There’s a lot of emotion to unpack on Mike Bern’s debut solo album, Waponahkew.
Based out of Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick, Bern was previously involved in award-winning bands Kickin Krotch and District Avenue. Now, he’s packed up his signature folk-rock rasp and set out on his own to deliver a collection of songs that range from deeply personal to simple, bluesy fun.
Some might choose to bury their convictions in the latter half of the album, instead choosing to lead with safer, more light-hearted choices.
Not Bern. He spends the first few tracks of the album paying homage to his culture in a variety of ways.
The opening prelude, “Aqanute”, features traditional singing and hand-drumming. It’s immediately followed by the album’s title track, which means “Person of the Dawn.” Bern takes a lot of imagery from nature, pondering his place within it and paying respect to his origins and culture as a descendant of his Waponahki ancestors. You can hear his pride in his culture in the swell of the chorus.
Though this pride was not easily won. Bern also addresses the horrific history of Canadian Residential Schools, of which his aunt and uncles were forced to live through. While the story belongs to his family and all the other people who endured these horrors, it’s clear that the pain of it all is hereditary.
“You put me in a place of hell, you put me in a shell of myself,” Bern sings, with all the pain of a wound that will never fully heal.
Bern explains, “I remember a story my uncle told me once. They were always thirsty when they went to bed and the nuns would never give them anything to drink.”
To solve it as best they could, the kids would “keep one stall clean in the bathroom and take turns dipping their socks in the toilet for a drink.
Stories like this are, unfortunately, quite common when digging into the harrowing history of Residential Schooling. That being said, there’s something extra cutting about the way Bern is able to emulate the pain and fear these children endured, as though he’d lived through it himself.
Putting these stories so early in the album is an acknowledgment towards all that led Bern to this point in his life, to those who paved the way for him to be where he is today. He spends the rest of the album in less serious territory. “Into The Blue” is a bluesy, booze-flavoured snippet, while “Carry Me Home” directly follows and closes the album out on a more optimistic note.
“Carry me home,” Bern sings. “Let your love take your pain.”