KEITH BEAR
Earthlodge (Makoche)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Keith Bear's second Makoche Records release, Earthlodge, is an Enhanced CD that features a 10-minute video from Emmy-nominated producer/writer Darrell Dorgan and twelve traditional Indian flute songs of what is now North Dakota. Unfortunately, Keith Bear's life is common among American Indian and Alaska Native people: fourteen foster homes in twelve years must have contributed to Keith's living the stereotype of the drunk Indian. What's uncommon is that he turned his life around through music. He brings traditional Mandan and Hidatsa tribal songs, some 300 years old, alive on Earthlodge. I listen to the "Pumpkin Seed" and "Spirit Journey Song" and get carried away by Bear's flute. I'm transported far away from the cares of the day, I'm way off somewhere else thanks to his music. I'm a big fan of Makoche, a small North Dakota record label: they treated us to American Indian folksinger Annie Humphrey with one of my favorite releases of 2000, The Heron Smiled. Like Annie's disc, Earthlodge speaks volumes about American Indian music, and I'm particularly glad that he's kept tribal traditions alive. In any culture, Keith Bear's Earthlodge is good medicine.

© 2000 - Eric Steiner