At 12 years old, Cree piano prodigy spreads ‘medicine’ through music

On the Blackfoot Confederacy’s lands, the sun shone, and the Devonian Gardens were a quiet refuge from the wind blowing through downtown “Calgary.” 

The air filled with the melody of “Golden Hour” by Jvke, a song that had made waves on TikTok, wrapping everyone in its ethereal, soulful rhythm. Each note floated softly, infusing the space with a warmth that felt like the last rays of sunlight on a spring day.

Behind the piano, fingers dancing across the keys, sat Adam Smallboy, who is now 12 years old. As he played, the world around him seemed to pause, captivated by the medicine of the moment. Watching over him adoringly were his kokum, parents, and siblings who came to support him. 

“I just play piano because I like playing,” he said simply.

Adam and his family are from Maskwacîs, and although he plays masterfully — he doesn’t have years of training. He taught himself to play the piano by ear in a matter of months. On any given day, can find Adam playing at any one of the public pianos throughout “Calgary.”

On this day, Adam’s piano filled the air with an eclectic mix of hip-hop beats from artists like Dr. Dre and Kanye West, seamlessly intertwined with Beethoven’s classic melodies. Passersby stopped in their tracks, pulling out their phones to capture the moment. His energy was contagious, prompting others to join in. When one woman asked to sing along, Adam smiled and nodded, continuing to play.

Adam treasures music for its ability to spread joy and create connections. He comes from a tight-knit family who all uplift their children’s musical skills and talents together. It was his aunt who first posted a video on TikTok of Adam playing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, which now sits at 54,000 views, and with over 500 comments lifting up the young nêhiyaw.

Comments like, “Let’s keep sharing this video. This kid needs his own stage,” to “Bro is Beethoven,” and “AMAZING! My heart just beamed with pride for this young beautiful soul!”

His mother, Tanya Bruno, said in an interview that Adam “plays the piano every single day.”

“He was 10 years old and wanted to get this kitty cat piano at Value Village he found, it was just a little baby keyboard,” she recalled. 

“That’s when he decided he was going to start learning and he started watching videos from there and practicing on his piano.”

When Adam first started feeling confident, he asked his mom to get him a more advanced piano. That’s when she recognized his skill level. 

“That’s when I knew I had a real musician to be taken care of,” she said.  

Wade Smallboy, Adam’s Dad, recalls approaching his son and asking “who showed you that?” when he noticed how skillful his playing had become, and Adam said “nobody.”

“I’m so proud of him,” Wade said, sharing that his two sons, Ashton and Adam, have shown him that, “music is like medicine.”

Adam first learned to play piano when watching his older brother play, he says that was his inspiration to learn. It was intergenerational.

Ashton Smallboy is Adam’s older brother and was the first among the four brothers to learn to play piano by ear. 

“[I watched] my older brother start playing piano, and then I started looking at videos of other people playing piano,” Adam said.

When asked why he feels it’s important to see kids like his brother pick up these musical skills he says that he’s proud of his family, and getting to witness his brother bring happiness to others.

“It’s amazing. It’s a good feeling, I love seeing them play and I love seeing people clap at them. And you know what’s going on right now,” said Ashton, referring to the number of people surrounding Adam, applauding after each song. 

“It’s really good to see. It’s good to see our people doing really good things, especially our youthful kids.”

Tanya also advises other parents whose children are musically advanced to listen to their kids and watch for their talents and skills. 

Tanya says the best thing to do is listen to your children and be there to nurture their gifts. 

“I wanted to put them in lessons for a long time, [but] financially it hadn’t been very easy for me to do. It didn’t stop us though,” she said.

Adam is continuously refining his skills with the hope of inspiring his little brothers to learn the piano — and he dreams of creating his own music.

When asked what advice he gives to other kids who are interested in learning to play an instrument, Adam’s guidance was straightforward.

“Practice, practice every day,” he said.