A new and fulfilling career path at the University of Washington for Tory Johnston includes teaching in the American Indian Studies department and hosting an indigenous music show on KEXP radio, and it all came about thanks to encouragement from Jessica Bissett Perea, associate professor of American Indian Studies and adjunct faculty in Music History.
Bissett Perea’s Indigenous-led and Indigeneity-centered work, Johnston says in a recent UW News article by Lauren Kirschman, changed his perspective and pushed him to focus his work on Indigenous sound and music.
“Bissett Perea’s work as a musicologist awoke this thing in me, which was this musicality that I’ve had my entire life,” Johnston said. “I’ve always, always loved music, and I’ve always thought deeply about it, too. She showed me those ideas and that way of thinking was possible through an Indigeneity-centered lens.”