"UNBOUND." Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, powwow singer and drummer in Bizhiki, sings during a Sept. 14 concert at Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire. The trio – which consists of Bizhikiins Jennings (Bad River Ojibwe), Joe Rainey (Red Lake Ojibwe), and Eau Claire’s Sean Carey – released the 11-track album Unbound in July.

In the heart of downtown Eau Claire, the music trio Bizhiki offered a powerful reminder of cultural heritage and the importance of relationships between our communities.

“This is our Eau Claire family here and it's kind of a return to our different family bases here,” said Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, a powwow singer, drummer in Bizhiki, and member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.

The two local performances, held at the Micon Downtown Cinema (315 S. Barstow St.) on Saturday, Sept. 14, were coordinated by Jordan Duroe, host of Farewell Transmission Radio on Converge Radio.

Local musicians – including Sean Carey and Justin Vernon – have enriched our community through their collaborations with vocalists Joe Rainey and Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Duroe said. These relationships have introduced new voices and perspectives to Eau Claire’s music scene.

“The combination of traditional and modern is really carving out a super unique sound,” Duroe said. “(The show is) really singular, beautiful – I couldn’t be more excited about the album and getting to celebrate this band here in town.”

The group shared music mostly from their debut project, Unbound, with the intimate audience. Across both performances, songs like “Trying to Live,” “She’s All We Have,” and “Medicine River,” celebrated the traditions of Native powwow music through an intersectional musical production.

The two Bizhiki performances were held at the Micon Downtown Cinema (315 S Barstow St.) and hosted by Farewell Transmission Radio, a program on Eau Claire's Converge Radio.

Sarah Magill, a volunteer for Farewell Transmission Radio and a musician herself, has found a deep appreciation for the radio station’s mission to highlight artists’ origins and their sense of place both in the music industry and their local communities.

“What Farewell does really well is you’re putting artists in a place where they are most likely to be appreciated,” Magill said. “Farewell is working with artists who are adding something in the conversation and have some interesting things to say, either inside their genre or in the stories they tell you.”

For all communities who attended the week-long tour across the state of Wisconsin, Bizhiki aimed to create an experience with themes of connection and love, Bizhikiins Jennings said.

“Our communities all across the state (and) all across the region deserve to have wonderful great performances,” he said. “Eau Claire tends to have a special place in our hearts.”

Eau Claire marked the final stop on Bizhiki’s week-long Wisconsin tour; Duroe said he was fortunate to secure a venue suited to the group’s production needs.

Pre-recorded visuals, depicting traditions from the artists’ communities, were paired alongside each song performed by Bizhiki. Harvesting manoomin (wild rice in Ojibwe) and traditional dresses worn by women in their community were featured in the stories shared through film.

Pre-recorded visuals, paired alongside each song performed by the group, enhanced the nuances and cultural traditions from Native nations across the Midwest and Bizhikiins Jennings’s own life story.

“You can learn something and feel something from it – the people that have lived some of these experiences can also feel something as well and can recognize some of the messages,” Bizhikiins Jennings said.

The underscore of connection was evident in the open exchange between artists and attendees. Friends and strangers greeted each other in their seats, while performers shared intimate pieces of their Native languages with the audience. Meanwhile, the artists’ children played and laughed between the aisles of the downtown Micon Cinema theater.

“You could feel the love and genuine good vibes of people that, you know, wanted to be there and build their weekend around that (performance),” Bizhikiins Jennings said. “You are here as a human being, having a human experience that allows you to feel all these different emotions.”

Mati Ihinger, a resident of Eau Claire and event attendee, said the Bizhiki show was a stunningly immersive experience for someone who grew up in Eau Claire but had never before attended a musical event with traditional powwow-influences.

“The blend with electronic indie music and their commanding voices was an incredible soundscape,” Ihinger said. “I remember looking over to my friend throughout the concert in awe of our shared experience.”

The evening was especially meaningful for Bizhikiins Jennings, who had three generations of his family present in the audience. His grandmother, mother, and daughter were there to witness the final leg of their Wisconsin tour. Common values like family, offer an outlet for Bizhiki to showcase the values of their Native communities.

“You see in a lot of our communities, recognizing the sacredness of our children and how important it is to raise them with our values and help them feel empowered, strong in their identity and to make them feel proud,” Bizhikiins Jennings said.

As the final song of each show concluded, standing ovations erupted from the crowd. Attendees had the chance to meet the group, snag signed merchandise and even collect heartfelt signatures from the artists’ children – a symbol of the love present throughout the evening.

Ihinger, despite not yet owning a record player, excitedly purchased Unbound as her first vinyl.

“Although their live performance cannot be replicated, I am excited to listen to it for both my love of the songs and in remembrance of such an immersive shared musical experience within my community,” Ihinger said.

Stay connected with Bizhiki’s evolving journey and future projects through social media at facebook.com/bizhikimusic or bizhiki.org. Their debut album, Unbound, was released earlier this year on Jagjaguwar Records.