‘Sharing that moment together’: Wade Fernandez on music, storytelling and connection
Wade Fernandez is an artist who has performed around the world and shared stages with names like Jackson Browne and The Indigo Girls. He has also made a name for himself in his own right; a proud member of the Menominee nation whose music touches hearts and invites people to step away from what disconnects us, existing, instead, in a space of connection.
Fernandez’s Menominee name is Wicīwen Apīs-Mahwaew, which means “walks with the black wolf,” or “accompanied by the black wolf,” and so his upcoming performance at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center is aptly titled “Songs and Stories of the Black Wolf.”
“What we say in our culture is that the animal will teach you, and so like, it’s my traveling companion. And these songs would probably be like that journey, that journey that we’re on together,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez’s music tells a story – his story, but not his alone. He says music is a language that responds to every person that listens to it, inspired by the people who came before.
“Including my ancestors,” Fernandez added, “because they’re flowing through me – their blood’s flowing through me.”
Wade Fernandez knows that his music casts a wide net, with a lofty goal that he makes sound so simple.
“I’m just trying to share everything on [my] journey in that moment with everybody.”
But it is a goal that he meets through humble mastery of his craft.
Fernandez plays several instruments, including his voice, the guitar, and a Native flute, and he uses his tools to build sounds of many varieties.
Local fans may be familiar with Fernandez’s eclectic stylings, thanks to his multiple appearances at Mile of Music in Appleton. Appearances which, he says, were very different because the audiences were never the same, and his setting changed from cathedral rooms to bars depending on where the Mile booked him for the year.
“I adapt to my surroundings, and I just try to be there for the people that are there. And also for whatever’s in that moment,” Fernandez said.
What he says excites him about his upcoming performance in Kimberly-Clark Theater is the dynamic possibilities that he can play with in the cozier space.
Wade Fernandez tells stories and plays instruments, and he uses his talent to soothe the loud and unhappy parts of our days that we carry with us, in a way that opens his listeners’ hearts to the humanity of the bodies seated beside them, reminding that we are all related as human beings. While his genre may change, and his setlist may vary, there is one thing he says the attendants of his concert can be sure to expect.
“I guess they can expect to go away with a good feeling in their heart about themselves, about the people that they’ve been able to sit with in the audience, and just an overall good feeling. And everywhere I go, that’s the main consistent thing.”
Through his music, he focuses on what brings us together, and, in his words, “being in that moment, sharing that moment together, which will never be repeated again.”
“Songs and Stories of the Black Wolf – Wade Fernandez” will be playing in the Kimberly-Clark Theater at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center on March 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket holders may also arrive early and stop by the First Nations Outreach Information Booth in the Main Lobby, which will feature information about the different tribes in Wisconsin, places you can find indigenous people in mainstream media, handmade items like beadwork and corn husk dolls, and more.
