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Rik Leaf & Tribe of One

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Hometown	Winnipeg, Canada
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Band Members	Rik Leaf; Marie-Josee Dandeneau; Tina Newlove; Buffy ... » more
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Upcoming Shows	None

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About the Artist

Rik Leaf is a multi instrumental folk-poet, artistic activist and the creative force behind Tribe of One, a performance collective founded in 1998 that combines folk-roots music, live action painting and Aboriginal dancers.

Rik Leaf & Tribe of One thrill audiences with their wildly original concerts that feature Rik on acoustic/electric guitar, piano, ocarinas and stomp box, and Marie-Josée Dandeneau, a Métis multi instrumentalist on upright/fretless bass, didgeridoo and djembe.

‘The sheer number of instruments onstage – all played by two people – coupled with Leaf’s interest in Aboriginal sounds and culture invite comparisons to Australian artist Xavier Rudd.” Bryan Birtles, Edmonton’s Vue Weekly

Tina Newlove, an award winning painter and performance artist creates stunning visual images on stage throughout each concert performance. In addition to live action painting on stage Tina tours with galleries of original art work and print reproductions bringing the creation and appreciation of visual art into every concert and festival appearance. Tina won First Prize in the 14th Annual Juried Art Exhibition during Lakeshore Arts in 2007 and her work has been part of the City of Toronto's Permanent Collection since 2005.

Buffy Handel is an Anishinabe First Nation hoop dancer and founder of Indian Pearl Productions. Interpreting the songs through a variety of styles, Buffy utilizes the richness of her First Nation heritage, costumes and culture making each performance a rich multi cultural experience. She's performed at 1999 Pan Am Games, 2004 Juno Awards and the 2004 Esquao Awards.

Rik Leaf & Tribe of One have a history of inspiring creative partnerships with humanitarian organizations including the Red Cross, U.N.I.C.E.F., War Child Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Their multi cultural appeal has taken the group across Canada and the U.S. and as far away as Pristina, Kosovo, where they joined fellow Canadian activist Bruce Cockburn, performing at a United Nations benefit event hosted by Vanessa Redgrave.

In 2006 Rik founded JUST Artists Inc. to represent a national affiliation of socially active Canadian performers and producers. Over the last two years he has produced the JUST ART Showcase Series connecting individuals to one another and the ideas shaping our communities and country. He is also the host and co-producer of The Artist Next Door, a TV series celebrating JUST artists in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Rik has been a featured on six internationally released compilation CDs that combined have sold over 35,000 copies in addition to producing four full-length albums of his own, the latest to be released January 2009.

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Music

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August 2009 Southern Rock

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Press Coverage

Artist Activist Minus the Rant by Geez Magazine - Spring 2008
Rik Leaf doesn’t talk like you’d expect. For a self-described “cultural activist” he’s unusually reserved. He doesn’t cite disturbing statistics or quote Chomsky, and his tone is inviting, open and generous, a far cry from the kind of shrill rants I’ve often heard from activists. In the course of our conversation he talks about his kids, his neighbourhood, being on the road playing shows. Where’s the activist cause? “Art is a conversation,” he tells me, “and if one side is constantly steering the conversation a particular way, it’s a pitch; it’s propaganda. I’m not interested in telling people what to think; I just want to encourage them to think, period.” Leaf is a seasoned songwriter and performer, just back from another Canadian tour where he played in pubs, clubs, churches and schools, hosted performance workshops, and met with other artists. He’s lived in Winnipeg for 10 years, but tours steadily, playing solo and with Tribe of One, a performance collaboration where musicians share the stage with visual artists and dancers. Leaf walked away from a thriving but ultimately stifling Christian music career to try to open up conversations between otherwise exclusive or antagonistic identity groups. Subculture art “Subculture art is about identity,” says Leaf. “The primary role of subculture art is to reinforce the views and opinions of the subculture, which is why it rarely, if ever, breaks out of the subculture and impacts mainstream. It has all kinds of rules and restrictions, and that applies whether you’re part of a lesbian folk group or a Christian rock band. I want to be more inclusive, build bridges between cultures, backgrounds, ages, disciplines, beliefs.” Tribe of One was a good way to start building bridges, combining a wide range of artists and artistic disciplines, the result being performances that are always surprising. Now Leaf has started JUST Artists, an affiliation of socially conscious writers, artists, musicians, performers and producers committed to improving the world through artistic contributions. When I ask Leaf what JUST Artists does he’s vague. “It didn’t start with an agenda,” he says. “I want to champion the voices in our midst whose work truly engages our imagination. Some artists want to be the next big thing, but most of the artists I know want to make art with all they’ve got. But it can be a pretty solitary experience, even for established artists. Pop culture is so overwhelming that it makes being an artist seem like a competition, like some other artist’s success comes at my expense. Sometimes artists are afraid to share ideas because someone else might use them.” With JUST Artists, Leaf wants to connect artists with one another and bring others into the picture including politicians, community activists and church leaders. Last fall, just Artists organized a night of music, poetry, and photos by John Paskievich from his new book, The North End, hosted by the local member of parliament. Activist Maybe Leaf doesn’t push an agenda because before he’s an activist, he’s an artist. “Artists and prophets both work on the canvas of the imagination,” says Leaf, echoing themes from Walter’s Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination. “It should challenge the dominant narrative.” He wants to foster art rather than champion a cause and he believes it’s possible for art to be political without being partisan. “I saw clips from Rock the Vote before the election in the States in 2004. These artists go on stage and say, ‘Vote for Kerry, not for Bush. Vote for this, not for that.’ Art should give us new eyes to see ourselves and the world around us, not tell us what to think.” Leaf wants to foster art that tackles problems that run deeper than who happens to be in office. “We’re bombarded with consumer culture’s version of art. I was in Kosovo in 1999 with Tribe of One and we met these Albanian university students who spoke perfect English and dressed like the kids on 90210. These are people who were banned from speaking their native language, but they can watch the same TV programs we do. Or up north in the most isolated Manitoba communities, the kids dress like they’re on MuchMusic, they listen to Limp Bizkit and Korn. Does pop culture give these kids a voice of their own? Is it empowering them at all?” It’s the closest Leaf comes to an activist rant. Leaf is humble about his role as a bridge builder, modest and realistic about what he hopes will happen when art challenges the imagination. He speaks of his role in just Artists as a calling. “This is it,” he says, “this is what I do, this is who I am, this is what I’m capable of.” An activist with a vision, not an agenda.

The Leaf Doesn’t Fall Far From the Ocarina by Edmonton's Vue Weekly
Some artists like to have guitar, bass and drums onstage, while others are more at home when adding a tuba, three saxophones, some maracas and 27 other instruments. Winnipeg’s Rik Leaf is definitely the latter. “Do you know what an Ocarina is? It’s kind of an indigenous clay flute—it’s usually a four-holed clay flute—I’ve got a couple of those. I have a stomp box for percussion, which I stole from an artist I opened for a couple of years ago in Vancouver. It’s great—it sounds like a bass drum. The Métis girl I play with [Marie-Josée Dandeneau] plays an electric bass that she can play standing up, plucked or bowed, and she plays a bit of mandolin too,” he says, trying to recount the multitude of instruments onstage with the two of them. “Lets see ... we have some shells and stuff ... a djembe.” The sheer number of instruments onstage—all played by two people—coupled with Leaf’s interest in aboriginal sounds and culture have invited comparisons to Australian artist Xavier Rudd. (And, Dandeneau herself used to tour with Rudd.) Leaf says that he’s okay with that comparison. “I started this band called Tribe of One—well, it was probably more of an artist’s collective than a band—there’s a lot of different artistic elements,” he says, explaining that dancers and even visual artists who paint while the music plays join him onstage. “As soon as I get back to Winnipeg it’s Festival du Voyageur and these aboriginal dancers will be joining us onstage. The more I have to do with Aboriginal and Métis cultures, the more I seem to say, ‘Hmm ... Xavier Rudd eh?’“ Also important to Leaf is increasing awareness of more just options for living. To that end he started JUST Artists Inc in 2006. “It’s related to fair trade issues, environmental issues and the like, but I’ve found it doesn’t really relate to typical activist movements because it’s not about what we’re running from, it’s about what we’re running to,” he says. “I was finding I wasn’t the only one that these things were stirring inside, so I wanted to have a shorthand label to describe these feelings.”

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Rik Leaf & Tribe of One

About the Artist

Music

Achievements

Press Coverage