I was driving on down to my grandma's house for a lil' visit. We were both sittin' on the couch while the news played on the TV, and one of my favourite artists, Billy Strings, was briefly featured on the program playing bluegrass music. My grandma chimed in and recalled how folks from our community (Beausoleil First Nation) used to play bluegrass too when she was younger, and something about it (aside from my love for bluegrass) really stuck with me. It was this brief remark that inspired my choice to illustrate an indigenous bluegrass band for the music themed piece of art commissioned by Scotiabank Arena.

After all, I feel like contemporary indigenous from my area art rarely features us as indigenous people interacting with any instruments that aren't drums or shakers. On one hand, perhaps this approach contributes to the preservation and storytelling of our culture in a historical sense, but on the other, failing to explore other ideas contributes to us being placed in a box that imposes an idea of what an indigenous person should or shouldn't be. It's my hope that this element of music from my maternal family's community aids in combating the latter.