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Nahko and Medicine for the People is an American world music group. The six-member band is headed by frontman Nahko Bear.

Nahko and Medicine for the People
Nahko and Medicine for the People in 2017
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Worldbeat
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Medicine Tribe Records, Side One Dummy Records
Members	Nahko Bear Justin Chittams Chase Makai Patricio Zuñiga Labarca Max Ribner Tim Snider
Past members	Don Corey Hope Medford
Website	nahko.com

The band

Nahko Bear

Born in Portland, Oregon, of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent, he was adopted at a young age and raised by a white family. It wasn't until his early twenties that he would meet his birth mother. He wrote the song "Early February" shortly before this meeting; it describes a woman far too young to be pregnant putting her baby in the bed of a woman she'd never met. Bear says his creative inspiration is the desire to bridge cultural gaps,[1] and that he has been musically inclined since the age of six, when he started learning to play the piano.[2] He has also worked as a piano teacher and music director.[2] In 2012, he began traveling around the United States in a van with his dog.[2] In 2017, Nahko released a solo album titled My Name Is Bear, under the name Nahko.[3]

On July 8, 2020, following accusations from multiple individuals[4] of sexually inappropriate behavior, Nahko resigned from the board of Honor the Earth. In their statement, "Regarding Nahko", the Honor the Earth board stated that they have "a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior".[4]

Other band members

• Justin Chittams (drums)
• Joe Hall (lead guitar)
• Patricio Zuñiga Labarca (bass guitar)
• Max Ribner (trumpet, flugelhorn)
• Tim Snider (electric violin)
• TJ Schaper (trombone)[5]

Past members

• Hope Medford (hand percussion and rhythms)
• Don Corey (bass) (recorded on Dark as Night)
• Chase Makai (lead guitar)

Tours and festivals

Nahko and Medicine for the People have toured with Nattali Rize, Rebelution, Michael Franti, Trevor Hall, Dispatch, Xavier Rudd, and SOJA.[1] Nahko Bear has also performed duets with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia.[6][7]

The band largely appears at alternative music festivals,[1][5] including the Greenbelt Festival,[8] the ARISE Music Festival[9] and Tour de Fat.[9]

Discography

Nahko and Medicine for the People

Studio albums

• Dark As Night (2013)
• On the Verge (2014)
• HOKA (2016)
• Take Your Power Back (2020)

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		US AAA [10]
"Wash It Away"	2014	—	Non-album single
"Lifeguard"	2019	36	Take Your Power Back
"Slow Down"		—
"Garden"	2020	—
"Honor the Earth"		—
"—" denotes single did not chart or was not released in that territory

Nahko

• My Name Is Bear (2017)

References

Further reading

Reviews

• Salrin, Ellie (September 29, 2014). "[REVIEW] ARISE: A look at the future of sustainable festival culture". The UNTZ. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
• Weiss, Brian (October 6, 2014). "Review: Nahko, Medicine for the People". NUVO. Retrieved 2015-03-19.

External links

• Official website
• Nahko and Medicine for the People at AllMusic

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