Tchiya Amet & the Light House Band

Artist Information

Biography

Musician (Singer/Songwriter/Keyboards), Ethno-Astronomer and Craftswoman, Tchiya Amet was born August 5, and raised on the South Side of Chicago, IL. Her ancestral heritage resembles a patchwork quilt: She is First Nations: Black Cherokee and Blackfoot. Her way of living reflects the Wisdom of the Ancient Ones from the Four Directions.

Tchiya has played in Irie Jane, One Nation, the Presidents, World Tribe, Karison, Dogon Sirius, Isaac Haile Selassie and Joanna Marie. Tchiya Amet & the Light House Band has toured with the Spirit of Bob Marley Festival Tour;while still living in Austin, Tx., they traveled to both coasts: Spring 2001 to St. Petersburg, FL for the Seminole Tribe "Discover Native America Pow Wow". Summer found them out West at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Roots Mountain Fest in Tonasket, WA and Reggae on the River. Other festivals & cultural events include: World One Day in El Cerrito, CA., Houston Women's Festival, Austin Jazz Festival, Alamo Community Garden Festival, the Austin I.S.D. Pow Wow and Healing Bloody Island Concert at Robinson Rancheria (Pomo Indian Rez).

After re-locating to Northern California in 2001,
Tchiya Amet & the Light House Band had the opportunity to perform at Monterey Bay Reggae Fest, One Root Festival, and San Francisco Reggae in the Park. Highlights of 2003 included Benbow Summer Arts & Music Festival, Bend, OR Munch & Music Fest, Starbelly Jam Fest at Crawford Bay, BC, One World Festival in Penticton, BC, Round Valley Blackberry Festival, Los Angeles African Marketplace Native American Festival, and the Mayfair Festival in Allenstown, Pa.

Her early influences include Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, Freedom Fighters, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Sade, Patrice Rushen, Brenda Russell, Fela, Sun Ra, Gregory Isaacs, Burnin' Spear, Cesaria Evora, Abyssinians, Misti and Roots, Aswad, Black Uhuru, and Steel Pulse.

Tchiya chose to homeschool her daughters when they were young. The curriculum at Arbol de Vida Homeschool has included: Yoga, Math, Astronomy/Astrology, Music, Art, Science of Living and Natural Health, Indigenous Rights, Sovereign America, Vegan Cooking, Environmental Studies, Soccer, Sewing, Drama, Homeschoolers' Social Club and Culture Studies. Now that the girls are teenagers, they are pretty much on their own path of education. Her many passions include Hiking, Swimming in Spring Water, Jogging, Organic Gardening, Hemp for Peace, Calendar Reform and Watermelon. In her "free" time, Tchiya enjoys sharing her research on Cultural Astronomy and Yoga with people of all ages.

Instrumentation

Tchiya Amet Vela: Lead Vocals, Keyboard
Steve Hoffman: Keyboards, Background Vocals
KImiko Joy: Background Vocals
Rachelle Romeo: Sax
Mario Vela: Drums
Wadell Marcel Bell: Bass
Ed "Loveletter" Elizarde: Guitar

Discography

"Rise Again Truth" 2000 Milky Way Records
"Black Turtle Island" 2003 Milky Way Records
The majority of these tracks have received airplay, and continue to do so.

Audio

• Tsalagi Thankful
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• Rabbit People/Ani Tsisadu
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• Saturn's Return
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• Jah, Music & You
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Lyrics

• Rabbit People/ Ani Tsisadu
• Saturn's Return

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• NATIVE PEOPLES MUSIC by J. Poet [+ Show ]
  

  This Austin, Texas-based reggae artist- Seminole/Cherokee/Creek/Blackfoot heritage- and her Lighthou...This Austin, Texas-based reggae artist- Seminole/Cherokee/Creek/Blackfoot heritage- and her Lighthouse Band releases their conscious roots reggae style first album. It is a low-key delight, combining bass-heavy grooves with the singer's smooth, I-Threes-influenced harmonies. The band's musical inventiveness is a large part of the album's charm. "Rastafari is Universal" rides a jump-up, carnival riddim, while "Reservation Ragtime Blues" incorporates bits of Scott Joplin's rags into its piano fills.
  
  

• REGGAE UPDATE by Chuck Foster [+ Show ]
  

  Dreadlocked neo-Native American ex-astronomy student-turned reggae-singer Tchiya Amet melts cultural...Dreadlocked neo-Native American ex-astronomy student-turned reggae-singer Tchiya Amet melts cultural concepts like hot water on jello on her debut cd Rise Again Truth (Milky Way). Combining vocal and rhythmic stylings from jazz, international pop and reggae with lush and soaring sax arrangements and traditional (as well as non-traditional) concepts, her singular worldview reveals itself in songs like “Natural Life”, “Shed No Blood”, “Natural Woman” and “Rastafari is Universal.” With personal roots in Africa, Europe and the south side of Chicago Tchiya draws most deeply in her lyrics from her Native American roots. Out of this cultural miasma she builds a highly agreeable sound that resembles a spicy stew whose individual ingredients (Motown, salsa, Afro-pop and doo-wop are all admitted influences) bear less attention than the result of their adroit combination.
  
  In her interpretation of traditional songs like “Lakota: Four Directions” and “Tsalagi Thankful” Amet presents ancient wisdom in a beguiling pop form as befits a woman whose personal journey includes the pursuit of a degree in physics, performance with the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble, producing festivals and her own line of clothing and coordinating the Natural Life Organic Food Co-op while teaching yoga, women’s studies and African History (among other subjects) on the side. And this girl can sing! Two very different songs, “Tribe of Dinah” in which her personal point of view takes on worldwide implications, and “Reservation Ragtime Blues”, in which she sets a stark reality tune to the music of Scott Joplin, exemplifying her all-encompassing vision.
  
  

• TEXAS PLATTERS by David Lynch [+ Show ]
  

  Crucial Reggae ain’t dead, not if Tchiya Amet’s even-tempoed debut Rise Again Truth (Milky Way) is a...Crucial Reggae ain’t dead, not if Tchiya Amet’s even-tempoed debut Rise Again Truth (Milky Way) is any indication. Local singer/keyboardist Amet and handpicked area musicians supply the intricate and airy musical red carpet for this Soul Sista’s reasonings on living a natural, ital life. Still, two things distinguish Rise Again Truth from other lyrically intense reggae: jazzy arrangements and the incorporation of Native American tradition. On the propelling “Lakota: 4 Directions” for example, Amet mixes Rastafari Theology with indigenous mythology, the music evoking a hypothetical blend of Finnish sensation Varttina vocal harmonies, Burning Spear’s saxophone, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett bass grooves. Likewise, a Native American Mallard flute flows through the Cherokee song “Tsalagi Thankful,” with the outcome being a far cry from New Age thanks to drop riddim beats and dub breaks. On opener “Natural Life,” Amet’s voice evokes the glassy phrasing of Sade, but with more straight-ahead conviction. Edwin Livingston’s donates killer basswork throughout, but shines on “Reservation Ragtime Blues” and “Rastafari is Universal,” a tune in which Amet alludes - like Dizzy Gillespie’s brilliant “Kush” - to the great African Kingdom that gave rise to the Pharaohs. Some may find the dread lyrics a bit preachy, but Rise Again Truth is - musically and lyrically - head and shoulders above the lovey-dovey pop reggae. Some tracks (“Natural Woman”) can stand alone as instrumentals. Jah Live!
  

• “Musical Madness” by Sister Yasmin [+ Show ]
  

  "More bountiful harvest for this season, as another powerful Sister releases a new album. I have bee..."More bountiful harvest for this season, as another powerful Sister releases a new album. I have been a fan of Tchiya Amet for several years and this release is most welcomed by her many admirers. Since she relocated to Northern California recently, I have been able to keep in touch with this talented and multi-faceted artist and her music. Black Turtle Island is interesting, diverse, and different. It is firmly rooted in the roots reggae tradition while blending many indigenous and contemporary cultures and rhythms. Stand out tracks are "Ani Tsisdu" (Rabbit People), an original song sung in the Cherokee tongue reflecting that part of Tchiya's heritage. "I've Known Rivers", adapted from a poem by famed African American/ Cherokee Harlem Renaissance poet and activist Langston Hughes, her first light-hearted love song "Jah, Music and You", an excursion into salsa on "Musica Alegre", and one of my favorites, "Fountain of Love" adapted from a poem by Marcus Mosiah Garvey. The photos are superb in the CD package as well as providing all lyrics. Tchiya is a poet and these songs are works of art. About her music, she says, "This music seeks to express the voice of a nation denied the most basic of human rights time and time again: the right to self-determination, even the right to exist. The existence of Black Indians of Turtle Island (North America) is a controversial topic in Indian Country today. Nevertheless, we continue to exist, and we continue to make music." An excellent recording with fine instrumentation and you will love this CD! Tchiya sings lead and background vocals, plays keyboard on some tunes, and her husband Mario Vela plays drums, and percussion; they both produced this release on their own Milky Way label."
  
  

• REGGAE UPDATE” by Chuck Foster [+ Show ]
  

  “Tchiya Amet broadens her horizons - and ours - on Black Turtle Island (Milky Way). To her former ...“Tchiya Amet broadens her horizons - and ours - on Black Turtle Island (Milky Way). To her former mix of reggae and native American sounds she adds jazz, rhythm & blues and world elements creating a style that is all inclusive without losing herself in the mix. Many of the songs focus on the experience of “black Indians” neglected, forgotten, ignored but whose spirit, it is obvious from this work, is on the rise. One song is sung in her native Cherokee and another adapted from a poem by Langston Hughes (who shared the black Cherokee cultural background she reflects). Tchiya has risen above musical categories to present a work that is beautiful and unique while continuing her personal musical journey in an unorthodox yet perfectly charming way. Her strong sense of social conscience is tempered by a sweet voice and sophisticated musical arrangements. Recommended for those who cannot be contained by barriers and categorization. “
  
  Chuck Foster, BEAT Magazine www.GetTheBeat.com
  
  

Setlist

2 1.5 hour sets is typical.
Spring 2004 Setlist

Thankful Entrance
Youth of Today
My Clan
Rivers
The One
Tree of Life
Lluvia
Rabbit People
Concrete Jungle
Nothing can come between us
They can’t stop us now
Institution
Lakota
World Peace
Science of Love
Fountain of Love
Thankful


Follow fashion
Reservation
Columbus
Natural Woman
Saturn’s return
Jah, Music & You

Basic Requirements

Calendar