Music - February 2011
Native Contemporary / Folk
Indian Souvenir
Indigie Femme
www.cdbaby.com/cd/IndigieFemme1
Play "Sing Your Song"
from Indian Souvenier
Story by Emily Drabanski
Two women with indigenous roots, born in two different hemispheres, are the creative forces of Indigie Femme. Tash Terry was raised on the Navajo Nation (Dinetah) in Arizona, while Elena Higgins was born in New Zealand, of Maori and Samoan heritage. The Santa Fe–based duo weave their powerful voices into an intricate musical tapestry on their sophomore CD, Indian Souvenir.
Indigie Femme’s music is reminiscent of the poetic lyrics of the Indigo Girls delivered with the vocal passion of Ani DiFranco. Higgins’s deep, earthy voice hits incredibly low notes (think Odetta), perfectly complemented by Terry’s slightly higher range as the two trade lead and harmony vocals. Both play guitar.
Nominated for Best Folk Recording at the 2010 12th Annual Native American Music Awards, Indian Souvenir was produced and engineered by Santa Fe’s Larry Mitchell in his Insatiable Studio. (Mitchell also coproduced the Grammy Award–winning Totemic Flute Chants, by Johnny Whitehorse, a.k.a. Robert Mirabal.) Indian Souvenir exhibits Mitchell’s magical touch at the mixing board, plus his talents on guitars, keyboards, and drums. In particular, “Sing Your Song,” with its strong theme of women “of the earth” persevering, is driven by Mitchell’s flamenco-guitar arrangement.
The songs project a feminist spirit. In some wordplay with history, Higgins sings, in “Powerful Women,” “Have you ever wondered about ‘herstory’?” This upbeat song urges women to “search your soul, follow your guide.” And “Take away your Indian souvenir,” Terry laments in the title song, referring to the romantic notions that many non-Indians hold about Native peoples.
Higgins praises Terry as a songwriter. “It’s very spontaneous for me. And when spirit comes through me, it’s nothing short of magic,” Terry says. “But once I’ve come up with a song in its rough form, Elena has a way of reworking and polishing it to become just right. It’s very exciting to work with her.”
A standout is “Blessed Rain,” by Terry and Syndy Parton. “That song is written about my grandmother and her way of life,” Terry says. It’s also a statement about a Navajo country coal mine owned by Peabody Energy in Arizona.
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