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CD/DVD Releases: 2KX's Lisa LaRue Talks To Publicist/Journalist Sandy Serge About ''Fast And Blue

Posted on Saturday, October 23 @ 23:00:00 UTC by nightowl

Prog rock musician/keyboardist Lisa LaRue talks to music publicist and journalist Sandy Serge about the unusual and somewhat eerie circumstances and coincidences surrounding the making of her new album Fast And Blue in the interview here:

Q: Lisa, we know that your heritage is Keetoowah/Cherokee and you work for your tribe as Director of History, which means that you are the tribal historian and you do grave repatriations. We also know that vocalist John Payne, formerly of the rock band Asia and now with Asia Featuring John Payne, is heavily involved with your album recording. Could you tell us more about what you have discovered in relation to the concept of your upcoming CD release and the oddities surrounding it?

A: In the 1800's, the well-known playwright/composer/actor John Howard Payne became involved with the Cherokees and eventually wrote a 14-volume history of the Cherokee after interviewing many elders of the time. How this happened was very interesting, as you will see as I ramble a bit further.

Payne had returned to the States from England, where he was known as an exquisite orator. Always struggling financially, and quite the entrepreneur, he decided to start a publication entitled Jam Jehan Nima. This was a Persian phrase which meant "The bowl that holds the universe." His idea for the publication would be to bring together the people of England and America by educating each other about their respective cultures and ideas. He set out on a 'tour' to find backers and subscribers for the publication so that he could finance it, but halfway through, he met up with Chief John Ross of the Cherokee and discovered their plight and the impending Indian Removals. He even ended up being placed in jail with Chief Ross by the Georgia Guard. They were great friends, and Ross got him started on the idea of writing the cultural history, which ended up 14 volumes. It has never been published, but will be this month or next, which also makes this very timely.

So, when we wrote Jam Jehan Nima, the title came to me because I had been researching John Howard Payne more in depth for a project at work, and came across the info about his publication. I thought it was a really mysterious name, and because the song had these sitars and percussion, I thought it would be an interesting title - much like, a 'jam' called Jehan Nima. And I thought the John Howard Payne connection was interesting for obvious reasons.

Then the song "Ruins Of Home" came to be. I came across John Howard Payne's poem,"The Lament Of The Cherokee" back when I worked for Cherokee Nation, and decided to cut it down for a narration by John at the beginning of the song. Then it occurred to me that it should 'follow' "Jam Jehan Nima" on the album based on the story above. It is interesting that John Howard Payne not only shares the name of our John, but was a historian of the Cherokee like me, AND the poem mentions leaving the graves of our sires, which are both the things that my job is all about. Really eerie. What was even MORE eerie was sitting there watching John record the poem which he even surprised himself by doing in ONE TAKE where it fit perfectly.

Then, along the line, I started wanting to incorporate the story of the supposed Holy Bloodline, the Merovingian royal bloodline which is supposed to have been descended from Mary Magdalene, which totally ties in with the Knights Templar, the Freemasons and all of the things Dan Brownish.......... because.... interestingly enough, this line has been intermingled with the Cherokee.

After researching the term Jam Jehan Nima, I found that this 'bowl' or 'cup' was believed to be something similar to the Holy Grail. So it all ties together in many, many ways.

Q: Have you had any additional revelations surrounding the Bloodline deal?

A: Oddly enough, during all of this, I ordered some research from the people who made the movie Bloodlines and the producer happened to see the package, as it was in the pile ready to be mailed, and saw mine on top. She is originally from Muskogee, where I live so she opened the package and put a nice note in it. We ended up becoming good friends, and she is the one who has filmed and directed the footage for the upcoming video. She even let me use some replicas of artifacts associated with the Bloodline story for the video, which were used for her movie, which by the way, recently won an award. She lives in LA, and when she met Barry (John Payne's manager) during the filming, she ended up finding out that they knew each other from waaaaaay back. It's all VERY odd. There are even more strange things that have been happening throughout this, but I could go on forever.

Q: Yes, this all seems somewhat odd and quite coincidental. Is John Payne, the co-producer and vocalist of your album, related in some way to or a descendant of John Howard Payne?

A: Well, you know that John has been working on that Architects Of Time project, which fits right in with the theme, and there are several other things which may be coincidental. For example, one day at work, "out of the blue," this stranger walks into my office, and says, "I'm here to find out more information about the connection between the Keetoowah Cherokee and the Knights Templar." I was like, HUH? How weird, because I had just spent the weekend putting a bunch of research I had together for John to reference with his AOT project. As the man sat down, he started telling me about the John Howard Payne history and how he had been researching it, and then he mentioned that the founder of the Knight's Templar was Hugh des Payen (the Payne family name variation), and wondered if there was a connection between the two. About that time, he looks up on my wall and sees one of the pictures from the photo shoot of John and I; John has one of the shirts on he wears frequently, with a red cross. He says, "Who is the man with you in the picture wearing the Templar shirt?" I said, "Uh, my friend, John...... Payne.......". His mouth fell open.

So when I met Rene (Barnett, producer of Bloodlines), she thought it really strange that John and I both have a possible historical tie to all of this, as well as both working on projects separately in this vein. I think this may be why we are able to work so creatively and easily on these musical collaborations. As I am all about history and education, I felt this album was the perfect opportunity to tell some of these stories graphically, musically, and through literature.

It's all been strange, synchronicity. And when John narrated that poem written by John Howard Payne, and never recorded by anyone that I can find, it literally sent chills down my spine. This whole scenario is two degrees of separation, constantly.

For example, John was at an airport one time and met a Native American guy and got to talking with him. The man started telling him about grave repatriation and his job for his tribe, and John started discussing this with him, obviously knowing what he was talking about. The guy asked him how he new, and John told him he had a friend who did that work and told him my name, and the guy knew me!! Because there's only "so many" tribes, and those of us who do repatriation work for a tribe are far and few between.

I don't know if John is related to John Howard Payne, or not, it would be interesting to figure that out, but the Hugh des Payen thing - with John's interest in such subject matters is really spooky!

It all sounds a little unbelievable, but I think mysterious and interesting. The fact that the John Howard Payne papers are finally being published right now is perfect timing :-).

Q: Have you happened to research if Ft. Payne, Alabama is involved in some way?

A: I remembered that one of the most important towns in the Southeast (to the Keetoowah anyway) was Willstown, which is now Ft. Payne. In fact, our tribe has recently reacquired land there. I was wondering how it got the name Payne, if possibly it was associated with John Howard Payne, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. This is REALLY gonna make you laugh....."During the 1830's, prior to Indian removal, the US Army under command of Major John Payne built a fort here that was used to intern Cherokees until relocation to Oklahoma. Their forced march became known as the Trail of Tears."

Q: It sounds like John Payne might be having an identity crisis with all these John Paynes in the scenario!

A: Yeah, all of these John Paynes are just too much! I looked up the Major and it turns out he was actually a Captain.

Funny part is the tribe has contracted John to do voiceovers for the audio presentations in the museum we are hoping to open this Spring. I had him doing the voice of John Howard Payne. Maybe I can find some diary entries from THIS JP, too.

Q: This is all certainly interesting - all these tie-ins with history. Could you tell us a little more about the album itself?

A: The Fast And Blue CD by 2KX will be packaged as a souvenir "magazine" containing a DVD with the title track's video, the trailer for the Fast And Blue CD. and all video blogs as well as the music CD. A sneak peak video blog is currently available for viewing at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfGeW8r9rw. The video for the song "Fast And Blue" will be uploaded to Facebook and Youtube on November 1st along with the single being available for sale on the same day at www.lisalaruemusic.com. The tentative release date for the full-length CD is February 14, 2011.

Fans can be involved in the 2KX project and reap rewards for doing so via funding resource Kickstarter. For information on pledging to this project, please visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/885666456/native-american-musician-creating-with-the-world-2. Those who pledge to the project could qualify to receive a song written by yours truly for them or a loved one as well as numerous other rewards for their participation.

We've already recorded tracks with co-producer John Payne (Asia featuring John Payne), Mitch Perry (Cher, Asia Featuring John Payne, Michael Schenker Group, Aeorsmith, Edgar Winter), Maxi Nil (Visions of Atlantis), Steve Adams (ARZ), Mike Alvarez (Bass Clef Experiment), and Merrill Hale (ARZ). A song sample is available at www.reverbnation.com/lisalarue. Other musicians in the project include David Mark Pearce (Oliver Wakeman Band), along with me on keyboards.

Q: Thanks for your time, Lisa! This is all so interesting that I would like to talk with you again at some point prior to the release. Maybe you will have some more mysterious details surrounding the project to share with us and provide us with more insight in the concept of the album. Will that be possible?

A: Absolutely! I am keeping the album concept on the downlow temporarily, but as the album recording progresses, I will begin to reveal more information about Fast And Blue. Thanks!

Lisa LaRue Bio: Based in Northeastern Oklahoma and working for her tribe (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma), Lisa LaRue is not only fulfilling her dreams but hoping to be an inspiration to other native entrepreneurs. While staying in her home community and doing important work for her tribe, she is recording a progressive rock album with musicians from around the world! Progressive rock has recently witnessed a resurgence across the world, particularly in the UK, but as a Native American woman, Lisa has taken on a new challenge of working with musicians of different cultures and backgrounds to work in a unique way - each participant writes and records their own parts without any musical direction, but what comes from their heart. The combination of backgrounds, influences, demographics and talent is not only proof that music is the universal language, but that an indigenous woman can stay in her own tribal community and still work with the world and touch the world as well, in a way that is not stereotypical but uniting - while using modern technology to create the final product. One of the 'hold-ups' to native people being successful is the lack of opportunities in the tribal community. But with the internet and other forms of technology, it is now possible.

"I've connected with fabulous musicians from other parts of the United States, Greece and the U.K., and we all share the common goal of creating great music, and have proven to ourselves that we write and play in spiritual harmony," says LaRue.

By allowing each musician the opportunity to add to the songs what comes from their hearts without any musical direction, the outcome will show that music IS, indeed, the Universal Language.

Even though technology is easily available, it costs money - not only for the small necessities like high-speed internet, quality computers and software, but for the costs of professional mixing, mastering and final production. "Staying in my community and working for my tribe is my priority, but so is using the gift the Creator gave me - the ability to play what comes from my heart. And I want to show other Native artists that they can reach out to the world while staying an integral part of their community!"

To be a part of this project, have the satisfaction of making a dream come true though quality music that will last through the ages, and at the same time reap rewards for yourself, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/885666456/native-american-musician-creating-with-the-world-2

Lisa LaRue 2KX Facebook Page

[Source: Serge Entertainment PR]

Posted in Album Release News