Concert for a Cure

Bigger & Better

By Michelle RubyThe free concert, which promotes healthy living but is not a fundraiser, has three big-name acts in its grand finale.

Stevie Salas, named one of the Top 50 Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine, and Bernard Fowler, who has provided backing vocals with The Rolling Stones for more than 20 years, will perform as The I.M. Fs.

Six Nation's own Derek Miller, a two-time Juno winner, will take to the Concert for a Cure stage for the first time.

Topping off the grand finale will be Grammy nominees and blues legends, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, a crowd-gathering festival band best known for its hits, Tuff Enuff and Why Get Up.

Earlier in the day the stage will be given over to new and emerging native talent, among them the northern rockers, The Johnnys, Canadian pop star JRDN, and Faron Johns, a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award (CAMA) winner and powerful Six Nations blues singer.And:Established by Jace Martin's mother, Arlene Martin, as an outlet for young people more inclined to the arts than sports, the organization has offered dozens of programs, including those in theatre, music and improvisational comedy.

"Our biggest accomplishment to date is the youth who have come through and are now moving on to bigger things", said Arlene Martin. "It has developed much-needed self-esteem in all youth and we believe there is more we can do.

"That's why we started Concert for a Cure. It's a way to promote the young musicians and give them a platform to showcase their art and talent."

Arlene said the youth outreach group is developing a CD called Inspired by Hope that will be shown in Six Nations classrooms and tell the stories of people who have made it to their dreams with the odds stacked against them."

The first episode includes stories from Derek Miller and Crystal Shawanda, the 2009 CCMA Female Artist of the Year and the headliner at last year's Concert for a Cure.Comment:  As someone asked on Facebook, Concert for a Cure for what? The article isn't clear about that. The only things it mentions are promoting healthy lifestyles and developing people's self-esteem. Those are good cures for many things, including unhealthy living and low self-esteem.

In other words, I suspect the organization is trying to "cure" the usual social ills plaguing reservations.

For more on the subject, see Anti-Suicide Arts Workshop and Healing Natives Through Hip Hop.