>> Stephen Winick: Welcome! I'm Stephen Winick. We're here in the Coolidge
Auditorium of the Library of Congress on August 7, 2019. And I'm here with Lakota
John & Kin, which is a group that just gave us
a great concert in the Coolidge Auditorium. And I'm going to let them say
each of their individual names so we'll have them
on the record. >> Tonya Holyelk Locklear:
I'm Tonya Elk Locklear. >> Layla Locklear:
Layla Locklear. >> John Locklear: Sweet
Papa John Locklear. >> Lakota John Locklear:
And Lakota John Locklear. >> Stephen Winick: Alright, so your group is called
Lakota John & Kin. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Correct, that's it. >> Stephen Winick: Obviously,
you're all a family, right? So you do have Lakota heritage
as well as Lumbee heritage, so explain your family
connections a little bit in those, those groups. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Okay, so I guess what? Back in the 1950s my great
grandfather, Ray Holyoake, was stationed in Maxton
at the Air Base there. And he met a Lumbee lady, and
generations later, here I am. But he was from South Dakota. >> Layla Locklear: Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota. >> Lakota John Locklear: So
everyone can talk, I'm guessing? >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, yeah. [Inaudible] >> Layla Locklear: He was in
the Air Force and stationed in Maxton, North Carolina, which
was an air base at the time, so later on, you
know, here we are. >> Stephen Winick: Well, talk
about the Lumbee a little. I think it's a group that most
people don't know as much about. They've heard about
the Lakota folks, but what about the
Lumbee Nation? >> Layla Locklear: The Lumbee
Nation is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi, and
the members are 60,000 plus as of right now, spread out,
you know, all over the US, but the tribal government is in
Robeson County, North Carolina in Pembroke, which is where,
where we currently reside. So we are known as water
people, swamp people, people of the dark water,
people of the black water because of the black
swamps that we have. Slow, winding, you know, lowland
area, so we are, you know, we have that connection to the
land and also the environment, you know, where we come from. >> Tonya Holyelk Locklear:
And a lot of native peoples and indigenous peoples,
they take their, their name from their waterway. And so that was one piece of,
you know, of our heritage, you know, that the Lumbee took
the name of the Lumbee River. >> Layla Locklear:
And, you know, one of the hot topics
right now is, you know, federal recognition
that is on the table. And we are currently
state recognized with some federal benefits but
not full federal recognition. That's currently, you know, like
I said, on the table right now. So we're hoping that will
help benefit, you know. >> John Locklear: We
hope that will work out. >> Stephen Winick:
Alright, cool. So let's talk about
the music and the start of your sort of music career. I understand that all of your
bios say that you started out listening to your
dad's record collection and we've got your dad
here, so [laughter]. So let's talk about what
we were listening to, yeah. >> John Locklear: Gosh, we had
everything from the early 1900s on the radio, a lot of times
in a CD player in the car, riding around listening
to different things. From Louis Armstrong and all of
his cohorts back then, forward, to the southern rock thing. And one thing sticks
out in my mind. My guitar case was open one day, and there was a slide
laying in there. Lakota said, "What's
this thing?" And I said, "It's a slide." He said, "What do
you do with it?" I said, "You put it on
your finger and slide it up and down the strings. Let, let me play you a song." So I put on Allman Brothers'
version of Statesboro Blues, and let him hear
Duane playing that. He said, "Could I try that?" I said, "Yeah, you can try it,
but it's kind of difficult." So I gave him the slide. Of course, it's too big for his
finger, and in about four days, he had the intro to
Statesboro Blues worked up. I said, "Man! Let's go get you a
slide that fits." We went to Sears in
the automotive center, and kept trying on
different deep sockets, automotive sockets, and
he found one that fit. And then later he got a glass
one, and in the beginning, the glass ones, he kept
dropping them, breaking them. So we went with the deep socket
there for a little while. And he found, "Oh, I
like the glass sound, or the ceramic better. It's warmer," and I said,
"Well, be careful with them." And he continued to break them until he started
paying for them. [Laughter] Now you're
careful with them, man. Yeah, so he said, "Now, what about the guys these
fellows learned from?" I said, "Well, yeah, man. Just do your research
and start digging." So he started going back. The Allman Brothers
learned from these guys, and these guys learned
from those guys. And different takes on different
songs, and led him backwards into the, into the roots. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Early 1900's music. >> Stephen Winick: Sure. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, man. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Started digging on that, so. >> Stephen Winick: Excellent,
so when you found that slide in the guitar case,
were you already playing around with the guitar? I mean, were you
already playing guitar? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, man. Yeah, about eight years old, I think y'all bought
Layla a guitar. >> Tonya Holyelk Locklear: Yeah. Layla had a guitar. >> Lakota John Locklear: She
was playing violin at the time. It's just being nosy, man. Just in her room and, you
know, I didn't know anything about the guitar, obviously. I saw my dad playing
around the house and stuff. Well, at eight years old,
not understanding the concept of mirror imaging,
I'm like, "Dude, I'm holding it the
same way as you." Right? >> Stephen Winick: Right. >> Lakota John Locklear:
So he's like, "Well, what is more comfortable? This way or this way?" I'm like, "Man, I
like it this way." >> John Locklear: So and you
know, I saw him, I'm thinking, "Why, why does he play
it left-hand style?" I said, "I know, he sees my
guitar and pointing that way, so he points his that way." >> Lakota John Locklear:
Trying to match, match him. >> John Locklear: So I
come around beside him. I said, "Look, man, do
you like it better?" He's standing beside me. I said, "Do you like it better
like this or like this?" He said, "I like it like this!" "So okay, we'll restring
it for you." And so he started
playing left-handed. >> Stephen Winick: So are
you left-handed in your, do you write with
your left hand? >> Lakota John Locklear:
No, I don't. I'm pretty much right-side
dominant. >> Stephen Winick:
Interesting that you play left. >> Lakota John Locklear:
I play left, yeah. >> Stephen Winick: That,
that's interesting. I don't think I've ever known
anyone who was, who did that. [Laughter] >> Lakota John Locklear:
Well, now you do. [Laughter] >> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, pretty cool. So yeah, so you started playing, and I understand you played
harmonica too, early on. Is that right? >> Lakota John Locklear: Right. Yeah, yeah. That was another
instrument I started out on. Ukulele was another one, and
but guitar really resonated with me, man, you know. And that's what I continued
to do, and my dad told me like when I first was interested
in the slide, he said, "Man, this is pretty difficult,
you know. It's not like playing regular." I said, "Well, try
it anyway," you know? But at that time, that's when I
began to dig and obviously ran across Robert Johnson and
started digging on that stuff. So one thing led to
another, and then, you know. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
and so your dad mentioned that you started digging
into recorded music, and you were digging into
the roots, yeah, the early. But at some point, of course, you had to meet other mentor
musicians and play with them. So when did that start? And who were they? >> Lakota John Locklear: So Fayetteville was probably the
area and location which my dad, I mean, he's been playing in
bands all of his life and stuff, so obviously his friends
and stuff were playing music in Lumberton, Red Springs, king
of where, where they lived. And but just like little
practice jams and stuff, and so I would just
tag along and stuff. And at-- . [Inaudible] [ Inaudible ] I'm going to get there. [Laughter] So but this was about
ten years old at this point. There's a professor at the
University of North Carolina, Pembroke, and they played my dad and they had a little
jam band on campus. So but my dad's like, "Hey,
man, my son plays this and that. He's just getting into it," so I took a couple
lessons from Dr. Mario. >> Stephen Winick: So
what's his full name? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Mario [Inaudible] >> Stephen Winick: Okay. >> Lakota John Locklear: But
anyway, I hung out with Mario, and he said, "Man, come on
down to Wilmington, you know, and my band, and play there." And so I was playing harmonica
and little bit of guitar and this and that,
and so I started to grow and started to learn. And so at a young
age, man this is cool. And my uncle told my family
about, my dad's brother, told my family about
this festival that goes on out in [inaudible]. A [inaudible] in Washington. But it's just a blues
fest, and there's workshops and stuff throughout the week. And but what was ironic
is the fact that I had to fly 3000 miles to hear about
a lot of this music that was from North Carolina, you know? And so I get out there, and
there's John D. [inaudible] out there, and Cephas
& Wiggins, and, so all of these older guys
that's playing this stuff that I'm just learning
about, just getting into. And so I was awarded three
scholarships but was able to attend two out
of three summers. And so from that point
forward, man, I just started, you know, digging and playing. And that's when I
met Music Maker, and then that's getting
back to the mentor thing. And then I began to study with
mentors and learn about music, and so very fortunate
to do that. It was fun. >> John Locklear: And actually
that was through [inaudible]. She saw Kota on somebody's
cell phone video at a event, and she was living in
Seattle at the time. She commented on it,
and said that, you know, she's from North Carolina
and with a blues label, and when she come back home,
she was going to introduce him. And that's exactly
what she done. I think she called Tim
immediately at Music Maker, and told him about Lakota, but I don't think he was
receptive right away. I believe that, she
never did tell me this, but I believe she was in his
ear a lot until he, you know, he give him some time to listen. >> Lakota John Locklear: You
know, I mean, I understand. Like someone that's, that
has heard all sorts of music. And you know works
with killer musicians. I mean, he probably gets
all the time, "Hey, man. Listen to this kid play!" You know? And so but then
it became a little family and community, man. And so we began to travel and
play music as, as a family, and that's kind of how
the "Kin" developed. >> Stephen Winick: And just
to explain for our viewers, we're talking about Tim Duffy and the Music Maker
Relief Foundation. And the other thing is mostly
they work with older musician who have, for whatever reason,
been unlucky financially, and they're sort of
helping them out. So that's another reason why
they might have thought twice about going with someone
as young as you because at that point, you were-- I
mean, how old were you? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Thirteen, fourteen years old. [Laughter] Yeah, so. >> John Locklear: And
I'll tell you, it was a, it was such a blessing
because the elder musicians, looked and said, "Man, this
kid plays the same kind of stuff we do," and they
took him under their wing and just kind of fostered
him and was glad to have him around because he was
kind of accomplished at a young age, and
they dug that. And they just brought
him along and kind of mentored him, so to speak. Great, great folks. >> Stephen Winick: So those were
some of the personal influences. And what about some of
those recording influences from the past? I mean, looking at your
most recent recording, you've got things from Sippie
Wallace and Blind Blake and Reverend Gary Davis. How did you get into
those musicians? Were there people
who recommended them? Or was it just through
your recording research? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Really, a little bit of both. So obviously I ran across
Robert Johnson, right? And so during that
era, I'm like, "Well, that's more of a delta
blues-type style." I says, "Well, I'm
from North Carolina. Who was in, who was from North
Carolina that I can pick up and learn from and just
do some research on?" So you know obviously I
run across Blind Boy Fuller and then a lot of the blind
musicians, and Gary Davis. So I was like, "Man, well
this is very similar to a lot of the piano-style music." And well, a lot of the people
who were with Music Maker, they were playing similar stuff which was the Piedmont
blues stuff. And really for the region
is kind of what I began to read about, you know. How did this music differ
from the Mississippi and then the delta and then the
Texas blues and this and that? >> Stephen Winick: Right,
so you're kind of talking about that left-hand piano
connections to the Piedmont, alternating to the thumb. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Right, yeah. >> John Locklear: Stride piano. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, so
that's really interesting. And I mean one of the
things that's kind of neat having you
play here on the stage in the Coolidge Auditorium
is this is actually where Alan Lomax recorded nine
hours of Jelly Roll Morton, so that piano, it's
right here on this stage. So that, those piano recordings from that early age
were done here as well. So it's kind of cool to have
that connection with ragtime. So yeah, I noticed that
on your latest recording, in the description
of what it is, ragtime is actually the
first word that's mentioned. So how did you make that move
from essentially Piedmont blues into thinking about
it as ragtime? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Well, I mean, I knew with the, the styles were so similar,
you know, on the guitar versus, well with the stride
and the ragtime music. I mean it, I can hear
that and listen to man, that is so similar to,
very similar style, and a lot of the
ragtime tunes I find that maybe the left
hand's not as heavy. And but again, you've got a
piano versus a guitar, right? And but the complexity of the
music and just how it came to be and just during that era, I
mean, it was like the rock and roll of the '70s or
whatever in that, in that time. And it was just killer
music, man. I dug it a lot. A lot of the mentors and elders that I was hanging
out with, they saw. "Hey, man, well this 12-- , 13-, 14-year-old kid
likes this stuff, too." >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, well
and another thing that I kind of noticed and makes
that connection with the Jelly Roll
stuff as well is you, there were a fairly large number
of references to New Orleans in your concert today, and
the whole New Orleans thing. So how did you start
thinking about that as a gateway, you know? [Laughter] >> Lakota John Locklear:
Right, I mean, again, it's kind of like, it's all
intertwined and connected. I mean, once you start
doing research, as you know, I mean it's like okay,
well and then too, with the technology
today, it's like similar. Oh, well who is this artist? And then who is this guy? And then so obviously
I ran across Louis and all of that stuff, man. And so fell in love with it, and just the whole
New Orleans sound. The left hand, I find,
has stayed with, you know, even just the jazz and blues,
and it's more of the style that kind of everybody
picked up and used. Oh, let me use this little part, and this little part,
the rhythm, man. And so I could just see a
correlation between the ragtime, the Piedmont blues,
the this, the that. And I was like, "Well, man, I want to throw this
on guitar, and so." But that's, New Orleans' stuff
man, I resonate with them. >> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, some great stuff. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, man. >> Stephen Winick: Alright. So one thing that Betsy
Peterson mentioned in introducing you guys was
the sort of long lineage of Native American people
or people who identified as having some native heritage
who were also in the blues. Were you conscious of that
when you started playing or? >> Lakota John Locklear: Not
from the jump, not at first. Obviously I had heard about, you
know, natives playing and stuff, but the more I did,
you know, and dug, and just did some more
research, I found, "Hey, well this guy was what? He was Choctaw. And then this guy was what?" And so it was cool
because I'm like, "Whoa. I'm Native. Why, if he could do
it during the 19-- whatever, you know,
I can do it today. I have no, no excuse." And so Charlotte Patton
definitely was another, and it was essentially they were
working with what they had, man. And that was, that was so
cool because he was native, I was native, you know? >> Layla Locklear: Another
thing, too, about those artists, those native artists, they
were influenced, you know, the traditional sound of, you
know, where they come from. So for example, you know,
Charlotte Patton, you know being from the South, you know, had
that stomp influence, you know. So you could hear that a lot,
you know, in, in his playing, and you know as well as like
other native artists throughout Indian country. You could hear, you know,
in their style, you know, that incorporation of
traditional singing or you know things like--
this traditional [inaudible]. The rhythm and pounds, exactly. >> Stephen Winick: And I
think a lot of listeners who aren't native, that
goes over their heads, if you know what I mean. But people who have that
in their family will, might detect those influences. >> Layla Locklear: And I think
that adds also to, you know, to the versatility, you know
going back to, you know coming from Piedmont to ragtime,
and then, you know, exploring other artists as well, and then seeing the
connections, you know? It, you know, it just adds, you know adds a little bit more
versatility to the repertoire, you know, that Lakota
and our family do. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, well
I noticed a few gospel songs as well, so talk about the
gospel influence a little. >> Layla Locklear: Well? [Laughter] >> Tonya Holyelk Locklear: I
grew up actually, you know, in church as a little girl,
and I believe every time that door was open,
just about, I was there. My grandmother had me at church. And so just being
around music, you know, all the time and playing piano. And just, you know,
just listening to that, and I learned, you know to play
piano also and took lessons. And so that sort of kind
of bringing all of that and hearing it at home,
and hearing, you know, gospel music played,
you know, all the time. And then the different styles,
you know, of gospel music. And going with friends
to church or you know, going with coworkers,
you know, to different, to different churches,
especially, you know, in our community being
so diverse, you know? And going to the, you know,
African American churches to where we hear those
black spirituals, you know, it's like oh man, you know. You can hear the drums and
you can hear the guitar, and you just, you know,
the soul of it, you know. And just feeling
the spirit of that, and it's like yeah,
I'm home, you know? Let's have church. So it's just, you know, all of
that encompassing, you know, and it just fit right in, you
know, to what we, to what we do. And on Sundays we before,
you know, before Music Maker, we would listen to the to one
of the bluegrass stations, the PineCone Bluegrass station, and we would listen
to that on Sundays. And so we would just sit
around, you know, on the porch and that would become
our Sunday afternoon, you know, for about an hour. Just sit, you know, and just jam and just have a good time,
you know, doing that. And mostly some of those songs,
you know, were, you know some of those gospel music,
gospel tunes, and they were with a twist on them, you know? It was like, oh yeah,
I like this. Let's put a twist
on it, you know? >> John Locklear:
I guess for me the, it's just whatever
would grab my ear. I'd hear, hear a tune like
that song, a traditional song that Preservation Hall got
ahold of to spare a song. I said, "Man, what do
y'all think about this?" Everybody said, "We love it." I said, "Well, let's learn it
with what we have, you know?" We don't have horns,
but we got kazoos, and we'll make it
fun, and enjoy it. And a lot of our
tunes are like that. Somebody will hear something
and bring it to the group. "What are y'all thinking
about this?" "Okay, I like that, but
we don't have, you know, like the Allman Brothers, we
don't have two sets of drums, but we've got a washboard,
and she's got a tambourine, and we'll make it work." So that's the way it's been
going down, learning tunes. >> Stephen Winick:
So you're just, you're adapting what you
hear to what you got. You're making your
own take on it. >> John Locklear: Right,
and just to have fun with it and enjoy it, and hope that
other folks like it as well. >> Stephen Winick: Sounds good. Well, you know, I'm
interested and you're talking about the instruments, and
that was something I wanted to get into a little bit. You did talk about a
couple of your guitars. Tell us about the
guitars a little bit. >> Lakota John Locklear:
When I started? >> Stephen Winick: Yeah. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Oh yeah, so it was just a
little Crafter, man. Just a small cheap guitar. I think it was just a little
plastic body or whatever. And which I didn't
need anything expensive because I didn't need-- you
know, I was just learning. And so I had a ukulele,
a harmonica, and then with the
Allman Brothers' stuff, and electric stuff through a
group so I was sitting in with. I just had a little Squire
I started out on, man. And the more serious I got
about music, then, you know, I just got other instruments. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, so what
about the ones you play today? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Today, so growing up, I always had gotten my guitars
just strung left-handed. And about five years ago, I
want to say, I was performing with John Dee Holeman at
the National Folk Festival. It was in Greensboro. And after the, after
the show, my dad and I, we were just walking around,
checking out the vendors, and this booth was set up,
and we walked in there. We saw the guitars, so I asked
the gentleman, I said, "Hey, man, you got any lefties?" He says, "No, I don't
have any lefties." So I just took a right-hand
and was just fooling around on. And I guess about a year after
that, six months to a year, we had a gig in High Point,
and Terry and his wife Rita, they came out and
listened to us. >> Stephen Winick: Fritz? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, and. Anyway, he reached out to me on
Facebook about two years ago, and Terry said, "John, I want
to build a guitar for you, man." And I said, "So you do?" He's like, "Yeah, man." And so we got in touch,
and it was just a whole, just a community, and
everybody, it was just amazing to design the guitar, man. And just all of the
work involved behind it. You know, I had no
earthly idea about oh, well this little piece goes
here, and this and that. And I was just blown away, not even mentioning anything
I wanted on a guitar. And Terry, he's been
building guitars I guess between ten and 15 years now. And so he had it down. He says, "Man, what
are you looking for? What kind of?" I says, "Well," a lot of
this time I just play solo. You know, the music,
historically, it was just Piedmont
guys just sitting down and playing what
instruments were available. And I said, "I know
I want a lot of bass. I want a lot of, a
lot of [inaudible]." He says, "So, we're going
to go with some walnut wood, Claro walnut," so the Claro
walnut on its back and sides, and the top is torrefied
Sitka spruce. Somewhere in the
guitar I knew I wanted to incorporate something native,
and something just inclusive to this instrument, and so we
went with the medicine wheel, and so it's in the
rosette of the guitar. >> Layla Locklear: Some
shell and some bone. >> Lakota John Locklear: Yeah,
some abalone and bone and so that was awesome to, to do that, and we obviously got
tie-over over the years. And the last couple years, and
they're my Greensboro parents. >> Stephen Winick: That's great. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, man. >> Stephen Winick: And
his name is Terry Fritz? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Terry Fritz, yes, sir. So it's a killer instrument. >> Stephen Winick:
Custom guitar? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Custom guitar, yes sir, man. It's, it's fun. >> Stephen Winick: And I
think the other instrument that might be particularly
interesting to folks is the flute
that you played. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yes, sir. So this flute was made
by Rainbow Walker. I think he's a Seminole
out of Florida. And I haven't had this
flute, I know now two months. So but I have other
flutes and stuff, but that particular
one is in a B. >> Stephen Winick: Is it cedar? >> Lakota John Locklear:
I think it, I'm not sure. I think so, but I have,
and I do have other flutes that are cedar. >> John Locklear: John Norris. >> Lakota John Locklear:
John Norris is another guy out of North Carolina,
and he's a flute maker, but flute's just a very
peaceful instrument, and so obviously Mark, he knew
that I played flute and stuff. He said, "Man, I want to
take one of your mom's poems and get you on the flute and
make some, create some stuff." And so, and there's another
native piece involved with the music and
stuff so, but. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
that sounded great. Thanks, thanks for all of
your contributions to that. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Well thank you, yeah. Thank you. >> Stephen Winick: And
another thing I noticed, so of course you had
Mark playing piano, and he also had a harp
there, so what's the origin of putting the harp into
your, into your music? Was that just his idea? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Well last year, excuse me, back in 2017 of December, again
he knew that I played harp, and he just said, "Man,
I think that the harp and the flute would just, because they're both
peaceful instruments." It's like well why can't
we just throw them together and see what they,
they sound like? And I mean, literally almost
brought me to tears, you know. Just playing and together. It just blended so well. And we wanted to bring it
in on the Dark Waters song and so that's what we did, man. It's beautiful. >> Stephen Winick: Alright,
so we talked about some of the older musicians
who kind of mentored you. Who, who are you
playing with these days? I mean, who do you
see at festivals and stuff who's more
your generation that, that you play with? >> Lakota John Locklear: That's
in the same style of music, one guy is Jontavious Willis. So I met Jontavious
probably five months ago now. He had a gig in Greensboro, and I was actually staying
at Terry and Rita's. And Jontavious passed through,
and I think he was going to drive back the same night
or something, and he lives in Georgia, so that was
a little drive there. And Terry and Rita
invited him to stay, and just open up his home. And so we got connected
man, and just been, you know he digs a lot of the
older stuff, so we jam together and but that's one dude. Andrew [inaudible],
yeah, Josh Goforth, so kind of I guess your
question is kind of more in the older style of music? Is that what you're-- ? >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, yeah. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely David Holt, you know. So let me think of
some other guys. But. >> John Locklear: Still
John Dee you're hanging out. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, still John Dee Holeman. But last, well two weeks ago
I was in Elkins, West Virginia for their Blues and Swing Week. And so I think Ben
Hunter was there. Joe Seamons, just a lot of
-- it's like a community. I'm like, "Man, there's
other people my age that like [inaudible]." And so all of these guys
that I kind of reunited with, and it's just awesome, because I
hadn't seen a lot of these guys since Centrum, eight-plus
years ago, ten-plus years ago. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah, and
for you, that's a long time. I mean. [ Laughter ] >> Lakota John Locklear:
It's been forever ago, so. But yeah, and you
know, it's just great, like I said, man,
this community. >> Stephen Winick: And
then, you know, there's kind of a generation in between. So you were talking about the
John Cephas, Phil Wiggins, now, you know the younger folks, but
there's also sort of like the, the Dom Flemons kind of era. >> Lakota John Locklear: Right. [Inaudible] >> John Locklear:
Yeah, he's great. He's a great guy,
man, and musician. >> Lakota John Locklear: Yeah,
he was not there this year, but he's been there in the past. >> Stephen Winick: So have you
played with folks, you know, who were maybe 20
years older than you? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, Dom-- , Dom's definitely
a killer artist. Played music with him. I think Ben and the other
guys, they're in early to mid-thirties, I think. >> Stephen Winick: Yeah. >> Lakota John Locklear:
But around that age. >> Layla Locklear:
And also, well Derek's in a different genre, but still. >> Lakota John Locklear:
Who is it? >> Layla Locklear:
Derek, one of your-- . [ Inaudible ] More native. >> Lakota John Locklear: Yeah,
he's more of a native like rock and blues type artist,
so he's killer, too. >> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, and you've played with Blind Boy Paxton
as well, is that right? >> Lakota John Locklear:
Yeah, so I met, I met Jerron years
ago at Centrum. That was the first, first time
I had ever heard about him. And but you know,
just keeping in touch through social media, man. You know? And that's the thing. I guess once I got to, to an
age, and then I had my own phone and all of that, I said,
"Well, where are these guys?" So I just Facebooked
them and, you know, just been following
each other ever since. >> Stephen Winick: And-- . >> John Locklear: I'll tell you
what blew me away about Paxton. When we first met
him, he was 19, and he's a walking
encyclopedia of music, and whatever instrument he's
playing, you would swear that that's his main instrument,
he's so well versed in it. And then he'll leave the
piano and go to the guitar, and go to the banjo and the
fiddle and on and on and on. The guy can play everything
very well, as well as sing and tell you 50 artists that
done this particular song, in each style, how
they've done it. You know, he's just
really an amazing musician. >> Lakota John Locklear: And
one, you know, one other thing. A lot of the people I hung out
with, they've passed on now, that was doing this
traditional music, and so it's really
refreshing, man, to collaborate with other people and say,
"Man, you like this stuff too?" because it's just so rare. Especially for my age. >> Stephen Winick: Right, cool. Well so we talked about some
of the instruments, honestly, but you did mention the kazoo, and that was kind
of interesting. I think, first of all, it's
unusual to see the kazoo that much in the blues. And then secondly,
to have three kazoos on the stage is, is
an unusual thing. So that was an attempt
to evoke the, you know, Preservation Hall
brass sound or what? >> John Locklear: Yeah, yeah. >> Lakota John Locklear:
In a way. >> John Locklear: And
since we, you know, we've got other instruments
in our hand, it would be kind of difficult to blow a clarinet
or a trumpet or what have you, so looking back at those,
a lot of those Piedmont, you put a rack around their next
with a harmonica and a kazoo, and they can pull it off. So we were thinking, "Now, how
can we pull this sound off, you know, doing these tunes? Oh, we'll break the kazoos
out, and then we can, we can kind of emulate the
sounds, you know, somewhat. But have fun with it, so." >> Stephen Winick: Alright, so I
guess a sort of larger question about the music and
how it resonates with your various identities
as, you know, Americans, as North Carolinians,
and as Native folks, what do you think about that? How are you negotiating all
of that with your music? >> Lakota John Locklear:
I guess ultimately, it's, it's kind of like if I can
come across with who I am and what I do in a song
or a set, that's my goal, that's one of the
most important things. And because I'm not going
to be doing an interview with my audience, you know? So if I can come across with
okay, well this piece is from this region, or this is
from this artist, in the style of so-and-so, then it's like a, you know we can all
throw it together and just get a more inclusive
type, you know, thing, to come across who we are. Does that answer your question? >> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think you really did
do a good job of expressing who you were as musicians
and as folks and as family, which
is really nice. So thank you so much
for your concert, and thanks for this interview! >> Lakota John Locklear:
Thank you! >> John Locklear: Thank you! >> Layla Locklear: Thank you. >> Tonya Holyelk
Locklear: Thank you so much.
