Robert Mirabal 
is one of the leaders of the Native American musical renaissance. Mirabal's style is less commercial than many of his contemporaries, building his melodies on the rituals that have surrounded him all of his life at Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, where he was born and still resides.

"My culture doesn't allow me to record anything traditional," Mirabal said. "But my music is informed by the ceremonial music that I've heard all of my life. 

What I create comes out of my body and soul, in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth." 

Congratulations to Robert for winning the Native American Music Awards' Best Songwriter award for the year 2000. The show was held last November in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Amazon.com named Robert their 1999 New Age Artist of the Year, along with TAOS TALES being named Editors Choice for November also on Amazon.com.

I was fortunate enough to catch Robert's PBS Special Music From a Painted Cave and was moved from tears of Joy to tears of deep sorrow in my appreciation of a man that lives his passion and shares his fire-a wild fire that is igniting and spreading among heart-feeling people that experience his magic. His dancers and band Rare Tribal Mob, share this fire and energy. Your senses will be tempted and bombarded with the life force he so lovingly shares.

His music celebrates the beauty of life but also takes us through the dark passages. Robert lives with his beautiful wife, daughter and extended family in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.

Ladyfire-Tell us a little about your music.

Robert-There are so many things that you can get with a touch of a button that I think as artists  to a certain extent we've always had the traditional aspects of who we are, you know we're the ones who set the trends and that create the ideas for the future.

I think it's important now more than ever to really realize and to really acknowledge the gifts that we have now and to offer those gifts as best that we can and that's what my music is about- telling the story as best as I can. I'm trying to create something really positive rather than to get stuck in that same ole round, (that's why I'm an artist) politically, artistically. I'm just trying to push myself to the point where maybe there is somebody else out there that has an idea that will push it a little bit farther.

Ladyfire-Your song 'The Dance' from your latest CD and PBS Special- 'Music from a Painted Cave' outlines opposites or aspects of the light and aspects of the dark.

Robert-I study as much as I can, I try to live with the Tao- Taoism. It's something that I grew up with and didn't even know it, its something that my culture talks about constantly- that you don't truly understand what is important to you and what is beautiful until you truly understand the dark side of that element, whether it be having it taken away from you or the pursuit of it so the older I got I realized that what I was studying and the things that I learned from my grandpa, grandma and the tribe was the Tao.

You can't live without the good and the bad. There's a saying where in one side of the pueblo there's crying and in the other side of the pueblo there's laughter and that's how the world moves and that's how it evolves. In one instance- it's your choice which way you choose to be but you will eventually experience both.

So when I write I try to incorporate rather than to just go with direct native influences. I try to be more on a human level, because I mean, the fan base is so broad across the gamut of different people and different nationalities that I try to be more accompanying of what I feel as well as what people feel more on a human level. 

I try to explore this because if I'm writing about some social issue I try to figure out- why am I writing about this? Rather than just to yell about it or to just create something about it, I try to figure out why I'm writing this and that. The "why" becomes so much more poignant and it becomes more universal and that "why" can create a certain story.



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