Day 1 of a virtual concert in support of the Navajo Nation and Pueblo nations kicked off Saturday, featuring a variety of musicians from the Four Corners region and beyond.
The two-day Solidarity Fest was put on by the group “Underground Musicians for Navajo/Pueblo COVID-19 Relief,” with Saturday’s proceeds going toward the Navajo Nation and Sunday’s directed to the Pueblo Relief Fund. Organizer Joe Frankland, aka Mancos-based musician Slackeye Slim, said he wanted to support and help his neighbors by putting together the online concert.
“The situation is critical down there,” Frankland said Saturday during his opening remarks, referring to the Navajo Nation. “We’ve all heard the stories on the news that it’s bad, but if you have a conversation with somebody who lives on a reservation or near the reservation, or know somebody who lives on a reservation, got family, whatever, it puts it under a different light. These are human stories.”
Anyone can access the concert via Facebook, but viewers are asked to donate through the group’s GoFundMe page, with all proceeds going toward the Official Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund and the Pueblo Relief Fund. The fundraisers are still live, Frankland told The Journal, but as of Tuesday morning, $3,175 was raised for the Navajo Nation and $2,550 for the Pueblo Relief Fund.
The first day’s proceeds will be directed to the Navajo Nation, while Sunday’s proceeds will go to the Pueblo Relief Fund.
“It was pretty incredible to see it all come together and see how much support and interest and how much people actually care about this,” Frankland said.
Saturday featured performances by musicians including Poor Man’s Blood, Brendan Schafer from the Six Dollar String Band, Samm Bones and more. Violinist Sage Cornelius was the headliner Saturday night, and the next day about 18,000 viewers tuned in to see him perform, Frankland said.
Sunday’s lineup included Freddy Fudd Pucker, Sons of Perdition and Wonky Tonk.
