Like our songs, our name gives insight into my life, my dreams as a songwriter, and our vision as a band. I came up with the idea of the "Tribe" in 2006 with some studio musicians who were working on my solo project. Since then, our name and some of the band members have changed, but the vision remains true. Many of our songs have a political and historical meaning. Before pursuing a music career, I studied history and taught Social Studies for three years. Yet even before then, songwriters who sought to influence positive change in the world always intrigued me. Artists like Bob Marley and Bob Dylan were among the musicians that influenced me most. They combined politically-charged messages with haunting melodies that often forced the listener to pay attention and think about the message. Marley, and other artists like Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, threw themselves into the causes for which they stood, dangerous as they were. I had the opportunity to see Pete Seeger once in his late 80s, singing in the rain at a rally at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Such moments re-enforced the idea that music could have a profound affect on society. The folk/rock movement of the 1960s helped and continues to help validate those who view social injustice as a personal affront to the human condition. It also helps interest and educate those who may not have otherwise had information or an opinion.

Although we have seen great progress in civil rights since the 60s and 70s, the political state of the country, world diplomacy, and human rights have still need to improve. For this reason, the messages in those songs continue to ring true and the songs themselves have withstood the test of half a century. In my lifetime, they were what I could most relate to. I was turned on to such music when I was an angry, confused, 13-year-old who couldn't understand why, if I was American, I had not descended from the Native Americans. When I finally understood, without help from my teachers, I became fascinated with how the Native Americans lived and wondered why our country's immigrants did not want to live like them, but rather, wanted to destroy their culture. Communal life seemed to make so much more sense. It wasn't until my eighth-grade year that I could answer my questions. The answers didn't come from history lessons, but emerged from English classes, when I first read the Romantic poets. Their lyrics were of their own counterculture movement coming out of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Only then did I realize I wasn't alone in questioning whether what we have attained through progress in our history was worth the sacrifices, the loss of life, and the reduction in quality of life. Since then, I have become less cynical and I have learned certain battles are worth fighting. Now, I spend less time nostalgically thinking of how we lived in the past and more time incorporating in my music a concern for the future.

Today I carry the idea of the Tribe with me. I believe that people, no matter how they come to the realization, can be a voice to the voiceless. It is the moral obligation of the "winners" or the "haves," as they are often called, to remember the "have nots." In society it is the role of our teachers to inspire us to care. While I am no longer a schoolteacher, I will always be one at heart. Musicians and poets are among the few members of society who have the power to inspire others to see how our past and our future ss integrally related -- and not just in America, but in the world as a whole. The history of human suffering reminds us that our personal experiences are minor in comparison to what so many people have and continue to experience. Long ago I decided that part of my goal as a musician would be to continue that musical legacy. It is not the ideal path for an artist, and those following it are often met with hostility and stir up controversy. Many argue that musicians have no right being political. However, that belief is often linked with the fear that people blindly follow what is popular or fashionable. Although often true, as it was a generation ago, when the fashion fades the message remains. Today, our society is obsessed with what is fashionable even though it is too often devoid of meaning or substance. It is time that more musicians start living up to their potential as educators and servants to society. They are, after all, visionaries.

I realize that many people look to music to escape the frustrations, pain, or banality of their life -- as I do myself. I have written my share of love songs, which are reflected in our first album, Back to the Water. Listeners have told me that they relate to the range of emotions the songs conjure, from love to jealousy to regret. That is always good to hear. Our songs are meant to invoke deep feelings. However, songs of personal love won and lost will only be part of what Rising Tribe is about. Of all the subjects I write about, it is my empathy for human suffering that impacts and defines me most. This second album reflects more of these feelings. My hope is that our new music will inspire others to feel, think, and transform themselves in both small and large ways.

  - Tiffany