Lisa LaRue on Wadulisi Recordings
This Is Not Just a Song, It’s a Sacred Vow
A decade ago, I hosted a CD release party for Lisa LaRue’s World Class, celebrating her pioneering internet-based collaborations that connected musicians across the globe. Now, she returns with something far more ambitious - not just new music, but an entire infrastructure for Indigenous voices in progressive rock.
With the launch of Wadulisi Recordings on Indigenous People’s Day, her forged from fire album on limited orange vinyl, and The Red Dress scheduled for Red Dress Day 2026, LaRue is building platforms that serve both artistic vision and cultural mission. This isn’t just about making prog records anymore - it’s about reclaiming narrative space and showing that Native American music can rock as hard as it wants to.
What strikes me most is the intentionality behind every decision, from release dates aligned with days of cultural significance to the transparent orange vinyl honoring boarding school victims. After three decades in the industry, LaRue knows exactly what she’s building and why it matters.
THE INTERVIEW
Frans: Wadulisi Recordings launches with a clear mission to amplify contemporary Native American voices. After three decades in the industry, what made this the right moment to establish your own label, and how does having this platform change what’s possible for you and other Indigenous artists?
Lisa: In today’s music world, independent labels are pretty much the majority and the norm. While forged from fire has been released on Melodic Revolution Records, it is a more “mainstream” prog/melodic prog in feeling and is a perfect fit. It is an autobiographical work, highlighting key events in my life that have led me to where I am today and was meant as a “reintroduction to Lisa LaRue,” because I haven’t released anything in quite awhile. But if I want to return to including Native themes and issues and reaching that particular audience, I need to have a label that reaches out to that audience. Native radio stations, powwow vendors, playlists, etc. Pairing that with a non-Native distributor can help reach BOTH audiences – Native and non-Native. I am working on a collaboration with Nick Katona at Melodic Revolution Records where Wadulisi will be an imprint of MRR and this will achieve the goal of having a label that can serve, as well as reach out to, Native and Indigenous audiences in addition to reaching the rest of the world who may discover that Native American music can be prog, rock, or any other genre.
Frans: A decade has passed since World Class and your pioneering internet-based collaboration approach with Project 2K9. How has your creative process and artistic vision evolved from those early experiments in global musical collaboration to where you are now with forged from fire?
Lisa: I continued that process to some degree with 2KX. Fast and Blue was largely recorded remotely and sent through the internet, which sounds like “no big deal” today. But we must remember that it was at that time. The key seemed to be getting the “right” people – musicians that clicked no matter if they were in the same room, or talking on the phone, or just listening to others’ tracks and getting the vibe. When I lived in Los Angeles, I was still able to work with some of the same people I had been working with such as John Payne (Asia), and adding others such as Michael Sadler (Saga), Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard) and Don Schiff (NS Stick player extraordinaire) who were then local to me… but a lot of it was still remotely done! We’d still record most of our tracks in our own studios and send them via internet. And, by the time we got to Sussuration, that was just the norm. Sending tracks via the internet had replaced the post office.
With forged from fire, I was able to experiment with AI tools to assist me so I could transform some of my individual tracks to a more pleasing sound. For example, I could take a midi track and import it into ACE Studio and have it play a much more realistic sounding violin track than just assigning a violin voice from a VST. Same with drums, and bass. You just have to “play” the parts correctly – don’t play a bass part and assign it to the violin, etc. Play it like a violin part. Many AI tools were used, but only in “collaboration,” not in song or lyric writing. For The Red Dress and some other projects I am working on, I am also experimenting with other new tools which are constantly appearing on the market, such as the Vochlear Dubler 2, which is a MIDI device that uses your voice for input. This is a fantastic input device for those with hand issues or other situations. I see my own use of AI as no different than when the Fairlight CMI came out, and people were aghast about it taking over music because of its ability to do symphonic orchestras and to sample. Samples and loops then became the target, now it’s AI. And, in my opinion, because people are abusing it, which always happens with new technology. I love collaborating with it, where I can upload my tracks and prompt it to take it in certain directions, and hear the result. Then, it’s up to ME whether I use the idea and recreate it musically, or whether I use its interpretation of the sound I am looking for, etc. The importance of writing the music and lyrics, producing it with a vision in mind using real musicians is always the priority, but sometimes when you’re alone and wish at 2 am you had a drummer in the studio, it can be quite handy. I see it no different morally than using a drum machine. And the use of the AI voices instead of samples is brilliant for parts you have written. The only remote recording on forged from fire was the vocals of Alexandra Livshitz, Onur Cobanoglu, John Baker and Jake Livgren (even though John lives in my house, and Jake lives in the same town as me!)
Frans: The Red Dress arrives on Red Dress Day 2026, addressing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Can you discuss how this album serves as both “sonic offering and cultural invocation,” and what it means to release music that carries this weight of remembrance and action?
Lisa: There is a line in one of the songs, “This is not just a song, it’s a sacred vow” and in a nutshell, I’d say that The Red Dress is going to surprise lots of people! It is going to ROCK. Is it progressive? Yes, it is, because it’s trying something new that’s not been done before and forward thinking. That’s Progressive. Sure, there’s regular rock, but there’s also Hammond, NS Stick, string orchestrations, but there’s also an Indigenous female voice that will blow you away and a Native flute that will rock, not put you to sleep. That’s the sonic offering, a true fusion of genres. But then there’s the lyrics and the videos of the songs, there’s the cultural invocation - educating the public about the people we’ve lost, through Boarding Schools, through violence, and through being assimilated. We’ve lost women and the roles of our women in all of those ways, not just by going “missing.” By educating the public, we can ask that they learn about the issues so as not to let it continue. And to do something!
Frans: You’ve described your work as “Native American Genre-bending Fusion” - with collaborators like Carolina Padrón bringing Indigenous Meztiza perspectives from Ecuador and Juan R León’s Tarahumara/Yaqui heritage. How do these pan-Indigenous collaborations reshape what “Native American music” can be in 2025?
Lisa: Each one of us has different musical and cultural backgrounds, even though we are all Indigenous musicians. Carolina is a wonderful metal vocalist who can do everything from death growl to beautiful ballads, and especially strong rock vocals. She also has the passion of educating the public on our people, who in Ecuador face life much differently than tribes here in the States. Juan plays both NS Stick and Native American flute, and almost every track I’ve heard of his is ambient and full of musical passion. And of course, my prog background. This is what Native American Music can be. It can be a fusion mixture of cultures and genres, with one story.
Frans: On forged from fire, you’re working with your husband John Baker and artists like Onur Cobanoglu. After years of remote collaboration, what’s it like creating music with someone you share daily life with, and how does that intimacy affect the creative process?
Lisa: We still work remotely!! I work on my songwriting and recording in my own time, in my own studio space, and he does likewise. We look at our individual music as very private times to be as creative as we can. I’ll send him the song, he will write lyrics, write the melody, sing it, add some guitar…. And send the files back! I mix, he masters. We try to not even talk about the songs, because I don’t want to influence him in any way, and want his true contribution – not a “commission.” However, when it’s finished, we talk about it. How did it turn out? What were the challenges? That kind of thing.
Frans: You’re releasing forged from fire on limited orange vinyl (100 copies) with a CD-exclusive bonus track. In an era of streaming, what drives these deliberate choices about physical formats, and what do they mean for how listeners experience your music?
Lisa: The vinyl was a bucket-list thing, actually. I always wanted to have my own “record” but when I entered the industry professionally, CDs were all the rage. Now that vinyl is “cool” again, I wanted my first release in a long time to make a splash! The transparent orange was chosen for the main reason of matching the theme of fire, but also as a nod to the Native American boarding school victims. No matter whether you purchase an LP or a CD, you get the download immediately, so listeners will still have a choice. They still get the experience of holding vinyl in their hands and dropping the needle or just looking at a little postage-stamp cover on a digital display!
Frans: Beyond music, you’ve served the Cherokee Nation in Language, History, and Culture, you’re a master basketmaker, and you founded the DoPiKa Project. How do these different expressions of culture-bearing inform and strengthen each other in your work?
Lisa: It all runs together, all part of the whole. I really can’t explain it any differently. Language is what we speak, and without it, we lose our culture. Many cultural concepts can only be described in our language. Our history is our story, told in our language, and is how we hand down our culture. Basketmaking is part of our culture, and in my music, I use that as a lot of my subject matter.
My first CD was called Beloved Tribal Women, on SOAR/Natural Visions, a Native American record label based in Albuquerque. Each song represented a Native woman and her story in history. The Red Dress will come full circle, honoring Native women of today and the future as well as our ancestors. I also released an album through Cherokee Nation, Children’s Songs in the Cherokee Language which was nominated for a NAMMY (Native American Music Award). Those are the only two albums I have done which are considered “Native American” although every album I have ever done has a component of my tribe’s language, history and culture.
Frans: Launching Wadulisi Recordings on Indigenous People’s Day and scheduling The Red Dress for Red Dress Day shows deep intentionality. How important is this alignment of release dates with days of cultural significance, and what does it add to the music’s meaning?
Lisa: Announcing and releasing it on these significant dates helps by spreading awareness of the importance of these issues. On Social Media, people’s feeds are full of information about the “day” as well as these announcements, so it just helps reinforce each other. Also, it’s part of my own “honoring.” Lastly, I hope that it will cause the listener to understand and think deeper about the lyrics.
Frans: Progressive rock has always been about pushing boundaries and creating epic musical journeys. How does this genre specifically serve as a vehicle for Indigenous storytelling and ceremony in ways that other genres might not?
Lisa: That is a very good question that I’ve not thought about! I’ve always included elements of my culture or lifeways in my musical projects, or anything else I do. It’s just there, the same way a city person may talk about lights, cars, parks, etc. or country people talk about trucks, town hall dances, and the like… you write about the life you are familiar with, and that’s what I do. I think the way that fits into the progressive genre is that you can add Native American flutes, hand drums, vocables, whatever, and it doesn’t become cheesy or stereotypical. It becomes part of the story. It either illustrates the lyrics, or if it’s an instrumental, it gives visuals to the music. If I were to choose to do a theme album or a long suite to tell a long story, it would work in prog.
Frans: With Wadulisi Recordings welcoming “Indigenous creators whose work challenges genre boundaries and reclaims narrative space,” what’s your vision for the label’s role in the next decade of Native American music? What voices or sounds are you most excited to platform?
Lisa: Firstly, I want to make sure that as art, it follows the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act. No imposters, pretendians, or appropriators. Then comes the passion - I’m excited about being able to make Native American and Indigenous artists available to broad audiences around the world, to teach our history, our language, and our culture. To allow Native and Indigenous audiences to hear rock, progressive, jazz, or numerous genres to tell stories and create soundtracks to our own lives, and to show the world that we are not just drums and flutes.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING & CONNECTIONS:
forged from fire - Available now for pre-order:
Bandcamp: https://lisalaruemrrartist.bandcamp.com/
Limited Orange Vinyl (100 copies only)
CD with exclusive bonus track
Wadulisi Recordings:
Label contact: 785arts@gmail.com
The Red Dress - Coming May 5, 2026
Connect with Lisa LaRue:
Website: https://lisalaruemusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisalarue2kx
Bandcamp: https://lisalaruemrrartist.bandcamp.com/
MY TAKE:
Lisa LaRue’s journey from those early internet collaborations to founding Wadulisi Recordings represents something larger than personal evolution - it’s about creating infrastructure for Indigenous voices in progressive music. Her thoughtful use of AI as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for human creativity, her insistence on authenticity verified by the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act, and her vision of Native American music that can be “a fusion mixture of cultures and genres, with one story” - this is progressive rock with purpose.
With forged from fire igniting this new era and The Red Dress promising to rock harder than anyone expects while carrying the weight of sacred vows, she’s not just making albums; she’s building platforms for cultural continuity and sonic sovereignty. When she says Native flutes will “rock, not put you to sleep,” she’s challenging every assumption about what Indigenous music can be. This is tradition forged in fire for tomorrow’s listeners.
What are your thoughts on Indigenous voices in progressive rock? Have you discovered any Native American artists pushing genre boundaries? Hit reply and share your discoveries.