As we are all very well aware, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on musical artists all over British Columbia, Canada, and the world for obvious reasons. Everything from not being able to perform in front of live audiences to studios not willing to let the artist use them for a couple of hours has caused a massive setback all over the province. For Lil’wat artist, Russell Wallace however, COVID -19 has impacted his music differently than most. Russell says that the fact that COVID-19 can be spread through breath is challenging for him and his community, especially because when Russell sings, it’s for and with his friends and family as at social gatherings or events in the community. As well, Wallace says it’s difficult knowing that doing something so traditional within his community and family can spread a deadly virus to his pears. Russell Wallace opened up in an interview with CBC about how he and his family have lost loved ones to COVID-19. As a result, he has been very cautious throughout the pandemic about staying away from people as much as possible.

Despite all the setbacks, Wallace was able to release an album he had been previously putting off for a couple of years back in February. An album that he says is surprised got as much attention as it got. Unceded Tongues is an album that combines pop, jazz, and blues with Salish musical styles. Perhaps most impressively is that the project is in the St’at’imc language, which Wallance admits he does not know 100% fluently. Throughout the album’s creation, Wallace had plenty of help from his friends, family, and community writing the songs because others knew the language better than he did. Wallace says that the pandemic has shown him that he and his community are very resilient at the end of the day.