The epic story of the Cherokees in Ameliquo
The Trail of Tears Suite
“The Trail of Tears Suite” is a concept album that tells the tale of the Cherokee people. With over two hours of cutting edge progressive rock music filled with Native stylings, this project explores the history of this First Nations people from before contact with Europeans through the infamous Trail of Tears and beyond history to the near future. The Suite was conceived as a testimony of a noble people who have been cruelly displaced by the greed of white men. Their ongoing tale is one of victorious overcoming through the power of their Creator even amidst crushing and impossible odds.
The story also touches on the history of the Oglala band of the Lakota tribe whom the French named the Sioux. Both the Cherokee and the Lakota show a deep spirituality that sets them apart from the descendants of Europeans who now inhabit America.
Mike Florio joins Vertical Alignment in this epic project. Contributing his awesome vocal skills and his keyboard virtuosity, Mike is a welcome addition to the VA ranks. He also shows his songwriting chops in several places. His talents in arranging and mixing add a new richness to the signature VA sound.
The Suite now includes eighteen songs which will span two CD's. Highlights include “Battle of Pea Ridge,” a rocking piece that tells the tale of a Civil War battle in Arkansas in which the Cherokee Mounted Rifles were involved. That is followed by “Ghost Dance” which introduces the Oglala Lakota into the story and tells the terrible tale of the massacre of some three hundred Lakota by U.S. soldiers in 1890 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Mike Florio adds “Native Son,” a tribute to the famous Cherokee humorist, Will Rogers. The penultimate piece is the forty-two minute long epic, “The Story Trunk.” This traces the life of fictional Cherokee-Oglala Phillip Shouting Crow as he travels through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.
This concept has also spawned a book. “Generations of the Eagle” is in print and traces the story of “The Trail of Tears Suite” in much greater detail. It is conceived as a companion to the release. Peter J uses several characters from the future “Joseph’s Dream,” in a way that makes this book a prequel for Joe. Consider it historical fiction / fantasy / sci-fi. The book is now available at Lulu.com. Wado!
