Hip native american music thread-

[Alien Life Form]

Originally Posted by GunmouthGrace

You only put the stuff after the v= between the YouTube tags.

Embed only the bolded: https:// www. youtube.com/watch?v=wid2eIOghXw



Click quote on this post to see what I mean.

Got it! Thanks.


I edited my post so the video's play now.

[Lisnaholic]

I kept meaning to thank AlienLifeForm for his recommendation of A Tribe Called Red who have some great Native American/Electronica tracks. Unfortunately, I fear he may have left us already.

Recently I came across some live PowWow performances. Gotta admire the wild communal passion of the singers, although sadly, you can visibly detect how the passion of the moment disperses as you look at the concentric rings of performers/spectators. They go from passion to empathy to curiosity to indifference, all in the space of two yards:-

.....

"Dope Crow Hope" lol

[Plankton]

I'm surprised Indigenous hasn't been mentioned in here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_(band)



One of those bands that never really got the spotlight they deserved, but trudged on through the late 90's and are still obscurely touring today. As incredible as a musician Mato is, I think maybe his SRV influence may have labeled him a knockoff which may have had a hand in the bands relatively small success story. A bit like Robin Trower and his Hendrix influence, who is also sited as a Mato influence and was heavily borrowed on. Bringing that style of guitar playing to the table had already been played out and done to death by the likes of Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Chris Duarte, and a host of others after SRV's success then tragic death, so Mato and the gang were swept under the rug and forgotten for the most part.

You can hear SRV's heavy gauge string/strat style influence prominently in this tune:


SRV + Hendrix a la Red House with a little Johnny Winter thrown in on this one:


Regardless of all that, they make some great music. Kind of a SRV/Hendrix/Santana meets Widespread Panic jam-band-ish type thing. For some reason, listening to them reminds me of summer.

[Lisnaholic]

^ This is a real quality addition to the thread! I've never heard of this band, but am really enjoying the clips. Even though, as you say, there are a bunch of similar artists' styles bubbling away in the mixture, they deserve more than being "swept under the rug."

Funny that you should mention summer because "The rest of my days" reminded me of The Allmans who also have a lot of "summery" music, imo: "Blue Sky", "High Falls" for example. Actually, ever since Dick Dale, I think the US has cornered the market on summery music. The Brits don't often do it very well, and have a tendency to head off in some coy medieval direction when they try it.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ This is a real quality addition to the thread! I've never heard of this band, but am really enjoying the clips. Even though, as you say, there are a bunch of similar artists' styles bubbling away in the mixture, they deserve more than being "swept under the rug."

Funny that you should mention summer because "The rest of my days" reminded me of The Allmans who also have a lot of "summery" music, imo: "Blue Sky", "High Falls" for example. Actually, ever since Dick Dale, I think the US has cornered the market on summery music. The Brits don't often do it very well, and have a tendency to head off in some coy medieval direction when they try it.

I never really thought about it, but you've got a point there. Cream did some breezy stuff, but we kind of set the bar with a lot of the southern rock artists.

Getting back to Indigenous, this tune covers a nice little spectrum of being a bit of a summery tune with some 3rd stone from the sun sprinkled in. Not borrowed riff for riff, but nuances of it while still keeping their own songwriting identity:



Some time in the early 00's a bunch of us had tickets to see them, along with a bunch of other bands in a "Concert In The Park" kind of series they were running at Grant Park in Chicago. We all got a citation for having a beer in the park outside the venue, which was ridiculous. Most of us paid the citation, but a few just said screw it and ended up owing hundreds of dollars after accumulating late fees over the course a year or two. That was the only time I've seen this band and I don't remember anything other than owing the city of Chicago a lot of money. They were at the top of their game too around that time. Kind of a shame really. I might get out to see them this summer though, since they'll be here in June. I need some reconciliation.

[Alien Life Form]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

I kept meaning to thank AlienLifeForm for his recommendation of A Tribe Called Red who have some great Native American/Electronica tracks. Unfortunately, I fear he may have left us already.

You're welcome. I am still here. I just don't visit the forum everyday. I can never think of anything to post about.

[Lisnaholic]

^ Nice to hear that you haven't abandoned us, Alien Life Form. There are plenty of threads where people just post what they're listening to, list their favourites in a genre or something like that. As you may've noticed, plenty of content-free posting as well, so don't feel daunted !

Originally Posted by Plankton

Getting back to Indigenous, this tune covers a nice little spectrum of being a bit of a summery tune with some 3rd stone from the sun sprinkled in. Not borrowed riff for riff, but nuances of it while still keeping their own songwriting identity:



Some time in the early 00's a bunch of us had tickets to see them, along with a bunch of other bands in a "Concert In The Park" kind of series they were running at Grant Park in Chicago. We all got a citation for having a beer in the park outside the venue, which was ridiculous. Most of us paid the citation, but a few just said screw it and ended up owing hundreds of dollars after accumulating late fees over the course a year or two. That was the only time I've seen this band and I don't remember anything other than owing the city of Chicago a lot of money. They were at the top of their game too around that time. Kind of a shame really. I might get out to see them this summer though, since they'll be here in June. I need some reconciliation.

^ Drinking beer in a park! You were obviously quite the bad boy back in the day, Plankton! I hope you get to see the band in June - partly for the music, partly to get closure for your traumatic past.

Nice bit of blues noodling on this Indigenous track, plus some interesting pics which prompt me to recommend again the movie PowWow Highway :-



And here's a cross-over curiosity; two Americas meet in this song for kids:-

[Alien Life Form]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ Nice to hear that you haven't abandoned us, Alien Life Form. There are plenty of threads where people just post what they're listening to, list their favourites in a genre or something like that. As you may've noticed, plenty of content-free posting as well, so don't feel daunted !

...


And here's a cross-over curiosity; two Americas meet in this song for kids:-

Thanks.

Interesting cross-over song. Interesting to hear Native-American style singing in English language.

[Plankton]

Good write-up on Indigenous:

Born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, Indigenous front man Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) dedicates his latest release Time Is Coming (on Blues Bureau International) to the indigenous youth and all young people on the indigenous reservations. Mato Nanji’s father, the late Greg Zephier, Sr., was a well-known and highly respected spiritual advisor and spokesperson for the International Indian Treaty Council. In addition to this leadership role, he was an accomplished musician and a member of the musical group, The Vanishing Americans. Formed by Greg and his brothers in the ‘60’s, The Vanishing Americans toured nationally and shared bills with such legends as Bonnie Raitt. Besides being heavily influenced by the music his father and uncles were making, Mato was exposed to Greg’s vast collection of blues records by legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. Consequently, Mato embraced and began utilizing his own musical talent at a young age. With the experience, love and wisdom of their father to guide them, Mato, his brother, sister and cousin formed the band Indigenous while in their late teens.

After much time invested in practicing and building a following, they began touring extensively across the country. In 1998, they released their award winning debut album Things We Do. The title track’s video, directed by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals), won the American Indian Film Festival Award and was shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Indigenous’ music caught the attention of blues icon B.B. King and the young band was invited to play on his annual B.B. King’s Blues Tour in 1999. Sadly, Mr. Zephier would pass away before seeing his children receive this great honor.

With momentum gaining, Indigenous’ 2000 sophomore release, Circle, was produced and arranged by Stevie Ray Vaughan’s longtime friend and collaborator, the late Doyle Bramhall, Sr. Three more cds; Fistful of Dirt(2002), Indigenous (2003) and Long Way Home (2005) would follow before the 2006 decision by the siblings to ‘disband’ and pursue their own musical paths but Mato carried on with the Indigenous band name. “Playing with my family for 10 years was a lot of fun, but it was time to grow and keep moving forward.”

Mato continued touring and in 2006 released Chasing The Sun. Two of the cd’s songs, “Come On Home” and “Leaving”, were featured on the hit Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch. “Come on Home” was also featured on FX’s Sons of Anarchy. On 2008’s Broken Lands, an intensely personal record, Mato and Leah, his lyricist and wife, pay tribute to his Native heritage. The album decries the poverty, isolation and reality of life on the reservation with “Place I Know.” The album gains its title from the line, “all is lost in these broken lands.” Of The Acoustic Sessions (released in 2010), Mato commented, “It’s a collection of some of my favorite songs that celebrate 10 years of releasing albums. Every song that I have ever written began with the acoustic guitar, so it only felt natural to create an acoustic album.”

Indigenous featuring Mato Nanji (2012) would mark Nanji’s debut on the Blues Bureau International label and the beginning of his collaboration with noted producer, Mike Varney. Joining Mato on the disc’s opening track “Free Yourself, Free Your Mind” is the soulful Jonny Lang. On it, the two guitar-masters trade vocals and guitar solos. It’s truly a blues lover’s ‘match made in heaven’.

In addition to his Indigenous ‘day job’, Mato Nanji has been a member of the critically acclaimed Experience Hendrix Tour since 2002. Playing alongside original Jimi Hendrix band members Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell, the tour roster includes some of today’s blues greats including Buddy Guy, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, and Robert Randolph.

Once the 2012 Experience Hendrix Tour concluded, Mato and fellow EHT tour mates David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) would collaborate and release the hard-driving, psychedelic blues-infused 3 Skulls and the Truth (Blues Bureau International) disc. The album’s no-holds barred setting is the ideal foundation for the three veteran axemen to simply ‘let it fly’. February 2013 would bring the Mato Nanji-inspired release from trance-blues artist Otis Taylor,My World Is Gone (Telarc). Mato and Otis explore the plight of the American Indian people in a lightning bolt of musical creativity and social commentary. "Mato inspired the entire direction of this album," says Taylor. "We were talking about history backstage at a Jimi Hendrix tribute concert he had just played, and, in reference to his people, the Native American Nakota Nation, he said 'My world is gone.' The simplicity and honesty of those four words was so heavy, I know what I had to write about."

"My dad was my favorite musician so he really influenced me a lot with everything. I just felt it was time to pay tribute to him and his band," says Nanji. That tribute, Vanishing Americans, was released on May 21, 2013 and promptly found its place on iTunes Top 10 Blues Chart. Blues Rock Review (6/5/13) said: “each song is brought together with heavy and powerful guitar riffs akin to those of Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix, while bellowing, raspy vocals turn a talented guitarist’s vision into a relatable song for many, just as any praiseworthy blues album should.”

“Mato continues to refine his guitar and vocal vocabularies with each new release and is also expanding his songwriting skills with his wife Leah,” said producer Mike Varney of Time Is Coming (May 2014). From the infectious opening track of “Grey Skies”; the Soundgarden/Rage Against the Machine influenced “Won’t Be Around No More”; and the gut-wrenching blues of “Don’t Know What To Do”, and at all points in between, Mato Nanji “tears at his guitar strings, bending and shaking them to within an inch of their life, it is clear that he is no mere copyist. He is a genuine virtuoso…” (Rhys Williams, bluesblastmagazine.com 5/14).

Ultimately, Mato dedicates Time Is Coming, to the Indigenous youth and all young people on the Indigenous reservations. Of the song says Nanji; “still to this day, the struggle continues to just live in peace. Growing up here on the reservation I’ve seen a lot of broken families…broken homes. I feel our families’ “Tiospaye” are the core of what makes us who we are. Now family and its meaning is not as strong as it used to be for our people…almost non-existent. So I send my heart and soul out to the indigenous children having a tough time in their lives and in their homes. This record is inspired by them and made in their honor. I hope for the best for all. Tomorrow is another day.”

The Plateros, a three piece award winning family band from the Navajo Nation in Tohajiilee, New Mexico consider Mato Nanji and Indigenous one of their greatest musical influences.

Levi and The Plateros played their first show, a festival in Bird Springs, AZ in December 2004, and by April 2005, they would find themselves onstage performing at the largest PowWow in the world, The Gathering of Nations. Lead guitarist Levi, with his natural born talent, slid across the stage with power chords and screaming blues that amazed the packed crowd. He was just 13 years old.

In the years to follow, Levi, along with his cousins Douglas Platero on drums and Bronson Begay on bass would receive numerous nominations for native music and video awards, and their cd Hang On would take home a win for Best Blues Album at the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards.

In 2012, they joined Indigenous for The Kinship Tour, with The Plateros opening the double bill. They would join Mato for blistering encores that would bring the proverbial house down.

Touring in support of Time Is Coming in the summer of 2014, Mato Nanji would once again call on Levi, Douglas and Bronson to hit the road with him. This time, though, would be different. They would be onstage as Indigenous' rhythm section; Mato and Levi trading leads and solos while Bronson and Douglas provided the strong, stable rhythmic foundation that allowed the two guitarists to 'tear it up'.

As the band made its way across the east coast, the after show buzz was audible. The incendiary chemistry of Mato Nanji, Levi Platero, Bronson Begay and Douglas Platero innate.

They are Indigenous.

I'm checking out "Vanishing Americans" atm:

[Lisnaholic]

Sorry, this clip is authentic rather than hip, but one Native American Music thread is probably all MB can support.



It claims to be "the oldest" and the date -1894- is impressive.

I wonder how authentic it is. It's filmed indoors, the dance circle is very constricted, and perhaps the fact that the performers consented to be filmed at all means that it's about as "authentic" as Bill Hickok's Wild West Show.

What do present day Native Americans say? Those who have posted in the Youtube comments are proud of it.