Hay River Reserve (May 08/06) - The new-school and the old-school will collide at this year's Folk on the Rocks festival, and neither seems to know what to expect.

This year's festival will see socially-conscious First Nations hip-hop group War Party, from Hobbema, Alta., meet traditional K'atlodeeche Drummers from the Hay River Reserve onstage.

Rex Smallboy, founder and executive producer of War Party (which also includes his fiance/co-producer Cynthia Smallboy and nephew Thane Saddleback), said he is excited to see the results, as this wasn't the first time he has been paired up with unfamiliar artists onstage.

Hip-hop group War Party, from left, Cynthia Smallboy, Rex Smallboy and Thane Saddleback. From Hobbema, Alta., the group will be performing at this year's Folk on the Rocks in Yellowknife. - photo courtesy of Eddie Birkett

A performance at the Vancouver Folk Festival in 2005 saw the act trade rhymes and beats with Canadian MC Kinnie Starr, while other jams have seen them collaborate with drummers, guitarists and bagpipe players.

"I think we can handle it," he said. "If not, I guess we'll

have to improvise, but we're good at that."

Onstage collaboration is nothing new for the K'atlodeeche drummers either, as the group has been paired with other drummers, as well as Mongolian and Nunavummiut throat singers in their three Folk on the Rocks appearances.

"They always match us up with someone when we close," said Philip Fabian, member and de facto leader the Hay River group.

Smallboy said War Party, which has played throughout Canada, the U.S. and Japan in recent years, has been a way for him to come to grips with life in Hobbema.

"It made me look at my community," he said, "It gave me a way to express myself."

He said the act of examining life as a First Nations person in Canada taught him about his people and his culture, and brought him closer to his roots. But when it comes to preserving those roots, he said that is best left to the elders.

"The idea makes them (the elders) uncomfortable," he said of incorporating teachings into hip-hop.

Fabian said he was excited to see what would come of the collaboration, and said he pays no mind to the difference between the groups' styles.

"I like all music," he said. "It doesn't matter what kind."

"When you hear a drum beat, it goes into your body, like a heartbeat, especially when you drum dance," he said. "When you drum dance, you're healing yourself."

Both groups are part of the "rootsier, grittier" tone of this year's festival, which executive director Tracey Bryant said is part of "letting the dust settle," from last year's 25th anniversary blow-out.

The 26th annual Folk on the Rocks Festival runs from July 14 to 16 this year.