SOCORRO, N.M. – An epic story of one woman’s return to her homeland will unfold with “Martha Redbone: Bone Hill,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, at N.M. Tech’s Macey Center in a Performing Arts Series (PAS) event.

This artistic reflection of Redbone’s return to her homeland and the coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains, as recounted by a fourth-generation Cherokee woman, will resonate with anyone who has wondered about and cherished their own heritage.

Redbone’s Bone Hill is a dramatic blues-gospel-folk musical with a cast of eight actors/musicians inspired by a diverse family lineage in the Appalachian Mountains, where for centuries her ancestors lived and worked the Kentucky coal mines of Harlan County.

“We are so excited to have Martha Redbone grace our stage,” PAS Director Ronna Kalish said. “There is no one else quite like Martha, and her powerful story, deeply rooted in Appalachian roots, is epic.

“Martha carries everything she has in her voice,” Kalish added. “It embodies where she comes from, where she’s been and who she is. It is rich with history, passion and a love for life and living.”

Redbone (pictured at right) is a multi award-winning musician and songstress. She is known for a sound embodying the folk and mountain blues sounds of a childhood in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky, mixed with her eclectic and electric teenage years in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

With the power of her gospel-singing African-American father’s voice and the determined spirit of her Cherokee/Shawnee/Choctaw mother, Redbone embodies and expands the boundaries of ancient and contemporary Americana.

Relax prior to the concert at Tech Club Macey’s Schmooze, Booze and Bites featuring Socorro women sharing short story bytes about their life — you, too, can share a story – a coconut concoction drink special, and pulled pork sliders served with the three barbecue C’s: corn on the cob, cole slaw, and cobbler. This event is free to TCM members and $10 for non-members.

The silent art auction which began with “Shall We Dance Socorro?!” will continue in the upper lobby of Macey Center, and will close at the intermission of Redbone’s performance.

Bone Hill is based on the stories of her Appalachian mining family’s heritage and culture where she travels back in time to her own childhood and beyond, embracing memories and tales of her ancestors.

Redbone, known as one of the most vital voices in American Roots music, has built a passionate fan base. Her album “Skintalk” is described as the soulful sound of “Earth, Wind and Fire on the Rez”(Native Peoples magazine), and is recognized as an example of Contemporary Native American music in the Permanent Library Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Martha Redbone is accompanied by a top-notch cast of actor/musicians.

Music director and pianist/organist Aaron Whitby, co-creator of Bone Hill, is best known for the multiple award-winning albums he has written and produced with longtime collaborator and wife, Redbone, whose band he leads. He is currently working on his own CD release, Cousin from Another Planet, a jazz/funk exploration of his more esoteric musical vocabulary.

Drummer Rocky Bryant’s diverse drumming abilities have kept him on stage and in the studio with some of the best names in music. He has performed and/or recorded with Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis & Buckshot, Peter Frampton, Maxwell, Cyndi Lauper, David Sanborn, Faith Hill, Brandy, Daryl Hall, Paula Abdul and Billy Joel, to highlight but a few.

Brooklyn born and raised Charles Burnham (“Tibby”/storyteller/violin/harmonica) is a versatile and virtuosic American violinist and composer, whose style crosses bluegrass, delta punk, free jazz, blues, classical and chamber jazz.  He has graced the recordings of many, including Henry Threadgill, String Trio of New York, Rufus Wainwright, Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong, Burnham also performs on harmonica and mandolin and is a highly regarded singer.

Chicago native Alan Burroughs (storyteller/background vocals/dobro and electric guitar) has recorded and toured with Martha Redbone since 2000. His great-uncle was legendary bandleader Fletcher Henderson, known as one of the founders of Jazz and the band that launched Louis Armstrong. Burroughs is known for his versatility of styles, from blues, jazz, rock and reggae, to soul and funk.

Windy City native Fred Cash Jr. (storyteller/bass) has recorded and toured with Redbone since 2000. He attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and is much in-demand as a bass player. He has recorded and worked with such artists as Alicia Keys, Nona Hendryx, George Clinton, Henry Butler, Jean-Paul Bourelly, India Arie, Jerry Butler, Barbara Streisand and Marika Hughes.

Soni Moreno (“Liza”/storyteller/vocals), Bat Area born and raised, is known for her incredible vocal range. Moreno is one of the founding members of the multi-award winning trio, Ulali, a traditional Native American vocal group. A student at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, she played Chrissie in the original productions of “Hair,” danced with the Copasettics, and worked with the Smithsonian Institution on the opening of the National Museum.

Chicago-born Marvin Sewell (banjo/acoustic and electric guitars) learned guitar with many Chicago basement bands, and was exposed to a variety of styles playing with many famous local Chicago musicians. He has performed and/or recorded with David Sanborn, George Benson, Sekou Sundiata, Cassandra Wilson, Regina Carter and a host of other esteemed musicians including his own band, The Marvin Sewell Group.

Bone Hill brings to light an important piece of American history inspired by four generations of women in a Cherokee family, a family in the hills of coal-mining Appalachia, and a people bonded by their culture, identity and the mountain despite its violent past and the ever-changing laws of the land that both challenge and inspire.

Redbone is a recipient of the NEFA National Theater Project Creation and Touring Grant and National Performance Network Creation Fund and Lincoln Center. She is a 2015/16 Fellow of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

She also has held workshops and given motivational talks with grade-school children on many reservations. Chairman Floyd Jourdain of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians invited Redbone to perform for the children of Red Lake as part of a motivational back-to-school program following the tragic shootings that occurred the previous school year.

Sponsors for Martha Redbone’ Bone Hill are the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), KUNM, the NMT Graduate Student Association and Best Western.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $10 for youth. Tech students will be admitted free with their student ID at the door, or can pick up one ticket each at the New Mexico Tech Bookstore.

Tickets also can be purchased online at www.nmtpas.org or at the PAS office in third floor of Macey Center, NMT Cashier (Fidel Center) and Sofia’s Kitchen.

– NMT –