Presents: Basic Folk with Mali Obomsawin
08/01/21 • 60 min
It's a Basic Folk feed drop! Subscribe to Basic Folk wherever you get podcasts, and visit them online at http://basicfolk.com/.
Mali Obomsawin is the mighty bassist/songwriter/singer from Lula Wiles, whose musical talents run tandem to her activist spirit. She really had no choice in the matter, seeing that her parents met through their advocacy for Abenaki and First Nations sovereignty battles. Mali’s dad is a member of the Odanak Abenaki Nation and her mom at the time they met, was following and supporting tribal land claim initiatives. Along with Lula Wiles, her solo career (which is a bit of a new venture for Mali) and her sideplayer gigs, Mali works with several racial and environmental justice organizations based in Wabanaki homelands, and is the founder and executive director of Bomazeen Land Trust. She is a crucial voice when it comes to speaking out for First Nation representation and justice in the roots music world and beyond. She is generous with her knowledge, but also as her Twitter profile reads: “pay me for educating you.” Which you can do! She has her PayPal linked right there.
Mali grew up in rural Maine among five siblings and was constantly surrounded by music in her family. Her dad is a musician and Mali was always the performer as a little kid, constantly trying to make people happy and laugh while being a goofball. She was also made aware of the cruel stereotypes and racism in the world at an early age through mainstream culture. As she became older, she gravitated towards the upright bass and talks in the pod about her jazz sensibilities and what drew her to the instrument. She talks about how she came to songwriting last, but has managed to successfully combine a very rad sweepy dream-like style while “punctur[ing] the dream-haze of our apocalyptic capitalist world.” On the new Lula Wiles album, Shame and Sedition, Mali’s songs really shine through with highlights being “Everybody, (Connected)” “Do You Really Want The World to End” and “In Dreams.” I look forward to more conversations with Mali, hopefully about a solo record... No pressure, Mali 🙂
Watch Lula Wiles video "In Dreams" https://youtu.be/36kTavQ2Glk
Visit their website: https://www.lulawiles.com/
It's a Basic Folk feed drop! Subscribe to Basic Folk wherever you get podcasts, and visit them online at http://basicfolk.com/.
Mali Obomsawin is the mighty bassist/songwriter/singer from Lula Wiles, whose musical talents run tandem to her activist spirit. She really had no choice in the matter, seeing that her parents met through their advocacy for Abenaki and First Nations sovereignty battles. Mali’s dad is a member of the Odanak Abenaki Nation and her mom at the time they met, was following and supporting tribal land claim initiatives. Along with Lula Wiles, her solo career (which is a bit of a new venture for Mali) and her sideplayer gigs, Mali works with several racial and environmental justice organizations based in Wabanaki homelands, and is the founder and executive director of Bomazeen Land Trust. She is a crucial voice when it comes to speaking out for First Nation representation and justice in the roots music world and beyond. She is generous with her knowledge, but also as her Twitter profile reads: “pay me for educating you.” Which you can do! She has her PayPal linked right there.
Mali grew up in rural Maine among five siblings and was constantly surrounded by music in her family. Her dad is a musician and Mali was always the performer as a little kid, constantly trying to make people happy and laugh while being a goofball. She was also made aware of the cruel stereotypes and racism in the world at an early age through mainstream culture. As she became older, she gravitated towards the upright bass and talks in the pod about her jazz sensibilities and what drew her to the instrument. She talks about how she came to songwriting last, but has managed to successfully combine a very rad sweepy dream-like style while “punctur[ing] the dream-haze of our apocalyptic capitalist world.” On the new Lula Wiles album, Shame and Sedition, Mali’s songs really shine through with highlights being “Everybody, (Connected)” “Do You Really Want The World to End” and “In Dreams.” I look forward to more conversations with Mali, hopefully about a solo record... No pressure, Mali 🙂
Watch Lula Wiles video "In Dreams" https://youtu.be/36kTavQ2Glk
Visit their website: https://www.lulawiles.com/
Previous Episode
Episode 257: Em Hammond (Old Time Banjo, Bass, and Flatfooting)
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends. This week’s friend is Em Hammond (with special guest musician Rachel Eddy!). We recorded this in their home in the DC area a few weeks ago.
Tunes and songs in this episode:
- Kansas City Reel (1:37)
- Newt Payne’s Tune (13:18)
- If I Needed You (34:28)
- My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It (46:50)
- Billy in the Lowground (55:22)
- Bonus track: Grey Eagle
Buy the Old Time Sweethearts albums! http://dittyville.com/store/new-old-time-sweethearts-2-cd-bundle-pre-order/
Support Get Up in the Cool on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/getupinthecool
Buy Get Up in the Cool merch like t-shirts, phone cases, and masks! https://teespring.com/new-get-up-in-the-cool-swag
Sign up at https://www.pitchforkbanjo.com/ for my clawhammer instructional series!
Check out Cameron’s other podcast, Think Outside the Box Set: https://boxset.fireside.fm/
Subscribe to the Basic Folk podcast! https://cindyhowes.net/basicfolk/
Next Episode
Episode 258: Bach Bui and Alex Kramer (G Tunes in F, Treyf Old Time, and Armchair Epidemiology)
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends. This week’s friends are Bach Bui and Alex Kramer. We recorded this at the Harry Smith Frolic in Greenfield, Massachusetts a few weeks ago.
Tunes and songs in this episode:
- Blue Goose (in F) (1:36)
- Old Yeller Dog Went Trotting Through the Meetinghouse (in F) (15:06)
- Ghost Woman Blues (33:53)
- High Up on Tug (in F) (46:54)
- Marion Reece’s Cumberland Gap (in F) (57:02)
- Bonus track: Marcus Martin’s Boatsman (in F)
Buy Christmas a la Mode: https://whistleandscat.bandcamp.com/releases
Buy 5 Mile Stringband’s album: https://5milestringband.bandcamp.com/
Contact Alex at his website to hire him for your square dance: http://alexkramerbanjo.com/
See McKain Lakey and Cameron DeWhitt perform in Portland: https://www.facebook.com/events/810708219585098
And Olympia (with Alex Sturbaum): https://www.facebook.com/events/618531206201881/
Support Get Up in the Cool on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/getupinthecool
Buy Get Up in the Cool merch like t-shirts, phone cases, and masks! https://teespring.com/new-get-up-in-the-cool-swag
Sign up at https://www.pitchforkbanjo.com/ for my clawhammer instructional series!
Check out Cameron’s other podcast, Think Outside the Box Set: https://boxset.fireside.fm/
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