ENVIRONMENT
For an extended interview with Shelly Covert , visit www . comstocksmag . com .
PHOTO BY KIAL JAMES
helly Covert has loved harmony since her choir days at Nevada Union High School in Grass Valley , although her musical side was ingrained even before her teenage years by her father , a musician who played with local legends and whose bands sometimes practiced at her childhood home .
As Covert grew older , one of her father ’ s bandmates taught her the bassline to Santana ’ s version of “ Black Magic Woman .” “ It started with me just playing a few songs , then a whole set ,” she says . She had earned her place in the band .
For more than three decades , Covert has performed on stages at weddings , bars , wineries and pubs throughout Nevada County . She is the lead singer and bass player for the rock band UnderCover . Her favorite band is a toss-up between Guns N ’ Roses and Heart , whose lead singer Ann Wilson is her favorite vocalist , and she will take any chance to belt out a cover of “ Barracuda .” “ Back in the good old days ,” she says , before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to live shows , “ I used to just play music . I ’ m not doing much anymore , which is a very strange and interesting life arc .”
Covert now spends her days following the path of her mother and grandfather , who long advocated , unsuccessfully , for the reinstatement of federal recognition of the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe , which had been recognized in 1913 and then terminated in 1964 as part of the California Rancheria Termination Act , several laws Congress passed in the 1950s and ’ 60s . Without recognition , her tribe isn ’ t eligible for federal programs for housing , education , health care and economic development . It also means the tribe ’ s voice isn ’ t always considered on issues of importance to its members .
“ Because we ’ re not federally recognized , we don ’ t have that big voice that ’ s automatically at the table , with required consultation on a governmentto-government level like other federal agencies , so I feel like I ’ ve been finding creative ways to make things happen ,” says Covert , spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria for about the past decade and executive director of the nonprofit California Heritage : Indige-
32 comstocksmag . com | May 2021