BURSTJeremy Pahl, whose Ts’msyen name is Wil Uks Batsga G̱a̱laaw, will release a new album on July 10, 2026.
The Prince Rupert musician – best-known as Saltwater Hank – said the project builds on themes of language, storytelling and identity while deepening his use of Sm’algya̱x as both a creative and cultural foundation.
“The album explores themes of resistance and reclamation more directly than my previous work,” Pahl said.
Blending blues, folk and punk influences, the album is firmly rooted in Pahl’s experience as a Ts’msyen musician from Lax Kxeen (Prince Rupert), with North Coast landscapes, waterways and harvesting traditions continuing to shape his songwriting.
As his fluency in Sm’algya̱x has grown, so has the language’s presence in his music.
“The cadence changes everything,” he said. “Sm’algya̱x carries emotion differently. It changes how stories are told and how people listen.”
Pahl said he first recognized music’s role in language learning while studying Spanish and later found songs helped him retain Sm’algya̱x vocabulary more naturally than memorization alone. “For me, music became a way to learn differently,” he said.
“Songs helped me hear the rhythm of the language, remember words and connect emotionally to it in a way that felt alive instead of academic.”
He credits Elder Velma Nelson with helping deepen his understanding of the language’s musicality.
“Velma Nelson told me that a linguist once said when our people speak to one another, it sounds like they’re singing,” Pahl said. “The more fluent I became, the more I understood that.”
Pahl hopes his music helps bring Sm’algya̱x into new spaces and inspires younger generations to connect with the language.
“I think music is one of the strongest ways to carry language and identity into spaces where people might not expect to hear it,” he said.
Ultimately, Pahl said his goal is to help preserve the language so that it continues to be heard, spoken and carried forward.
“I really want to hammer home the point that you’ve got to sit with Elders,” he said.
“The people who carry that deep knowledge of the language aren’t going to be with us forever.”