A couple of months ago, we had the pleasure of recording, mixing, and mastering a new CD for Birdtown Crossing called Singing to the Sky. Birdtown Crossing is a pow-wow group out of Cherokee, NC, lead by John Toineeta, aka “Jon Jon Grant.” John has been a friend of ours for several years, and is an accomplished storyteller, musician, and supporter of the Cherokee language. The singers of Birdtown Crossing are member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.    Recording a pow-wow group is especially challenging because, traditionally, the singers are not amplified over the beating drums. We were excited that we were able to record the group in the Wolfetown Gymnasium on the Qualla Boundary.  [photo by Stereospread]   Many Ashevillians are somewhat familiar with the knowledge that there is an Indian reservation nearby. Various billboards across the region advertise that “Asheville borders another country,” enticing would-be tourists to come and see what Cherokee has to offer. There is much more to Cherokee than meets the eye. Casino revenues have spawned a widespread cultural revitalization, and visitors who want to learn more about the Cherokee people can visit the museum, the Unto These Hills drama, the Oconaluftee village, and more. Aside from these tourist options, the town itself has invested money and creative design into revamping Cherokee to appear more ‘traditionally Cherokee’ and less like a stereotypical “cowboys and Indians” tourist trap. The stereotypes are based on Plains Indian (e.g., Apache, Comanche, Lakota, Crow, etc.) cultural tropes.    With this in mind, it could be easy to dismiss Birdtown Crossing as un-Cherokee on the surface, as pow-wow music evolved from the dances of the Plains tribes. However, pow-wow groups show regional and individual styles just like any other genre of music. In singing style, northern style is distinguished from the southern style in its use of the male falsetto voice. Birdtown Crossing is known to practice the northern style of singing, which is why fans of the group will understand the cheekiness of the first track on the CD, affectionately called “Oklahoma Love,” that stays in the southern, lower-voice singing style until it “crashes” back into the second track where the group returns to their typical singing style. Pow-wow songs can have songs with words or songs without words, where singers use “vocables” instead, or a combination of the two. Singing to the Sky is predominately vocable driven, but songs such as “The Mound” and “Gvgeyu” are significant in their use of the Cherokee language. “The Mound” refers to Kituwah, the mother town of the Cherokee people that was recently returned to the possession of the Eastern Band. “Gvgeyu” means “I love you” in Cherokee, and this lovely Round Dance tells the story of a young man who asks his beloved, “how many horses does your daddy want for your hand? However many, I will get them for you.”    When listening to a pow-wow album, one must keep in mind that these songs are functional; they are intended to be danced to. Many pow-wow dancers will listen to pow-wow albums to practice before competing at pow-wows. They will learn the songs of the groups who will be performing so that they can respond to the songs in their dances.    While the pow-wow has never been a central aspect of Cherokee culture, Cherokees who perform pow-wow songs and dances bring their own language and culture to the genre. [photo by Stereospread]   The pow-wow circuit has helped Cherokee people connect with native peoples around the U.S.A. and the world. Pow-wow is now an international genre! Birdtown Crossing is planning to perform at an event in Hawaii next year. Please consider purchasing Singing to the Sky to help them get there! You can purchase the CD on iTunes, or contact us at stereospreadband@gmail.com if you would like to obtain a physical copy.