Musician Bill Miller
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
SALA Event Center is again hosting “The Genizaro Experience: Shadows in Light” filmmaker Gary Medina Cook Nov. 3. He will be accompanied by Grammy-award winning musician Bill Miller, whose song, “Visions” is featured in the film.
The event begins at 4 p.m. with a meet-and-greet, followed by a screening of the film and then Miller’s performance. Admission is free to SALA members and $30 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased at https://sala.losalamos.com.
Medina Cook previously showed his film Oct. 21 at SALA.
“I’m excited to bring ‘The Genizaro Experience: Shadows in Light,’ back to Los Alamos for those that missed the opportunity to see it the last time,” Medina Cook said. “The community greeted us with open arms and I am honored to return again with my talented friend Bill Miller.”
Miller also said he is excited to come to Los Alamos. While he has toured throughout the state, this is the first time he has come to the Hill.
“I think New Mexico has such diversity from the Hispanic culture to the Native American culture and the arts culture …,” Miller said.
He added he has performed in Taos since 1979, plus his sister lives in Albuquerque. Miller said he has never gotten over the state’s beauty.
Besides his performance, Miller will also showcase his artwork.
Miller has been performing since he was 19 years old. He explained his father gave him a guitar when he was 9 years old. He said he remembers watching The Beatles on television and he “fell in love.” Miller joked he was as “geeky as any 12-year-old girl.”
His father, who was a Korean War veteran, struggled with alcohol, and Miller said “music began to be therapy and a pacifier for me …”
He added that music allowed him to make connections with people when he couldn’t speak.
His career began to take off when, while attending arts school in Wisonsin and playing at a pizza joint, two men entered the restaurant and asked Miller if he wanted to go on the road with them. These two men – Arlo Guthrie and Richie Havens – took Miller under their wings.
From there, Miller toured with Tori Amos, Eddie Vedder and John Hartford, to name a few. He also earned three Grammys and six Native American Music Awards.
Looking at the course of his career, Miller said, “I think the highlights are people who recognize who I am. Four words that changed me (were) I believe in you … I’ve had people tell me that they believe in me and that has lit my fire throughout my life.”
He explained that he is happy to have established his own loyal following. The music industry, Miller said, turns him off. It is too greedy, and he is done chasing the charts. He now enjoys meeting his audience and sharing his music.
“That’s what I am sharing in Los Alamos,” Miller said. “(Music) is a healing thing as well as a living. The art has such an outlet for healing … when you give a lot, you get back twice as much.”
“I’m an original,” he added. “I am bringing my heritage, my native heritage. I want to bless people – that is the main purpose, to walk away and say I blessed people and they blessed me.”
He said that he is eager to collaborate with Medina Cook, who he describes as an “incredible human being. Just a super guy.”
Filmmaker Gary Medina Cook
Medina Cook recalled how they met.
“I first met Bill Miller in Santa Fe when I was about 15 years old. My band was playing in a basement bar at the Inn of Governors. I looked to the audience and noticed this tall Mohican Indian dude gazing at the band, watching me play guitar,” Medina Cook said. “We took a break, he asked if he could sit in, so I happily handed him my guitar and brought him on stage. I immediately loved his vibe. Bill counted the band in on a 12 Bar Blues and proceeded to tear the house down! He walked off stage and disappeared.”
Medina Cook said he didn’t know who that man was until 10 years later when they shared the stage in Oregon.
“This time Bill was wearing an acoustic guitar and a shaker taped to his boot. I thought, ‘I know this guy?’ It was then when someone said that he was the great Bill Miller,” Medina Cook said. “Another decade or so went by and I connected with Bill in Nashville at Doug Bossi’s studio. He recorded flute, drum, and native vocables for my film soundtrack. We hit it off and became great friends. We’ve been working together since. Los Alamos is in for a great time!”
“The Genizaro Experience: Shadows in Light” is a documentary that Medina wrote, filmed and edited himself. It shines the spotlight on Genízaros, who, Medina Cook said, were Native Americans, primarily plains Indians who were first abducted by the Spanish and then purchased as war captives. The young children taken captive were called “Children of War” and were enslaved by colonists to work in their houses, fields or serve in militias as they grew into young men. They were forced to learn to Spanish and convert to Catholicism. The name they were given, Genízaro, originated from a Turkish world “Janissary” for slaves trained as soldiers, according to the National Museum of American Indian website.
Miller said he is excited for the opportunity to take part in the screening of the documentary and perform his music to Los Alamos. Art, he explained, is such a powerful tool and it is a testament to how much he has achieved in his life.
“(Music) has evolved into a story of my life … it has also evolved into staying in the present tense,” he said. “I have come to be in a place where it has become a sacred part of my life … my children and faith are what matter and put that into music … changes dramatically. It is a spiritual element. It is an emotion. We get emotional on stage … I persevered to make it this far in my life. It is discipline and I can use this emotion … in a healthy way.”
