But the environment we're in dictates our actions. I can do a lot of these things management would do for an artist. However, while Secola attributes the recent successes of Native rockers in part to a growing sophistication about marketing, the music and the message remain at the heart of the movement. Secola's songs communicate his ideals of humanistic harmony while engaging issues of Indian identity and the evils of racism. If I was to stand up and put my fist up and talk about this brutal history, I think it would turn off more people than if I made people laugh and think.
Native artists have to be a bit clever.
The approach seems to be working. In addition to Indian fans across the country, Secola has caught the ear of the indie music community, earning rave reviews in such publications as Dirty Linen and garnering a spot in the 2000 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin. He told me, 'You know, Keith, in America good music falls through the cracks all the time, man. So don't even worry about it. This is like seven years now, and it's starting to happen.