The love for Rod Little Sky Bandura resonated at Blue Grotto in Kamloops on Feb. 4.
Rod passed away on Jan. 24, and a memorial fundraiser was organized to support the Bandura family. A lineup of supporters stretched out the door of the Blue Grotto on Victoria Street by 7 p.m. on a cold Sunday night. Many guests came with food to share, and the longstanding music haunt was standing-room only.
Rod was a father and grandfather, an internationally renowned musician, a member of Qayqayt (qiqéyt) First Nation, and part of the Margit Sky Project with his wife, Margit Gossage Bandura. Margit Sky Project is an homage to both the musicians’ names.
A GoFundMe was created by one of Rod’s friends, Kenneth Kobayashi, to assist the family financially. Kobayashi created the fundraiser before Rod passed away.
Local musicians who worked with Bandura over his decades-long music career played throughout the night. Performers included The Eh! Team, The Angie Heinbze Band, Shattered Blue & Serious Dogs with guests.
The memorial started with a song performed by the Sage Hills Singers. Rod’s sister, Rhonda Larrabee, chief of Qayqayt First Nation, gave a prayer, a land acknowledgement and a eulogy about her brother’s life and career.
Johnny Bandura, Rod’s son, spoke with SPIN about his father before taking the stage to perform.
Johnny said the outpouring of support at the memorial fundraiser showed how impactful his father’s life was.
“My father has been a big part of this community in Kamloops since the 1980s. And a lot of these musicians that are here tonight are people he’s performed with since back in those days,” Bandura said. “When he passed, it left such a big dent in the music community here that I think they felt the need to do something to honour him.”
Johnny said his father, Rod, influenced him in many ways, from music to fashion and thought.
“He was a very humble person. And I would say, off stage he was giving back to the community as a whole. He ran the sweat lodge at the prison for years, helping men who were brushed aside from society,” Johnny said.
Part of Rod’s legacy is Music for the People, which he created with Margit Sky Project.
Described as “a concert experience of harmony and reconciliation,” the event brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to share culture and stories, with part of the proceeds from the annual event going to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
Rod’s musical resume includes playing in a band named Waskesu, which performed for prime ministers, at the Commonwealth Games and in shows at Much Music in Toronto.
Johnny received his first guitar from Rod at seven, which he recalls was put to use immediately by playing air guitar to Guns N’ Roses and jumping on a bed.
By 14, he strung the instrument and asked his dad for advice.
“He showed me two things – Jingle Bells and the chromatic scale. So that’s what I learned first. From there, he kind of just let me figure it out on my own. That’s kind of how he did things,” Johnny explained. “He wasn’t a big teacher in that sense. He never gave people guitar lessons or did anything like that. He was more of an inspiration to people.”
The songs Johnny chose to play for the night hold a personal connection to Rod and Johnny’s musical relationship. Johnny performed The Weight by The Band and Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan.
Johnny said he chose The Weight because it was a song they played together that was initially unknown to Rod.
“I would change the lyrics in it and kind of Weird Al the song, just to mess with him because he’s such a perfectionist,” Johnny said. “It was kind of funny.”
Knocking on Heaven’s Door was another song the two played together, and Johnny felt it was appropriate given Rod’s passing.
While many people know of Rod for his music, Johnny said he will hold his memory as a father first and foremost.
“I know a lot of people here want to remember him as the musical legend that he was. But to me, he’ll be the guy that used to lend me five bucks when I was 12 years old to go play video games or who bought me a skateboard or my first guitar at seven years old,” Johnny said.
He’ll also remember him “as a really great grandfather to his grandchildren.”
Editor’s Note, Feb. 20, 2024, 11:40 a.m.: This article was corrected to reflect the correct date of Rod Bandura’s passing. SPIN regrets this error.
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