Blake Pickens
When considering Indigenous art, one may be forgiven for not immediately thinking of stand-up comedy, says IndigeNash organizer Shayna Hobbs. IndigeNash — the Nashville festival celebrating Indigenous art and culture — is returning for its second year on Nov. 19, and one way it’s expanding, says Hobbs, is through comedy, with scheduled performances from comics Eagle Blackbird and Blake Pickens.
“There’s something that I think a lot of people don’t understand,” Hobbs, a founding member of IndigeNash, tells the Scene by phone. “Natives are fucking hilarious. We have great, great senses of humor, and we’re very funny and goofy, and I think that it’s such an important part that people see that about us.”
Pickens, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, grew up in an often-not-so-funny environment. He describes a difficult upbringing characterized by gun violence and mental illness.
“I can talk to anybody, because my uncles had schizophrenia — so I had to [be prepared to] talk to everybody and anybody at all times,” says Pickens. “I had to be ready on a dime … and so a lot of my comedy is very much inspired by that sort of thing.”
Pickens says he was drawn to comedy because of how his family dealt with hardships.
“You know, you can really only laugh or cry about what’s going on, and they always chose to laugh, which informed how I looked at life,” says Pickens. “If something was going wrong, the first thing my parents would do is make a joke about it.”
Another influence was Nickelodeon’s All That, which inspired Pickens and his brothers to perform sketches in their grandmother’s house at a young age.
Hobbs developed the Native-led multi-tribal arts festival, which takes place at The Forge Nov. 22-24
“Ours was a bit darker than the Nickelodeon show, because we were doing sketches about stuff going on in our world,” he says. “But comedy very early just became the way I expressed myself and looked at the world.”
Pickens grew up to craft a subversive style of comedy that has proven successful. He’s also bagged himself an Emmy for a Procter & Gamble commercial, an MTV Video Music Award for his work on John Legend’s “Surefire,” and writer and producer credits on shows including Paw Patrol, Spirit Rangers and a Nickelodeon’s Rugrats reboot. When producing, Pickens says he tries to hire Native talent whenever possible.
He’s currently working on a PBS documentary about prison reform, which will focus on a group of Indigenous prisoners who were able to connect to their culture and community while incarcerated.
Although Pickens has performed at events around the country where Indigenous stories are important, IndigeNash will be the first time he’s participated in an event that focuses specifically on Indigenous communities.
“It’s different when it’s a festival that’s purely about Indigenous art, which is gonna be awesome,” says Pickens, smiling.
“It’s an honor, and I feel very thankful to be able to be a part of our Indigenous community,” says Pickens. “Time that I get to be with community is special, especially doing it in a way where I’m just making people laugh. I’m not there for anything else, which feels nice.”
Photographing this year’s NAIA Pow Wow and discussing Nashville’s future with members of the Indigenous community
He emphasizes that Indigenous communities need safe spaces in which to celebrate their culture — something the United States government eliminated via forced assimilation practices for decades.
“We should always be lifting each other up,” says Pickens of his Native brothers and sisters. “That was the way our communities were for a long time, but then obviously, colonization changed some of that and our structures.”
His advice for young people who are serious about a career in the arts: Keep doing it, even when it’s tough. He compares the entertainment industry to a personal war of attrition.
“The people who stick around the longest stay the longest,” says Pickens.
In addition to Pickens’ stand-up performance, IndigeNash has dozens of other events planned for the weeklong fest, including health and wellness sessions, a film screening from Nashville Predators legend Jordan Tutu and an artisan market presented in partnership with the Frist Art Museum.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to dine on meals prepared by award-winning chef Sean Sherman, catch music showcases at The Basement East, and be dazzled by Indigenous fashion during a fashion showcase.
Visit indigenash.org for tickets and a full schedule of events.
