Introducing Irene Bedard and Deni

Introducing Irene BedarD And Deni
www.irenebedardanddeni.com

Irene Bedard and Deni have been a band for 4 years.They perform original contemporary music with traditional Native,Gaelic and American roots.Their music finds its sound in the marriage of two cultures with a message of love for the human nation, with no exclusions.They have recorded 4 records and have been nominated for different music awards.Irene Bedard is best known as an actress and has starred in over 42 movies, and many television shows.Irene was the speaking voice and likeness of Disneys "Pocahontas ". She has starred in many TNT movies such as" Lakota Woman","Two for Texas", "Crazy Horse" and Steven Spielbergs "Into The West" . Cult classic "Smoke Signals", and many more (check out IMDB).Irene has won over 15 best actress and best supporting actress awards .Irene has had several films released in 2007 including" Tortilla Heaven" with George Lopez and Elaine Miles, and "Cosmic Radio" with Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas and Micheal Madsen (which features new music from I.D.)

She has also just completed the 1st year of the new Spiderman animated series, for which she is a regular.Deni began his music study at the Canal Street Tavern in Dayton Ohio working as a sound engineer from the age 15-22.Deni learned music from the many legendary greats that played there during that time including blues greats Willie Dixon, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy to name a few. All sorts of musicians played there , all had an influence on him. Country to bluegrass, Celtic to Zydeco and many modern rock stars.

Deni s first band won many local band contests. This led him to leave Ohio for the big apple where he met Irene Bedard. They waited tables at the famous Around the Clock in the east village and were soon married.Deni is an indie musician and recorded with many bands over the years and has starred in off Broadway theater. Deni won an mp3 Grammy for best male vocalist. He has scored 6 films.Irene and Deni have married for a long time and have a 4 year old named Quinn.In 2007 Irene Bedard and Deni launched an acting and music program for Native American kids.

Their friend Adam Beach has been out there helping them for a year with their proposal. And it looks like they will reach their goal.Here is their mission statement, written by Irene.Foundation For the Future of the Seventh GenerationMission Statement:Creativity in the human mind is the heart of the soul and liveseverywhere and belongs to everyone.

Foundation for the Future of the Seventh Generation: A youthmentoring and leadership program through the use of the performing andmedia arts.Statistics show that per capita in the United States Native American youth have:1) the highest drug and alcohol use rate2) the highest teen pregnancy rate3) the highest teen suicide rate4) the highest high school drop out rate5) the highest college drop out rateI believe the causes are multigenerational and multilayered.

Because I am Alaskan Native and was born and raised there and becausethe culture shock and contemporary cultural deconstruction which hasovertaken our Native American youth, I see a great need of epidemicproportions to create a bridge, not a buffer to the effects ofcoexisting in two worlds.How: To ease the culture shock through combining traditional culturalpride and modern multimedia mediums.Where to begin: At this time we are creating a performance of AlaskanNative traditional stories set to music and are intending to performand include traditional Alaskan Native dancers to go on tour to allthe remote Alaskan Native villages and schools.

We will then engage the youth in creating stories, songs, theater and music with the useof computers, recording equipment, HiDef camera equipment and 10-15digital cameras for the youth to create visual life diaries.Our 1 goal is to create both personal and cultural self-esteem.Through this process, the end result will be a reality documentary ofthe struggles of Alaskan Native youth and the beauty of culturalsurvival in the face of social factors, acculturation stress,environmental factors and political warfare.

All Alaskan Native youth should be considered to be "at risk" youth bythe simple fact that they are living subsistence lifestyles passeddown from the beginning of time, many whose first language is of theirtraditional heritage and yet they are exposed to the partial orcomplete values of the prevailing social system.

Where do theybelong? How can we make them strong in their cultural identity whilestill retaining the ability to function in contemporary society?Then there are those urban youth who face discrimination, more accessto the influences of Western society, including drug and alcohol useand because of the multigenerational deconstruction of traditionalways are more likely to face domestic violence, sexual abuse andalienation.Our youth are fractured and in epidemic proportions.

There are outward reasons this documentation should also beconsidered. This is not only a human interest story, but anenvironmental story and laden with political hauntings.In 1958, in Point Hope, Alaska, 1000 tons of uridium, thibidium andcobalt were intentionally buried in the ground and water sourcessimply because during the cold war the U.S. government wanted to findout what eating radioactive food would do to people.In my lifetime, glaciers which have existed for tens of thousands ofyears have simply vanished. The arctic ocean is rising and wholevillages have had to move upland from ancestral homes.

And during the winter, when whole villages and/or individuals make passage toanother village to maintain multigenerational relationships, becauseof global warming and no snow for the snowmobiles and dogsleds, theyare unable to do so. So these relationships are dying.President Bush has created incentives for the people to leave thevillages because of oil and mineral exploration.And the State of Alaska has threatened to defederalize the tribeswhich would cause tremendous turmoil in the state of affairs of tribalexistence.In the meantime, 6 out of 10 Alaskan Native youth are not living tothe age of 18.This is an epidemic.We have already accomplished shooting a documentary, a public serviceannouncement, an original song recording and a music video throughRaven, a youth mentoring program.

We believe we could continue this work through a series of conferencesfor the performing arts and the media arts for Native American youth with a long term goal of creating a school, with a 1-year college preparatory program for the performing and media arts using great Native American talent such as, actors Adam Beach, Wes Studi, Sheila Tousey, and Elaine Miles,directors such as Chris Eyre and Valerie Red-Horse, and musicians suchas Jim Boyd and Keith Secola.

All of these artists are pioneers having achieved so much in their careers. That experience should come back to the next generation.Each youth will be involved, whether it is in front of the camera, oras a recording engineer, an actor, singer, writer ,or director oftheir own autobiographical documentary. It is our hope to send everyyouth out into his or her own world with their own camera to challengetheir perceptions of life, to facilitate personal reflection andintrospection.

In shooting these documentaries our goal is to capture indigenousculture, inspire this generation to rise to personal and culturalaffirmation and to raise awareness in the mainstream Americanconsciousness, for we are the invisible people, but one might onlyhope that through some catalyst such as this project we may not faceextinction.Over the years we have found that live performance and film can really open the minds of young people. Even if they don't listen to the kind of music we play or watch the kind of movies we make.

To be affected by an experience that is new can be very powerful.Inspiration can change the world, and that's worth everything.

For more information and to contact Irene, please visit her website at www.irenebedardanddeni.com