Kole Galbraith (Seattle) is a musician and sound artist originally from Wenatchee, Washington. He settled in Seattle after living in Germany, Mexico, and Austria. While traveling, Kole immersed himself in improvised experimental music across multiple genres ranging from free-jazz, harsh noise, new-music, and metal. He has exhibited his works in galleries and venues throughout the west coast and in Austria. Kole is a descendant of the Colville and Sinixt Tribes, and an enrolled member of the Peoria Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma.
Kole received 2018 GAP Award funding to finance the recording of a new studio album and commission of other experimental sound artists with Native American ancestry. He will give other contemporary Native American experimental musicians a platform to express their own experiences and their ancestors' histories in a non-traditional manner.
This award allows Native American artists to express their ancestry in a non-traditional manner, and gives a larger cultural meaning to their experiences. This also validates that experimental music and sound art originating in an underground context has larger cultural value.