. For more information contact Music Masters, R. R. #6, Hagersville, Ont. N0A 1H0.