Music of The Reminders, one of Independence Eve's 2023 performers, reflects their worldwide influence

"We are reminders to one another of our greatness." That's the message behind the music of The Reminders. Aja Black and Big Samir aren't just partners on the stage. They're married, and their 15-year-old daughter DJs for them.

"We've been performing together for 15 plus years so it's an energetic performance," Samir said. "We have a chemistry unlike any other because we share partnership in life."

 And that chemistry definitely shows up on stage. The Colorado Springs duo describes their music as "root music" playing on influences they've picked up from their journeys around the world.

Traveling the world has ingrained the importance of community for Aja and Samir.

"Every time we come into a community and we perform, we connect and engage with the people as well," said Samir.

In fact when CBS News Colorado caught up with The Reminders at the Anythink Farm Concert series in Thornton, they were talking with the director of the library where the event was held about coming back.

"We're going to come back to teach workshops, song-writing workshops and story-telling workshops to connect deeper than just a performance and that's something important to us. To cultivate that kind of connection between us and the community," said Samir.

Now they are bringing that desire to connect to Civic Center Park for Independence Eve.

The Reminders are no strangers to big crowds. They've played around the world, including at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

"It doesn't matter if it's one person or 100,000," said Aja, "we perform the same. We owe our music that respect because it took a lot of energy to make. It takes a lot of energy to perform and share with people and that's never a time we'll step on the stage and be so conscious about the size of the crowd that we don't do what we're supposed to do."

And no matter the size of the crowd for Aja and Samir, it's always about creating a community.

"Communities are always created around music. I think once someone has the courage the share the message and people connect to it, even it it's just five or six people, you've created a musical community." explained Aja.

And for The Reminders, that community creation is the true measure of success.

Aja explained it this way: "We've just gone into so many different areas and we have so many different audiences that we've dealt with that's it more than us being able to kind of transcend genres ... and go in there with our intention pure, our mission pure and people take from it what they will.

"As long as you remember your presence there is an offering and not so much about what we receive."