As a child, Keith Secola and his sisters cobbled together their own little makeshift band at their home in Parkville on Minnesota’s Iron Range. “We were always playing around,” Secola said.

The siblings would shine flashlights on each other, using them as spotlights during make-believe concerts.

“We’d pretend we were big singers,” said Secola’s sister, Char Prebeg of Mountain Iron, Minn.

The youngsters didn’t know back then that Secola would one day become a “big singer,” touring throughout the United States and Europe and sharing the stage with artists including David Bowie, Randy Travis, the Indigo Girls, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and The Neville Brothers.

Secola, 45, was born in Cook, Minn., and grew up in Parkville, attending Mountain Iron High School. A member of the Bois Forte Chippewa Reservation, his music and lyrics are influenced by his Anishinabe roots.

But the musician and songwriter’s work encompasses many sounds and styles. Secola calls his music “alter- Native.” It’s a blend of blues, folk, country, mellow and heavy rock, reggae, Indigenous, and world beat genres.

Some songs combine electric guitar with Native American flute, tribal drums and dance, and Native chants. He has even dabbled with jazz and “vaudeville-like” tunes.

Secola also terms his music as “Native Americana” – “representing the diverse roots of American music that includes the traditional and contemporary sounds and expressions of the Indigenous people.”

“A good song will take you pretty far,” Secola said. And many of his songs – from “aggressive rock to simple finger picking” – have taken him a long ways.

“I tend to use wit and humor in the lyrics,” and keep a “positive” tone, Secola said.

When speaking of the “brutal truth of the history of American Indians,” a person could be overcome with anger, he said. But Secola chooses to use humor to get to the deeper meanings of his words, often using metaphors in his music. He aspires to offer healing through his music.

And he has not forgotten his roots on the Range.

“I spent my formative years on the Iron Range,” said Secola, who returns periodically to visit his family, including brother Gary, and to perform concerts. Recently, he returned to Cook on a stop during his Third Annual Tour to Benefit the Homeless.

Secola’s musical background stems from his grade school and high school days playing the trombone. He once broke his leg marching with his trombone during an event.

“People underestimate how important music is in the schools,” said Secola, who was just as interested as a kid in playing sports – including football, baseball and hockey – as in making music.

“Our parents encouraged all of us to play an instrument,” said Prebeg, who took up the clarinet.

All of the Secola children – four girls and two boys – played in the high school band.

While growing up, Secola also puttered around with old rummage sale guitars – some missing strings – that his mother brought home.

At age 18 he bought his first new guitar, had a few lessons, and then started teaching himself how to play.

“I hitchhiked to Hibbing on a cold day in November and bought my first electric guitar,” Secola remembered. “I was really proud of it. I remember hitchhiking back that day with the guitar and amplifier.”

Secola continued to play guitar through college, graduating from Mesabi Community College in 1979 with a degree in public service. He then attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he met his future wife. Secola returned to Minnesota, earning a degree in American Indian studies from the University of Minnesota in 1982.

While in Minnesota, he performed for several years with the Schwartz Brothers, a Virginia band, before moving to Arizona. There he joined with a group called the Wild Band of Indians.

In the early 1990s, Secola and the band cut a record deal in Germany and launched a European tour from 1993 to 1998. Circle was released in 1992, and the group performed in such places as Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, Switzerland, and Croatia.

Wild Band of Indians was released in 1997, Finger Monkey a few years later, and Homeland in 2000.

While touring in the United States, Secola has performed with many wellknown artists. But life on the road can be rough – a “sacrifice” for music, said Secola, who cherishes time at home with his wife and their two children, Margueritte, 17, and Keith, 13.

This year, Secola released Kokopelli Blues, featuring Native and mainstream artists such as John Densmore of The Doors and Jim Creegan of Barenaked Ladies. A three-time Native American Music award-winner, Secola was recognized by the association again this year for Kokopelli Blues, nominated in the categories of Song/Record of the Year, Best Blues/Jazz Recording, and Artist of the Year.

He also performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. “I was honored to be chosen to play there,” he said.

Secola, who said he’s been influenced by musicians such as John Lennon and fellow Minnesotan Bob Dylan, who also grew up on the Range, is thankful for the backing of his family and friends from the Range, who have been “very supportive of the type of spiritual growth” Secola has taken in his music.

“We’re all really proud of him,” Prebeg said of her brother. “He doesn’t brag about his work. He doesn’t make himself out to be anyone. He’s just Keith to us.”

At her daughter’s high school graduation, “people couldn’t believe he was playing out on our deck when he’s played before thousands of people,” she said.

“He’s genuinely a very good person,” Prebeg said. And he’s been an influence on her son, 16-year-old Daniel. Secola has taught him how to pick a guitar, and now his nephew is “teaching himself the way Keith did,” Prebeg said. Secola even invited his nephew up on stage once at the Comet Theater in Cook to make his own “debut.”

As a songwriter, Secola said his music has grown through the years, yet old songs are still as meaningful as ever.

“Songs are like children. They all deserve love,” said Secola.

He is currently working on underscores for various films.

While inspired by the “wild open spaces” of the west, Secola said he is truly proud to be a part of the “Iron Range musical family.”