Truthout: Blackfire uses music in battle to protect a sacred site

Tuesday, July 5, 2011  

""For us, music is a strategic tool to communicate social injustices that we face," Klee Benally, the vocalist and guitar player for the punk-rock band Blackfire, said.

Blackfire, whose members are Klee, his brother Clayson and his sister Jeneda, played their first show in 1989. Since then, they've released two CDs and toured Europe, America and Canada - all while staying intensely politically involved in issues close to their hearts.

Klee says their band approaches songwriting by envisioning how they'd like to see the world.

"It's about unmasking the silences about key issues," he said.

This tying together of their music and activism is what makes Blackfire stand out, particularly with their fans in Europe. Though Blackfire doesn't elicit much recognition within their own country, they are very well known abroad. The band's European tours are especially successful. Perhaps it's the musically driven activism that appeals to European audiences, or the strong cultural ties that the Benally siblings and their family maintain."

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