(slow music) - The flavor of Nebraska, as mixed as it is, there's something strangely wonderful about this place.

There is.

(chuckles) Once you get to know people here, you start to find out that there are layers of activity in every avenue of interest in the world.

It's all happening here.

But the other part of the coin of being a minority is still very, very present.

And so it colors my experience.

It's not a level playing field.

And being this skin color, it comes up all the time here in Nebraska.

(soft music) I would like to just think of myself as a human being, but by interacting with the world, the world constantly is reminding me I'm Black.

I'd like to forget it.

When I have to go to the store or do things, you know, go to a place I don't often go to, it's not that my guard is up, but it's like I'm observing.

How's this going?

How's this gonna go?

You know what I'm saying?

When I go for walks, I'm walking in the street alone, here's coming people... They cross the street.

I'm walking by, someone's in the car.

Click!

Lock the car.

I'm a tall Black man.

What else could it be?

That's the weird part of living in Omaha.

(soft music) I remember specifically one day walking to a grade school, and just as we got by this hotel, people started chucking rocks out the windows and yelling ******* ******, ******, ******, ******.

My cousin Barbara was with me, and she got hit so bad in the head that she bled, and she ended up having to be taken away by ambulance.

Well, I still can remember some of the thoughts.

It's like, what's wrong with these?

These are adults!

These are grownups!

What's wrong with these people, you know?

(soft music) Music absolutely is the healer.

Absolutely, it makes complete difference!

I grew up surrounded not just by my family, but other families, and traveling musicians, everything from jazz to country to gospel, I was exposed to all of it.

There are these standard responses, "Oh, you're a jazz musician.

Oh, you're a blues musician."

So stereotypical.

No one ever asked me, "Oh are you an electronic musician?

Oh, you play punk rock?"

You know, but yeah, I do.

(chuckles) Definitely my involvement in music and the way that I do it and play is trying to be a conscious, active effort of connecting with people beyond age, race, nationality.

(punk rock music) When I play music, I'm playing the music from the heart, from the gut.

And so the whole idea is to give it as much energy that I can muster at that moment, and I direct it to the audience.

When I play, I do quite a bit of engagement with the audience.

A lot of eye contact.

Come right up to the edge of the stage, play right to you.

I'm going to stick my bass in your face, you know?

(meditative music) Music shows the true soul, and spirit of what man is about.

Which can be complete utter darkness or utter divinity.

(calm music) Because I've been doing this most of my adult life, people tell me all the time how what we do, what I do, how I do it has changed their lives and helped them to see people differently, even see themselves differently.

(calm music) I could be a criminal.

I could be a gang member.

I could be a murderer.

I could be a, I used to be a drug dealer, okay?

You know what I'm saying?

But because of my own choices, based on what I was taught and using my own noggin', I'm trying to be a decent person, okay?

I honestly think that being something that's part of the solution is one of the best things we can do.

I've staked out my territory here.

I've been here for so long that I have a lot of love and support here.

I'm not leaving it up to the city to tell me I'm welcome, like I used to.

I make myself welcome.

This is my home.

I've been here.

I was raised here.

I can hang.

I think honestly, by staying here, I'm helping.

(soft music)