Sweet Grass Records - Up Where They Belong

by Edwinna von Baeyer

What started as a home-based hobby business in 1993 has taken Darlene and Ted Whitecalf into the heart of the Aboriginal music industry. Sweet Grass Records, based in Saskatoon, was first founded to capture traditional music — pow-wow and round dance music — on high-quality recordings.

Ted, a Cree from the Saskatchewan Sweetgrass Reserve, headed the Saskatoon Indian Cultural Centre’s audio-visual department and had a firm grounding in traditional music. Darlene, a Chippewa from the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation in Ontario, was a psychological counsellor. Today, Sweet Grass Records represents about 40 different groups — from Red Bull to Whitefish Jrs., Red Dog to Stoney Park. In just eight years, the company has become a leader in the Aboriginal music field.

Sweet Grass did a couple of records which “just took off,” says Darlene of the company’s rapid rise in the industry. “Our people were hungry for the music, hungry for top quality recordings,” she adds. The phone soon started ringing, as other groups called wanting to be produced by the company. Within two years, the business had moved into a storefront office where the recordings are made, packaged, marketed and distributed.

Two major names in the music industry played a part in Sweet Grass Records’ success: Buffy Sainte-Marie and EMI Music Canada. Buffy Sainte-Marie has supported the company in many ways, including using various Sweet Grass groups on her own recordings. EMI helped distribute the recordings, signed a major licence agreement with the company, and taught Ted and Darlene the intricacies of contracts.

From the beginning, they concentrated on the quality of the recordings and presentation of the products. What else has contributed to their success? “You have to be prepared to work long hours,” Darlene says, “and you must have a good accountant. It also helps to recognize talent, and to know where to concentrate your efforts. Sweet Grass mostly represents groups that are already on the pow-wow circuit.”

These days, the company is distributing Sweet Grass recordings in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and the business remains strong. Ted and Darlene, now divorced, are still business partners. Two of their four children — daughters Pamela and Carol — are also involved in the business. In 2000, Pamela won a Canadian Aboriginal Music award for best album cover design for Little Island Cree’s CD Indian Country. Carol, a university student, is redesigning the company’s website, as well as helping out in the office.

Sweet Grass Records has received five Juno nominations to date and has been written up in many music periodicals, including the influential Billboard Magazine. Since the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards were first established, Sweet Grass has been nominated every year. In 2000 alone, the company was nominated for seven awards in four categories — and won in three of them. In 2001, Ted received two awards: Lifetime Contribution to Aboriginal Music and the Music Industry Award.

Ever enterprising, Sweet Grass is now branching out into recording Aboriginal music in other genres — a blues CD is in the making. Visit the company’s website at www.sweetgrassrecords.com .

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