The only definitive information on the formation of Silverbird comes from a 1971 newspaper article in the Daily Herald of Provo, Utah (one of the early Biloxi newspapers, The Daily Herald had that name also). The article appears under the heading “Birth of a Navajo Rock Band” and has a dateline of Long Island University; actually, Navajo is not one of the Indian tribes mentioned by J. Reuben Silverbird in his biography.
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The bandleader of Silverbird is Ruben Ortiz (or Reuben Ortiz) who now goes by the name of J. Reuben Silverbird – in fact, almost the entire family now seems to use the Silverbird surname. He has a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/jsilverbird?fref=ts – and also a Facebook “fan club” page – www.facebook.com/groups/73767990708/ .
Additionally, J. Reuben Silverbird has at least four different websites: an American website (www.silverbird.us/), an Austrian website (www.silverbird.at/), a Norwegian website (www.jsilverbird.no/) – translation of the website is available through Google – and an ordinary “dot-com” website (www.reubensilverbird.com/). The websites have completely different looks, but for the most part, they have similar information.
On his websites, J. Reuben Silverbird says that he is “the son of a Nedhni Apache Wise Man and Cherokee Medicine Woman” and has been a musician since he was 6 years old, performing throughout the Southwest. His father was from Mexico, while his mother has Blair/Sequoia roots and is originally from Colorado. The Ortiz/Silverbird family has been in entertainment for generations, and Ruben Ortiz’s family ran a small traveling circus and vaudeville show in Mexico while he was growing up. Although nothing at all is said about the Silverbird band on any of these websites, J. Reuben Silverbird has performed with Diana Ross and Eartha Kitt and has also given numerous solo performances on Native American flute, guitar and percussive instruments, playing his own compositions.
J. Reuben Silverbird is still a musician; his recent albums include the 1991 release The World in Our Eyes (A Native American Vision of Creation) – which earned high praise in its review on the Allmusic website – plus Indian Circle (1992) and Shaman Spirit (2008). However, these days J. Reuben Silverbird primarily speaks on Native American spirituality and participates in retreats and charitable events.
J. Reuben Silverbird is listed on several “fraud” and “hoax” websites, though I imagine that almost anyone in his line of work would be similarly disparaged on some of these websites. (One of these sites, a “wiki” called Psiram gave me some information on Reuben Silverbird that I couldn’t get anywhere else, though they still didn’t have the right information on the Silverbird band).
The main complaint seems to be his affiliation with the Unification Church – a/k/a the Moonies – where he serves as an “Ambassador for Peace” in their affiliated group, the Unification Peace Federation. J. Reuben Silverbird has also engaged in some minor myth-making. However, he has also reportedly appeared at the 90-year-old International Spiritualist Federation and has regularly given ceremonial blessings at the Nobel Peace Institute in Oslo, Norway – hence, the Norwegian website. And he has been on the cover of a major news magazine, U. S. News and World Report – no mean feat.
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Much of the overheated rhetoric about J. Reuben Silverbird is about his name changes; even the minor switch from Ruben to Reuben is mentioned. Using stage names is hardly limited to rock musicians – the very term itself shows that its origin is in the theatre. You needn’t go any further than the drummer for the Beatles to find one: Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey). Guitarist and songwriter Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones used the name Keith Richard for many years. The John Birch Society called Stones frontman Mick Jagger “Mick Jaeggert” back in the 1970’s; a Google search brought up only two websites using this name – one French and one Hungarian – so this is probably not for real.
(August 2013)
