Robbie Robertson, one of the leaders of seminal roots rock-folk outfit The Band, has never forgotten his Mohawk roots.
They are what gave the respected Toronto-born singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer his original fascination with music.
Robertson's being honoured tonight at the Aboriginal Achievement Awards in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre, where he will get a lifetime achievement award.
"The Aboriginal Achievement Award really pays respect to how I even got into music in the very beginning," said Robertson, 59, while in town last month for Canadian Music Week. "My connection to music is from the Six Nations Indian reservation. This was what made me say, 'I want to do that. I want to play music and I want to do it really (well). And I want to go and play music for people all over the world.' That's where those dreams came from. So this kind of honour, it pays respect to where it's really all coming from, for me, and that really warms my heart."
Robertson, who's been based in Los Angeles for years, will also perform at tonight's ceremony, although it won't be broadcast until April 7 (CBC-APTN, 8 p.m.)
Born to a Jewish father and Mohawk mother, Robertson divided his childhood years between Toronto and the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ont.
His earliest memories of Aboriginal music are numerous.
"It wasn't one -- it was hundreds of them," he said. "At Six Nations there weren't many electronics around, so the tradition of the people was to make your own music and your own entertainment. It felt to me like all my relatives, all my cousins, uncles, aunts, everybody, sang or danced or played an instrument or made some kind of contribution to the entertainment of the community. Seeing music being performed that close to you has a whole other impact on you.
"When you're sitting right there in front of it and you're just a baby or a little tiny kid, it starts to get under your skin. So it was all the stepping stones for me to either get the idea or the confidence or the imagination to have those kinds of dreams."
Robertson, who got his first big break when he became the guitarist in Ronnie Hawkins' backup band The Hawks, has certainly realized his dreams -- big time.
Bob Dylan recruited The Hawks as his electrical backup band in 1965, and they later changed their name to The Band. The group went on to produce hits like The Weight, Up On Cripple Creek and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, before breaking up in 1976.
Their famous farewell concert, The Last Waltz, at the Winterland in San Francisco, was filmed by director Martin Scorsese, who would later use Robertson as a music supervisor on such films as Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, The Color Of Money, Casino, and Gangs Of New York.
Robertson has also released solo albums since the late '80s, including the Aboriginal-themed Music For The Native Americans (1994) and Contact From The Underworld Of Red Boy (1998). He obviously has come a long way from the teenager who used to drag his guitar everywhere, even the bathroom, while practising chords.
Does it feel too soon to be getting a Lifetime Achievement Award?
"Well, it does imply that you've already done it -- whatever it is," he said with a chuckle. "And I've got so many things that I'm working on and things I want to do."
Including:
* Mounting an Aboriginal-themed musical, a combination of West Side Story, The Lion King and Riverdance, with a male character that is a Mohawk from Six Nations. "I've come up with an idea of doing a musical out of Indian country with just the most extraordinary dance and ritual and ceremony, and I've written, hopefully, this hauntingly beautiful love story," explained Robertson.
* Putting together a definitive collection of The Band's music. He just sent five-time Grammy winner Norah Jones a recently unearthed gem to see if she'd like to record it. "I found a tape of me writing a song, years ago, a song called Twilight. It's a tape of me just playing the piano and singing it, in the process of writing the song, and it's an interesting rendition of it."
