Music constantly surrounds Wade Fernandez, whether it’s in a concert venue, at home with family, or teaching kids on the reservation.
Fernandez, a Menominee musician, has a number of awards sitting around his house, including a Native American Music Award, a Community Spirit Award from the First Peoples Fund, and a number of Indian Summer Music Awards.
The awards are not something he pulls out regularly, as he doesn’t see himself as a big music star. Instead, he sees himself as someone with a gift, and his mission is to share that gift with as many people as possible.
“The way I look at it is, if it was a gift I was given, then what’s wrong with giving that gift away?” Fernandez said.
Through that gift, Fernandez has created a number of songs regarding the Menominee people, including “Commodity Cheese Blues,” “Frybread Jones” and “Rez Runner.” He has been able to share that gift with his children and countless others.
Fernandez, 46, has also traveled the world to share his gift, including regular tours in Europe. In November, he returns to Austria and Germany for several shows.
Music in the blood
Fernandez has a family history of music, with both of his parents, his grandparents and many aunts and uncles performing with a variety of instruments during family time. It was that influence that encouraged the Keshena resident to learn guitar and flute at a young age.
“When I was a little boy around 5 or 6 — maybe even younger — I’d hear music on a movie, and there’d be a guitar playing, and it sounded so cool to me. Just the atmosphere and the feelings it created, it was really attractive to me,” Fernandez said. “It was hard not to be interested. It was in my ancestry.”
Fernandez recalled his father placing an acoustic guitar on his lap, going to the record player to play a song, and then suggesting to Fernandez that he try to imitate the music. He remembered he was unsuccessful, but the experience piqued his interest in learning how to play.
“I listened, and I read. I took a few guitar lessons in Shawano,” Fernandez said.
As he got older, around 15 or 16, he started playing with a few bands around the reservation, any band that would let him. Fernandez got an opportunity in 1992 to be recorded along with other Native American artists at the request of musician Mitch Walking Elk. Walking Elk also asked Fernandez to join him on a European concert tour.
Finding his own voice
In 1999, Fernandez considered stepping away from music altogether. As much as he enjoyed his craft, he felt his individual voice was getting lost among other musicians’ voices.
“I was always a supporting musician, and I was tired of playing cover tunes,” Fernandez said. “I was getting tired of always playing other people’s music.”
Fernandez’s thoughts of abandoning a music career ended when he was invited to play in Milwaukee as the opening musician for Bill Miller, a Stockbridge-Munsee musician. Fernandez agreed, saying he would bring his band and play original music from his CD.
“I hung up the phone, and I had no CD, no original music and no band at the time,” Fernandez said. “At the same time, I felt it was time for me to do something, or just give up.”
At that time, Fernandez was spending his days teaching music on the reservation, and evenings with his wife and their first child, still an infant. Once his family went to bed, he gave himself permission to let whatever came out transform into a song.
The result was a number of songs, and those songs were telling him he was on the right track. Three months after the invitation to play in Milwaukee, Fernandez had 1,000 CDs of his debut album, “Wiciwen Apis-Mahwaew,” land on his doorstep.
A song about commodity cheese
Fernandez noted that he considers tossing some songs during the writing process. However, he is happy when fans come up and tell him how much of an impact a certain song has had on their lives.
One song that springs to Fernandez’s mind is “Commodity Cheese Blues.” The song offers a realistic portrayal of life on the reservation, Fernandez said, talking about tribal members living in poverty who come to the commod shop for cheese and other staples.
Fernandez got some friends together in 2005 and, after scripting it out on a napkin, did a music video for “Commodity Cheese Blues,” which he posted on his website. At one point, the video was getting 70,000 hits per week after it was lifted onto other websites, Fernandez said.
“It was going around Indian Country in the United States, and people were watching it, and I didn’t know about it,” Fernandez said.
“Commodity Cheese Blues” might not have seen the light of day, however, if Fernandez had decided to toss it. He thought at the time it was a fun song, but he wasn’t sure it would resonate with people. Fernandez said the song has been used in university classes as an example of true life on Indian reservations and to break down stereotypes.
Preserving the language
“Wiciwen Apis-Mahwaew” was the first of seven albums Fernandez produced. Of those, his 2004 album “Song of the Black Wolf” earned him a Best Male Artist award from the Native American Music Awards.
Some of Fernandez’s songs are in the Menominee language, something that is very dear to him. In fact, the title of his debut album, translated to English, means “Walks With the Black Wolf,” Fernandez’s traditional Menominee name.
Fernandez said he feels it is important to share his language, and he enjoys when he is able to share his native tongue, especially on his European tours.
“Our ancestors had carried it for so long, but now it is a dying language, and we really need to work hard to resurrect it,” Fernandez said. “At least it’s getting out there, and I feel good about using my gift of music to help with the language and keep it going.”
Even though his music has taken him around the world, it has never meant more than when he’s able to bring his five children in on the fun. Several of his children have traveled with him to Europe, and last year, his 12-year-old son, Quintin, got to perform on stage with Dad.
“It’s nice to be able to include my children. I never wanted to be one of those artists where I have children but I never see them,” Fernandez said. “It’s really cool to take them around to see different places, different countries.”
