Valentine’s concert offers Diné humor

Navajo musician and comedian Vincent Craig is seen performing at a recent show. Courtesy photo

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — R-NDNs romantic? That apparently is the question entertainers Vincent Craig and James Bilagody are prepared to answer on Valentine’s Day. The two Navajo entertainers are encouraging everyone to bring their husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, high school sweetheart, kids, grandma and grandpa for a night of Valentine’s Day music and comedy.

Craig and Bilagody’s show, “O-Shi-Heart: R-NDNs Romantic?,” will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday at El Morro Theatre, 207 W. Coal Ave. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

For the real romantics in the audience, they can purchase “big screen Valentine cards” in advance that will be projected on the theater’s screen prior to the concert. The cost is $10 per valentine’s message.

Originally from Crownpoint, Vincent Craig has become a favorite singer/songwriter, humorist, and cartoonist on the Navajo Nation. The creator of the cartoon strip, “Muttonman,” Craig became known for his humorous songs “Rita” and “Chizzie” and stories of boarding school life.

Craig now resides at Whiskey Flats, Ariz., on the White Mountain Apache Nation with his wife Mariddie. In a brief biography provided to the Independent, Craig credits his wife with inspiring the majority of his songs and poetry and with giving him the love and encouragement to embrace his “most cherished gift” of sobriety.

James Bilagody, from Tuba City, is a musician with eclectic musical tastes. Bilagody was exposed to both traditional Navajo music and western classical music as a child. He later worked as a DJ in Salt Lake City at a radio station with a multiple music format and then at KGHR in Tuba City, which had a country music format. Exposure to Elvis Presley and rock ’n’ roll broaden his musical tastes more.

Bilagody has performed in a country band and with a variety of Native American vocalists and bands. In recent years, he has collaborated with a number of other musicians to produce music that fuses Native lyrics and instruments with other styles of music, from classical to rock. Most recently, Bilagody has performed in a number of Native comedy ventures.

Information: El Morro Theatre at (505) 726-0050.