Rapid City based band The Wake Singers performed live on Moment in Sound, diversifying the stations typically tame music selection by filling the studio with electric instruments. They debuted a new song, Selfie. (Click play below to listen to Selfie).
The Wake Singers have a fan following in the area, but live performances are rare for them. Micheal Two Bulls founded the group with his cousin, Doug Two Bulls around 2005 while attending the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Micheal: “We were just a recording band, we never played live and if we did it was very rare and at gallery openings or museum openings. We felt comfortable in those kinds of venues.”
The two collaborate on song writing. Doug has been writing songs for about 25 years and gets his inspiration from personal experiences.
Doug: “Mast of Your Own Age, that song’s a lot of fun. That’s a phone conversation I’ve had with someone. She was always just saying really interesting things and I was just like ‘wow that’s an interesting perception you have of the world’. That’s where that came from, just having these conversations with this person.”
(Click play below to listen to Master of Your Own Age).
Reed Two Bulls joined the band when she was 15. She’s been traveling from Minnesota to record vocals and perform live.
Reed: “It’s a lot of fun. A Lot of the time I’m just observing because they have a lot more practice then I have but then I’ll lay something down and we’ll work off of whatever.”
She spends time on other projects in Minnesota.
Reed: “I go to Blues Night just to sing and play with my friends. And I’m also a muralist in the Twin cities.”
For live performance, the Wake Singers invite other musicians to join them. Most of the performers are versatile, switching instruments as needed. Dan Carol has been performing in the band for about two years. He doubled up on bass and the keyboard for Moment in Sound.
Dan: “It can be a little tricky when you’re trying to get around and make a quick transition, but I like it. Trying to just keep it all straight in my head, making sure I’m not missing where I’m supposed to come in.”
The newest performer, Samson Ptacek added a cello to the mix, substituting for parts written for a violin and viola.
Samson: “We just thought it’d be cool to take the tones from those and figure it out on the cello to make it sound like you got the violin and viola in there. We wanted to just give an accurate picture of what these guy’s songwriting is all about and how diverse it can be.
Micheal Two Bulls says the Wake Singers are thinking about touring in the summer. New music and projects are posted to their Instagram page, @thewakesingers.