"I’m a real Brooklyn girl," says
Martha Redbone, who was born, raised and still lives in the borough.
She’s also one of the rising stars on the pop, soul-funk retro
horizon.
On July 17, singer-songwriter Redbone will perform on a double
bill with vocalist Donnie at BAM’s Rhythm & Blues Festival
at Metrotech.
Some of the songs Redbone will sing will be on her upcoming (as
yet untitled) CD, and some will be from her debut release "Home
of the Brave." In a telephone interview from Arizona, where
Redbone was on tour, she explained the meaning of her CD’s title.
"There is no song with that title," she said. "This
is my first record. I want it to be known all over the world
that I am an American artist. It’s the last line of the national
anthem. It was not meant for people that looked like me. It was
meant for white people. It would be nice to give the face of
the ’home of the brave’ a brown face – mine. The face of the
21st century."
As the daughter of mixed-race parents – her father is black,
her mother American Indian – Redbone certainly has a valid claim
on both the heritage and the future of America. But her mixed
roots have also had a profound influence on her music.
Redbone’s song "Vineyard" begins with an American Indian
drum and sounds reminiscent of a chain gang. The song "Free"
has a funky Creole slant blended with hip-hop beats. And the
track "Heaven" has a gospel sound.
Redbone grew up in a home filled with music – from her father’s
favorites (Earth, Wind and Fire; Sly and the Family Stone; and
Stevie Wonder) to her mother’s choices (The Eagles, Don McLean).
But she insists that her own music is something very different.
"I believe songwriting is a craft. I love a melody. I love
chord changes. I love movement in a song," she told GO Brooklyn.
She is also very attentive to the meaning of her songs.
"I’m a humanitarian," Redbone says. "I write about
what I see. I write about life and love, and the pursuit of happiness."
Sometimes Redbone’s material brings her into the realm of the
controversial.
"My song ’Boyfriend’ is about a girl who dates a boy she
later finds out is bisexual," Redbone explains. "My
publisher said to me, ’This will never make it on the radio.
It’s too controversial.’ When someone says that, it’s just a
green light for me."
As someone who has tasted the bitter fruit of prejudice, Redbone
has a well-developed social consciousness – which can be seen
in her songs "Underdog" and "Unjust." In
fact, her adopted name, Redbone, is slang and an insult for someone
with black and American Indian ancestry.
"I decided I’m not going to blend in. I am going to be exactly
what I am," says the Brooklyn Heights resident.
Redbone also decided she was going to speak her mind.
"In ’Unjust’ I talk about a lot of the injustices I see
in the world between the haves and the have-nots," she says.
Redbone got her "biggest budge" toward professional
singing when she was working as an illustrator for Parliament
Funkadelic in London.
"During recording sessions, everyone wants to run into the
studio and get on the album. I did that one day, and that was
it. I knew that was where I belong," she says.
In London, Redbone teamed up with her co-writer and producer,
Aaron Whitby. With the help of Walter "Junie" Morrison
of the Ohio Players and Parliament Funkadelic, Redbone and Whitby
founded Blackfeet Productions back in the States and recorded
"Home of the Brave."
Redbone also started singing in Brooklyn’s "coffee kind
of places." One of her goals these days is to appear on
the stage of Park Slope’s SouthPaw.
Is anyone there listening?
Martha Redbone will perform on July
17, from noon to 2 pm, at BAM’s Rhythm & Blues Festival at
the Metrotech Commons, at the corner of Flatbush and Myrtle avenues
in Downtown Brooklyn. All concerts are free and open to the public.
For more information, call (718) 636-4100 or visit www.bam.org.
