Collaboration - Raymond Two Hawks Watson

Thursday, August 04, 2022

Raymond Two Hawks Watson, MINDSETTER™

 

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Raymond Two Hawks Watson PHOTO: file

This past Saturday, I was excited to perform with the Eastern Medicine Singers at the Providence Fringe Festival in my hometown of Providence. I’m usually a bit nervous when I perform with EMS, simply because it’s a live performance and I’m always concerned this will be the time when I mess something up majorly. However, this Saturday, I was excited . . . and for good cause. Saturday was my first official performance of material from “Medicine Singers,” a collaborative project curated by Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson and Yonatan Gat. The project has received strong reviews, and I was quite humbled and excited when Black Eagle informed me that Medicine Singers had been invited to perform at the Providence Fringe Festival.

The Medicine Singers project is the direct result of an impromptu collaborative performance between EMS and Yonatan Gat at an event hosted by the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative in Austin, Texas during the 2017 SXSW music festival. In PCEI’s assessment of Rhode Island’s tourism sector, the challenge was not in identifying quality Rhode Island-based resources to attract tourists. Rather, the challenge was the ineffective strategy generally employed by Rhode Island, which sought to engage potential visitors—most with no previous relationship with Rhode Island—to spend their hard-earned dollars visiting a State whose prevailing claim to fame was that it was either near the ocean or, even more compelling, that it was both “warmer and cooler”. PCEI just didn’t think this was the most effective strategy for attracting new tourists to the State.

Contrarily, PCEI’s premise was that if more awareness was raised about Rhode Island’s unique cultural resources and attractions, more people would naturally want to come to Rhode Island; Rhode Island was just that great of a place already. Further, PCEI believed that Rhode Island’s artists and musicians would serve as the most effective “ambassadors” for the State given the world’s love of good music; and PCEI was bold enough to assert to the world that Rhode Island’s artists and musicians knew a lot about creating good music. In this context, PCEI determined “What better venue to test-market our theory than during SXSW, one of the world’s most renowned music festivals?” and in March 2017, PCEI hosted ATXxPVD in Austin, Texas, which was positioned as an unofficial event occurring during SXSW. In hindsight, it was the best decision PCEI could have made.

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Curated by Providence’s own Donald W. King, ATXxPVD intended to introduce Rhode Island artists and musicians to an international audience and simultaneously facilitate opportunities for ongoing collaboration between Rhode Island artists and musicians and the other artists and musicians performing at the event. I’m sure that those reading this commentary who were privileged enough to enjoy Providence’s Black Rep era can imagine how truly genre-defying of an experience ATXxPVD was. Rock, Blues, Funk, Rap, Afro-beats, Latin Jazz, tradional drumming . . . you name it, it was there. Performances were coordinated on three separate stages over a 12-hour period at one of Austin’s premier live-performance venues: Spider House Café. Performers hailed from Rhode Island, Austin, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Detroit. As the event progressed, I was struck by how seamlessly the quality of the Rhode Island performances melded with those of artists from other parts of the nation. Further, I was actively fielding questions from artists and attendees about upcoming events and festivals in Rhode Island that they should consider performing at or attending, which provided space for PCEI to actively promote the upcoming PVD Fest. ATXxPVD was Donald King at his finest, and the event confirmed that PCEI had identified a viable strategy for Rhode Island to engage more tourists.

While scheduled performances were taking place within the venue, EMS did the artistic thing and began drumming in the outdoor seating area. Our drumming caught the attention of Yonatan Gat, an internationally renowned guitarist who was scheduled to perform at ATXxPVD later that evening. Yonatan was intrigued by EMS’ music and expressed to Don his interest in collaborating with EMS. Don suggested that EMS consider Yonatan’s offer, but I was initially opposed to the idea. EMS took our music very seriously, and we weren’t willing to do anything that could potentially embarrass the drum or our culture. Don acknowledged my concerns, but reasserted that he thought the collaboration was something EMS should consider. Reluctantly, I deferred to Don’s vision, and made the suggestion to Black Eagle. Black Eagle gave me a definitive “No.” for the same reasons I was initially hesitant. I went back to Don and told him it was a no, but that EMS appreciated the offer. Don respectfully acknowledged Black Eagle’s decision but made one last suggestion that EMS should reconsider. Don’s exact words were “Ok Chief. But I think it would be a really good look for the Drum.” Don persistence won the day. I respected Don, I knew Don respected our culture, I knew Don understood EMS’ concerns, and I knew Don was fully engaged in PCEI’s vision . . . so I decided to ask Black Eagle one more time. This time Black Eagle said yes, and in true EMS fashion we rocked the show.

After that impromptu collaboration in Austin, Yonatan started regularly driving up from NYC to Providence to collaborate with EMS. Yonatan then began inviting EMS to travel throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe with him to perform at festivals to share the music that we were collaboratively creating. While I was initially apprehensive about how the collaboration was being received, I was encouraged by the positive comments that the performances were receiving online. One of the most personally impactful comments was that the performance was “respectful.” I thought we might be on to something.

A growing number of comments were inquiries about where the next performance would take place. To my surprise, I discovered there was an unofficial international network of music lovers who traveled around the world following their favorite artists, and EMS and Yonatan Gat seemed to be a growing interest. After finding out that EMS would be collaborating with Yonatan Gat, a few of these individuals showed up for the 2018 PVD Fest. After our performance they came up and thanked us for the good music, reminded us where they had last seen us play, and inquired where our next performance would be; they wanted to plan their travel accordingly. I was shocked; because PCEI had created a platform to showcase Rhode Island artists internationally, international tourists had come to Providence specifically to see Rhode Island artists perform. This was proof positive that PCEI’s tourism engagement strategy was effective.

COVID hit like a ton of bricks. No in-person performances meant that artists and musicians began doing what artists and musicians do best; getting creative. Black Eagle and Yonatan began working on a collaborative project that would meld the traditional sounds of EMS with more contemporary musical expressions. Much of the recording was done at Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Machines with Magnets. After a few sessions, there was a general sense that we were onto something. Soon the project boasted contributions from trumpeter Jaimie Branch, Ikue Mori of DNA, Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica of the Swans, Ryan Olson, and Laraaji.

The project was officially released on July 1, 2022, on Stone Tapes/Joyful Noise and has been described as “[A]n album that will no doubt inspire the creation of new bands and artists, a collection of songs that record store employees will recommend to unsuspecting kids looking for something out of the mainstream, and who are ready to have their minds warped. This album has true spiritual power—like the unexplainable phenomenon of ball lightning, bubbling on the surface, never to be recreated.” (https://floodmagazine.com/112408/medicine-singers-medicine-singers/)

Raymond Two Hawks Watson is a civil rights leader in Rhode Island. He has an accomplished career in business. He is the founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. Watson holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Union College in NY, a Master's Degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island, and a graduate of the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson is also the recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Fellowship.


 

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