Why Minnesota musician Annie Humphrey's new album is like nothing she's released before

CATHY WURZER: Earlier in the show, we heard about Annie Humphrey. We played her song. We're going to actually dive a little deeper into Annie Humphrey's career. She's an award-winning musician who comes from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Annie has just released her seventh album, The Light in my Bones. She worked with producer Jeremy Ylvisaker on the project and says it's like nothing she's ever released before.

Here's our senior editor of Native news, Leah Lemm, and her conversation with Annie Humphrey at her home on the Leech Lake Reservation.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) We are all on our way towards our final day. There is life after this. If you will carry my gift. It's the light in my bones.

LEAH LEMM: Annie Humphrey, thank you for having me at your beautiful home. It is truly magical. There's art everywhere.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: And it's hand drum central.

LEAH LEMM: Quite a few hand drums, yep. Can you take a moment and introduce yourself?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Yeah. My name's Annie, and I grew up in Cass Lake. And it's important to talk about my parents real quickly, because my mom was a poet, a visual artist. She drew, she painted, she was a photographer. And my dad was a really hard working-- he grew up in the Bush. And yeah, and he played guitar. He played guitar and he sang country songs. And so I'm fortunate I took a little bit from both of them or a lot from both of them.

LEAH LEMM: Can you tell me a bit about your new album, The Light in my Bones? And what does that title mean?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: It's just I've been told that in Ojibwe, the word for wisdom translates to "the light in my bones" in English. But either way, that's what I believe, so that's my reality.

LEAH LEMM: What's different about this album than your past albums?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: The light in your bones is your wisdom. And if wisdom is the light in your bones, that means it's penetrated so deeply into you that it actually makes your bones glow. Which to me, is so grand. I'm turning 57. And I'm climbing that fourth hill. I'm a young elder, but I'm climbing it. And the fourth hill, you can see the farthest.

And I think that this record reflects my horizon growing.

JOHN TRUDELL: Protect the Earth. The Earth gives us life, not the American government. They have made us to believe that they are power. But they are not. They are violent and they are brutal, but they are not power. We are a natural part of the Earth. As a natural part of the Earth, we have the energy and the power that is the Earth. The Earth will take care of us, if we will remember the Earth in more than just our words.

(SINGING) We are made of earth. Why do we think we're so powerless? Accepting oppression for so long, it's rewritten all our songs.

LEAH LEMM: Your opening track We Are Power opens with writer, poet, thought leader John Trudell. Can you talk about your opening song there?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Yeah. That song I wrote during-- I think I wrote it when Roe versus Wade got overturned. And then I would listen to conversations with people, like middle American people. And they would like all quiet be like, I don't think I agree with that. They were so afraid.

And actually, people would say, do you ever get scared when you take a stand for whatever? And it didn't even occur to me to be afraid to disagree with the government or disagree with-- I mean, any level of government. Tribal or city or whatever. But I just realized that some people must feel really powerless.

So the song is to encourage people. To remember that you're power. We are spirit beings with intelligence. We're responsible to use our intelligence. And oppression should not stop you from exercising your voice and that power that you carry. I mean, we're all powerful.

LEAH LEMM: Your collaborator, Jeremy Ylvisaker, he played a big role in this album. Can you talk about him and his role a bit?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Yeah. So I met Jeremy in 2018, I think. I like playing with him because I've been solo so long. I played alone almost my whole time playing music. And when I've ever tried to play with someone else, they distract me. The instrument comes in and I'm trying to do my thing. And I go, whoa. And it distracts me to the point where I'll forget lyrics or I'll make mistakes. Because I'm not-- they pull me out of my flow.

And Jeremy, for some reason, from the first time that we played and he'd come in with his guitar, it never happened. I can stay so into it with him playing even. And he's the only person I have found that I can do that with.

LEAH LEMM: Where was this album recorded?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: It was recorded in Eau Claire at a studio called the Hive by a guy named Brian Joseph. And we recorded my parts, the singing parts on the piano, and Jeremy's-- some of Jeremy's guitar parts and some of his bass. And then Sean Carey, he did percussion and he did-- a lot of the high vocal male voice that you hear on the record is Sean. And we did it in two days.

And then I went home and Jeremy took it to Minneapolis. And he built it. He got Aida Shahgasemi. She's Iranian. And I mean, her vocals, I think the moment in this record that is the most beautiful is where she is singing. The whole album, the most beautiful moment belongs to her. But I don't care, because the song, Is It OK, I'm singing and I'm talking about failing my children and how I felt free when my dad died.

And when I was in the studio, I actually started to cry. And you can hear it in my voice. And then when I listened to this record for the first time and Aida's voice came in, I was like, oh man, she took it and she carried it.

[MUSIC - ANNIE HUMPHREY AND AIDA SHAHGASEMI, "IS IT OK"]

(SINGING) Is it OK if I say it's my loves that weight me down.

LEAH LEMM: Thank you very much. Chi miigwech, Annie Humphrey, for sharing more about your album and who you are and this lovely space of yours with your precious pups.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Thank you, Leah.

(SINGING) Sure to come. Because I love. Because I love. Because I love.

CATHY WURZER: That was Leah Lemm speaking to Annie Humphrey about her latest album, Light In My Bones. Annie Humphrey has an album release performance tonight. She'll be performing with Jeremy Ylvisaker and David Huckfelt at the Macrostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.