CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — From left to right, Tyrin Lasley, Marshall Baker, Lincoln Kingbird and Gunner Jules pose for a photo together during the Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men's Fashion Show in Paris on Jan. 15. Lasley and Kingbird, who are first cousins, are both members of the South Tama County High School Class of 2020, and they performed as singers and dancers during the event along with Lasley's parents Tyler and Nahmi.

PARIS — Tyrin, Tyler and Nahmi Lasley and Lincoln Kingbird are still in a bit of shock about the events that transpired over the last few months and ultimately culminated in all of them traveling to Paris as part of a recent fashion show hosted by famed musician Pharrell Williams. Tyrin, Tyler and Nahmi took the stage as singers and dancers during a piece tiled “Native Voices of Resistance,” and Kingbird, Tyrin’s cousin and Tyler and Nahmi’s nephew, was one of six Native American singers to be featured on the recording of the new Mumford and Sons and Pharrell single “Good People,” even getting the chance to perform the song live with the artists during the show.

Both Kingbird and Tyrin Lasley are members of the South Tama County Class of 2020, and Tyrin now resides in Lawrence, Kan. while Kingbird is a student at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Mont. Tyrin and Nahmi reside on the Meskwaki Settlement.

Tyrin said he and his girlfriend first connected with Lauren Good Day, a Native art designer, in North Dakota through a photo shoot, and a few months later, he received a text message from Dee Jay Two Bears, a filmmaker, artist and social activist, asking him if he was interested in modeling and traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to a major show in Paris.

“I was just shocked. I was like ‘What?'” Tyrin said. “That day he called me, my mom, my dad, my girlfriend and her parents, we were eating in (Tama) at the Mexican restaurant, and he’s like, do you have time to call? I said yep, so he called me and started giving me more info. He’s like ‘Yeah, it’s a big show with Pharrell and it’s gonna be with Louis Vuitton.’ And I was just like ‘What?’ It was just all shocking.”

When he shared the news, both his and his girlfriend’s family felt a similar sense of surprise, but they were instantly supportive and “hyped” about the opportunity. From there, they worked through the process, and while he didn’t end up going as a model, he was chosen to sing and dance nonetheless.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Tyrin Lasley is pictured with musician Pharrell Williams in Paris during the recent Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men's Fashion Show. Williams organized the opening night of the show with a focus on the styles of the American West and featured Native singing, drumming and dancing.

While his father wanted to make sure the details sounded good, he otherwise jumped onboard immediately. And since he and his wife had plenty of familiarity with powwows and traditional dances themselves, they were eventually asked to participate as well. Tyrin’s two sisters also attended but did not dance.

“We’re like ‘We’re going.’ We’re gonna go with you and we’re gonna support you over there, so that’s where we came in. No matter what, we were gonna be there,” Tyler said.

For Kingbird, an enrolled member of the Red Lake Tribe who grew up primarily in North Dakota before moving to Tama as a high schooler, he had a connection with Dee Jay Two Bears through another uncle, and when Two Bears asked his uncle if he knew any singers, he quickly mentioned his nephew.

In December, he was invited to drive 12 hours to Bismarck, N.D., from where he currently lives in northwest Montana to sing on the Mumford and Sons track, and he ended up spending most of a day working on the harmonies and nailing down his parts with five other Native vocalists.

His voice will be heard on the official album version of the track, but Kingbird admitted he didn’t have a ton of knowledge of their catalog beforehand.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Lincoln Kingbird, a 2020 graduate of STC High School, is pictured with the members of Mumford and Sons during the recent Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men's Fashion Show in Paris. Kingbird was one of six Native singers invited to record vocals on the band's new song "Good People," a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, and he performed it live with the artists during the show on Jan. 15.

“I only knew the one song, ‘Little Lion Man,’ that’s a good song. Other than that, I didn’t know too much about them, (but) to be able to sing with any artist or band is crazy because I just sing powwows,” he said.

The Native singers communicated with both Williams and the members of Mumford and Sons, who were at a studio in Paris, via Skype, and collaborated throughout the process.

When it was finally time to make the trip, the Lasleys spent a week there from Jan. 8 up until the opening night of the show on Jan. 15 (Kingbird was in town for five days) and returned on Jan. 16. Most of the singers and dancers already knew each other because they regularly perform at powwows together around the country, but the chance to do it on a massive stage halfway across the world and share their culture with a global audience was still unforgettable.

Tyrin recalled that the producers of the show started crying the first time they heard them sing.

“For us, it’s like, singing really has a spirit, and when you hear it, you’re gonna feel it. And that’s just something you can’t deny. You’re gonna let your body just do its thing, and it’s a lot of emotions. Those tears aren’t sad. It just makes you feel something you’ve never felt before,” he said. “When we got done singing, they were just in disbelief… because they’d never heard something like that, so it gave them a reaction that they’d never felt before.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

And of course, the city itself, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, left a lasting impression, with both Tyrin and Kingbird describing it as pristine and relaxing.

“I really enjoyed the feel of it because the streets themselves are really clean. Having a busy day and then having time to go out while it was nighttime, there was no sense of urgency or being aware of anything,” Tyrin said. “It was just walking, and I was like this is really nice. It’s peaceful. It’s quiet.”

Neither Tyrin nor Lincoln was terribly familiar with Mumford and Sons, the chart-topping British folk-rock band known for hits like “The Cave,” “I Will Wait” and the aforementioned “Little Lion Man,” but they were surprised by how down to Earth and relatable they were in person.

“It was a lot easier than what I thought it was gonna be. They were pretty good listeners. They understood a lot,” Kingbird said.

Pharrell was more eager to get down to business, but later, the group presented him with gifts and they prayed together and shared mutual gratitude for each other’s presence. Tyler was grateful that someone so famous was interested in giving Native people a platform on the world stage.

“A lot of people think we’re extinct. We no longer exist. That’s crazy to us, but it’s the truth. So that’s one of the things. (Pharrell) wanted us to have a voice and have this big platform to just let people know who we are, a part of who we are. There’s so much more to us, but we’re thankful to be able to share the fact that we’re here and share our talent, share our voice,” Tyler said.

When it was time to perform, Tyler added, it just came naturally.

“We always get nervous when we sing and when we dance, but it’s just that same level. It is a bigger stage, you know, worldwide, Louis Vuitton, Pharell Williams, but it’s just something that we always do,” he said. “So we weren’t too nervous. We knew what we were doing.”

Kingbird, who performed “Good People” live with Pharrell and Mumford and Sons, said he was a bit on edge but full of adrenaline, comparing it to the most energetic night of a powwow and then some.

“You get adrenaline on those nights. It felt like that the whole time we were getting ready to perform, after performing, and then the six of us waiting behind everyone, the huge crowd surrounding the stage, that was pretty crazy,” he said. “And then to walk out there, everyone from a whole 360 (degrees), famous people, a bunch of people surrounding us. I was pretty nervous. Everybody else was nervous too.”

As he looks to the future, Tyrin aspires to become a filmmaker and tell Native stories that have never made it to the screen in the past — specifically citing a desire to move beyond portrayals that only show his people as poor and miserable. And as a father, Tyler couldn’t be more proud of his son and his nephew and the way their culture was represented.

“You’re gonna keep excelling. All these opportunities are gonna keep coming your way, because that’s the one thing that I take from that. Pharrell… he thanked the creator, he thanked us for praying for him, and when we bowed with him out there, he pointed up,” Tyler said. “So he acknowledges the Creator. He has many names — God, Creator, Great Spirit — he has all kinds of labels, but to acknowledge him and to give him thanks, the glory of everything that’s come from him, you’re gonna keep getting these opportunities. That’s how I feel.”

Several other extended relatives of the Lasleys and Kingbirds got to make the trip, and Tyler commented that it was like “a big old family.” Tyrin described Kingbird, who graduated from STC in the same class as he did, like another sibling.

“It was something dope to experience that with him because that’s my little brother,” Tyrin said.

His cousin was quick to reiterate just how surreal it all felt.

“I’m just like any other Native from a small town, and to go to Paris and do something like that, it’s such a crazy experience. It’s like once in a lifetime for anyone, and to be able to do it on that stage, it’s crazy,” Kingbird said.

A live performance of the song at the 2024 Louis Vuitton Fashion Show featuring an extended Native dance sequence can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9DemQjjFwU