Gal’üünx wil lu Holtga Liimi

Jeremy Pahl is the birth name of guitarist and fiddler Saltwater Hank, a member of the Ts’msyen group of First Nations tribes, who lives in Kxeen, aka Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Hank sings in Sm’algyax, the language of the Ts’msyen. But his music mostly evokes something written six or seven-plus decades earlier and 3,000 miles to the south, which is to say the songs are structured and arranged like classic country and western music. Likewise, the perky instrumentation features the steel guitar of Liam Mcivor and fiddling by Chloe Nakahara or Hank himself, propelled by the drumming of Danny Bell. There's even a Sm’algyax translation of Hank Williams’ 1948 hit ‘My Sweet Love Ain’t Around’ (‘Akadi K’uł Waal Nsiip’nsgu’). Hank fits the country sound to Indigenous language and themes, including police oppression of First Nations peoples. In both fanciful and serious modes, Hank's dry, unaffected voice evokes the tone and attitude of alt-country songster James McMurtry.