SXSWORLD

3 8 SXS W O R L D | M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 | SXSW.COM Katherine Paul, who performs under the name Black Belt Eagle Scout, was raised in Puget Sound in the small Swinomish Indian Tribal Community about an hour from the Canadian border in Northwest Washington. Steeped in musical and spiritual heritage from an early age, Paul trav- eled to pow wows across the region throughout her childhood with her family's drum group, the Skagit Valley Singers. Then as a teenager, she fell for the regional music scene, going so far as to teach herself to play guitar from bootlegged Nirvana VHS tapes. A decade ago, Paul moved to Portland for college and entered its burgeoning indie music scene. She started out playing drums and singing for various local bands before discovering her own partic- ular talents. After the release of her first self-titled EP in 2014, Paul released Black Belt Eagle Scout's debut LP, Mother of My Children, on Good Cheer Records in August 2017. Saddle Creek then widened her audi- ence when it re-released the album in September 2018. The record draws on themes of mourning, love, and hope. Written during a rough patch in her life (a romantic relationship was nearing its end, a lifelong mentor and friend had passed away, and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock were unfolding), its songs largely deal with loss and heartbreak, often get- ting both personal and political. "It was a hard time to be Native," she says particularly of Standing Rock. "Imagine hearing on the news that the government doesn't support you as a human being and never has." Paul's writing process focuses heavily on personal experiences, but she doesn't start off writing a song with a particular theme in mind. "Most of the time, I'll just start singing. A lot of the stuff on the album is just stuff that popped out of my mouth ... I don't really write lyrics. I use voice memo on my phone a lot. I'll record what I'm singing, and then I'll listen back to it, and then I'll write down what I said. Then maybe I'll tweak something a little bit. That's how I write out the song." The album's opening track, "Soft Stud," is defined by Paul as her "queer anthem." "There are a lot of songs on this album that are about a heartbreaking time in my life" says Paul. "The song is actually about this person that I was dating." Now, Paul is excited for the next adventure. "My music that I'm working on now is about community and love and how people in your life can lift you up and create support for you," she says. "How I'm living my life right now is just trying to create a loving community around me." Paul is now paying it forward as her music, which reflects her identity, gains wider exposure. "I want more people who are like me, who have similar identities, to feel like they're worth something — to feel like they're validated and that they can see representation of themselves in music and art." Black Belt Eagle Scout performs on Thursday, March 14 at Cheer Up Charlie's (900 Red River St.). See schedule.sxsw.com or SXSW GO for details. Identity and Tradition Color the Music of Black Belt Eagle Scout By Sam Hill "A lot of the stuff on the album is just stuff that popped out of my mouth ... I don't really write lyrics. I use voice memo on my phone a lot." Katherine Paul. Photo by Jason Quigley

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