Key Takeaways:
- George Parker created a studio next to his home in Cando, Saskatchewan, to help Indigenous artists.
- Parker intends to utilize the app to broadcast local events, including rodeos, horse races, music festivals, powwows, and Indigenous arts and crafts.
- Parker intends to construct a 3200 square foot sound stage on his property in the future to handle larger performances and provide lodging for visiting musicians.
To help Indigenous artists, George Parker built a studio next to his home in Cando, Saskatchewan.
Artists and podcast producers, including documentarians, can use the studio, which is fully equipped.
“It delivers us with a space where we can operate on our schedule.” Parker, who has engaged in the Indigenous music industry for 30 years, stated, “The clock is not ticking for us.”
“We’re bringing in artists who want to do live events from here and promote Indigenous culture in general,” he said.
Parker claims to have spent 30 years in the Indigenous music industry.
Black Rain, a rock and roll band from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, is one of the acts scheduled to perform.
The band claims that owning a studio is a huge financial help.
“The last time we recorded, we paid for it ourselves,” Jaime Peekeekoot explained.
“Our first record was around $6,000, which we funded for ourselves.”
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The band is excited to be a part of Parker’s important events, but they know how difficult it was to simply book into the record.
“It’s fantastic having the convenience,” Ryan Peekeekoot said. “Years ago, it was difficult for us to get into a studio.”
Parker’s Indigenous Cloud, an online Indigenous cultural streaming service, is part of the studio’s bigger project.
It was first launched in 2019 and was redesigned in November to help promote different types of content creators, including podcasters and documentarians.
Parker stated, “We can go out and advertise Indigenous concerts and sell tickets for live streaming.”
The platform’s technology capabilities have been expanded to include Indigenous education lessons, Indigenous language teaching, and music lessons.
Parker hopes to use the app to broadcast local events such as rodeos, horse races, music festivals, powwows, and Indigenous arts & crafts.
“With what’s going on now with the residential school system, I believe it’s critical to keep Indigenous music alive as well as in the public eye.” “I suppose it’s an opportunity for people throughout Canada and also the world to see what happened to the Indigenous people,” Parker said.
Parker plans to build a 3200 square foot sound stage on his land in the future to accommodate larger productions and provide lodging for artists visiting the studio.
Source: CTV News
