The 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games in Toronto will get a huge dose of Indigenous culture this summer, during the Aboriginal Pavilion's inaugural arts and music festival.
We heard word about the Aboriginal Pavilion's plans a while ago, but we didn't realize the extent of what they were planning.
The festival is going to be huge.
Coinciding with the 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Games in Toronto, the Aboriginal Pavilion will bring together some of the most dynamic Indigenous artists and musicians from across Turtle Island to perform over the course of ten music-filled days—from July 17-26, 2015.
In addition to the music, the organizers are also planning to feature comedy, visual arts, traditional crafts workshops, artist talks, film screenings and a curated exhibition.
Keep an eye on the Aboriginal Pavilion site for the release of the full schedule, but for now, check out the festival concert listings. All events are free and open to the public. Performances will take place at the Fort York Historic Site's Garrison Common grounds (250 Fort York Blvd, Toronto).
And just look at who's performing. It's going to get hot in Toronto this summer. Be there or be colonized.
ABORIGINAL PAVILION FESTIVAL LINEUP:
1491s
A Tribe Called Red
Susan Agluklark
Gabriel Ayala
Mob Bounce
Tomson Highway & Patricia Cano
Cris Derksen
Brendt Thomas Diabo
Bitterly Divine
Ruben Esguerra
Leela Gilday
Quetzal Guerrero
Dustin Hollings
Nigel Irwin
Iskwé
Iskwew Singers
Elisapie Isaac
Reyes Poetry & Sacramento Knoxx
George Leach
LightningCloud
Cheri Maracle
Jace Martin
Melody McKiver
Plex & Rellik
Ryan McMahon
Nadjiwan
Sierra Noble
Candy Palmater
Lido Pimienta
Amanda Rheaume
Classic Roots
Digging Roots
Don Ross
Crystal Shawanda
Nick Sherman
Logan Staats
Ulali
The Aboriginal Pavilion Indigenous arts and music festival runs July 17-26, 2015. For more information visit www.alppavilion.ca.
What started as a two-artist tour five years ago has grown into a near touring festival of 12 of the hottest names in Indigenous music.
When musicians Kristi Lane Sinclair and Cris Derksen first conceived of the Red Ride Tour, they didn’t think they'd be organizing their fifth one with a lineup of 12 Indigenous artists popping up at different dates across Canada and, for the first time this year, the US. Not only that, but Sinclair is pulling this off while finishing her new album, and filming a six-part TV series about her musical journey for APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)!
“It is dizzyingly awesome!”, exclaims Sinclair. “It feels so great to have so many projects coming together simultaneously”, she adds.
“This is our fifth year in a row taking indigenous acts on the road across Canada, and each year it grows,” says Sinclair. “It started out as just Cris and I, in my little Chevy Optra hatchback, driving across Canada, playing live music venues,” she explains. “And now this year, we have acts... huge acts... and a massive North American Tour!".
“We’re trying to get so many artists to so many places. It’s more like a touring festival than a normal tour,” said Sinclair.
“The outcome is going to be amazing and you’re not going to want to miss it.”
We agree. Hit play on the Red Ride Tour playlist and check out the full dates below.
Tour dates:
May 13 - Fairview Pub, Vancouver, BC
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Ostwelve)
May 15 – Wine-Ohs, Calgary, AB
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
May 16 - Empress Pub, Edmonton, AB
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Jay Gilday)
May 19 - Indian Metis Friendship Centre, Prince Albert, SK
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
May 20 - Vangelis Tavern, Saskatoon, SK
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
May 21 – The Artful Dodger, Regina, SK
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair, The Snake Oil Salesmen)
May 22 - Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg, MB
(Derek Miller, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Cris Derksen, Sonia Eidse)
May 23 – The Apollo, Thunder Bay, ON
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Nick Sherman)
May 24 – Saul Ste. Marie, ON (venue TBA)
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Nick Sherman)
May 25 - Debajehmujig Creation Centre, Manitowaning, ON
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
May 27 – Capitol Centre Theatre, North Bay, ON (Dream Big Conference)
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Derek Miller, Binaeshee-Quae)
May 28 – Monarch Tavern, Toronto, ON
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Derek Miller, Christa Couture)
May 29 - Six Nations, ON (venue TBA)
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
May 30 - The Garnet, Peterborough ON
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Sean Conway)
June 3 - Club Saw, Ottawa, ON
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair)
June 4 - Ashukan Cultural Space, Montreal, QC
(Cris Derksen, Kristi Lane Sinclair, Beatrice Dear)
Both Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red have sold out concerts in Toronto this week. Tagaq is set to perform for 350+ people at The Great Hall on November 6 and Tribe is taking over the Danforth Music Hall on November 7 (a 1,400 capacity room).
This coincidence is really exciting because it demonstrates that there is a significant market for uniquely Indigenous music in one of Canada's most competitive scenes.
Unfortunately it doesn't mean that every Indigenous artist will experience the same kind of success in the upcoming months or years. Tagaq and Tribe are exceptional and just like Jay-Z or Bill Gates they had exactly what the world was looking for at a time when it was ready to look.
The lessons that I think Indigenous artists should take away from the successes of Tagaq and Tribe include:
Good music matters the most
Good management matters the second most
Media attention follows intelligent artists
Performances at mainstream music festivals help artists build markets
Aboriginal music festivals and music award shows are only stepping stones
Being nice is super important
Tagaq's November 6 show kicks off a seven stop tour in November, which is set to pick up again with six dates at performing arts centres throughout the US after the holidays. Tribe's November 7 show is one of three that the boys have planned for November because they spent most of the summer months hitting the festival circuit pretty hard and need a little break from the airports and take out food of tour life.
Visit tanyatagaq.com for more information about Tagaq and sixshooterrecords.com for more information about her management.
Visit atribecalledred.com for more information about Tribe and craft-services.com for more information about their management.
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Alan Greyeyes is a member of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and has been working full time in the music industry since 2005. In 2013, Greyeyes was honoured with the Future Leaders of Manitoba award for his contributions to the arts. Greyeyes graduated from Trent University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Economics and was featured on the cover of the Spring 2013 edition of the university's alumni magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @alangreyeyes
Crystle Lightning and Red Cloud, known together as Lightning Cloud, will host Indigenous Angels 2—a benefit concert supporting, and in solidarity with, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
LightningCloud continue to support the Indigenous community through their music and their activism. In late November, they are throwing the second in a series of art, music and cultural events to benefit good causes.
The first Indigenous Angels show, held in late August directed proceeds to children fleeing violence in Central America, and all the proceeds from Indigenous Angels 2, which will include both a concert and art auction, will go to supporting Stolen Sisters.
Indigenous Angels 2will feature a huge lineup of musicians, visual artists and DJs lending their talents to support the cause, including the legendary Rass Kass, Savage Family, Quese IMC, Kemo the Blaxican, MC Imprint, Neil, The Crux, First Nation Syndicate, and many more. For visual art, they've lined up contributions from Bunky Echo-Hawk, VOTAN of NSRGNTS, Steven Paul Judd, Melanie Cervantes and a long list of others.
As an added bonus this time around, though, Red Cloud will be flexing his lyrical prowess on a whole other level. During the show, he will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Longest Freestyle Rap. What's the current record? Oh, you know, just a modest 17 HOURS.
17 hours of straight rapping! And RedCloud is confident he can best that, with no problems. He's been practicing. And he plans to "honour every single missing and murdered Indigenous woman by name" while he does it. Now that's how you break a rap world record. Check out the Kickstarter campaign for more info and to support the cause.
Indigenous Angels 2 will be held November 29, 2014 at The Airliner in Los Angeles. Check TeamLightningCloud for more info.
The 15th annual Native American Music Awards are set for November 14, 2014 at the Seneca Allegany Events Center. Check out the full list of nominees and vote for your favourite Indigenous artists.
The Native American Music Awards are a staple of the Indigenous music awards circuit and every year they hand out nods to an astonishing diversity of Indigenous artists in over 30 categories of music, spoken word and historical recordings. This year is no exception. From country and hip-hop, to pow wow and gospel, and even, um, "new age", the NAMAs span the widest possible spectrum of Native American music. A Tribe Called Red, Samantha Crain, and Bear Fox are all up for multiple awards this year—but there are many, many more nominees to listen to and choose from.
Voting is currently underway in all categories and winners will be announced on Friday, November 14th at the NAMA gala at Seneca Allegany Events Center. The awards show will be streamed live on FNX.org and broadcast on FNX Television.
Aboriginal Music Week 2014 is gearing up for another celebration of Indigenous music and here's a soundtrack to this year's festival.
Bringing out the best in Indigenous music, Aboriginal Music Week is getting set for another banner year festival to be held August 20-24, 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
AMW has included a wide range of Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island and beyond for what promises to be an amazing week of #IndigenousExcellence. Check the roster below:
Anishinabemowin emcee Tall Paul, Apache violinist Laura Ortman, Diplo-approved music producer Astronomar, hip hop duo Mob Bounce, and Six Nations-born guitar slinger Logan Staats will be performing in Winnipeg for the very first time.
JUNO Award winners George Leach and Leela Gilday, Colombian music maverick Lido Pimienta, Stó:lō pop singer Inez Jasper, prehispanico music creator DJ Javier Estrada, the multiple award winning Eagle & Hawk, Métis fiddle legend Darren Lavallee, trip hop singer Iskwé, funk-rockers Burnt-Project 1, champion drum group Spirit Sands Singers, Métis fiddler Melissa St. Goddard, local party legends Primetime Empyre, Opaskwayak Cree Nation's DJ Miss Vee, cinematic electronic music producer Exquisite Ghost, Aboriginal rockers The Mosquitoz, up-and-comer Frannie Klein, and Rescued by Dragonflyz are also set to perform at the festival.
Four years ago, Cris Derksen and Kristi Lane Sinclair toured across Canada and dubbed it the "Red Ride Tour." The "two-er" followed the next year, and now they've established a yearly event - Red Ride 4-Way is crossing Turtle Island next month and picking up lots of other artists on the way.
Electro-cellist Cris Derksen and acoustic-grunge singersongwriter Kristi Lane Sinclairare long time friends and collaborators. For last year's Red Ride they added the eclectic violinist Laura Ortmanto the line-up. This time, they'll be joined by different artists in different cities as they make there way from West to East Coast, including Jasmine Netsena, Iskwé, George Leach, Nick Sherman, Jennifer Kreisberg and once again Laura Ortman.
It's practically a touring festival of some of the best Indigenous artists we all know and love. Get started with this Red Ride 4-Way playlist and see all tour dates below.
May 16: Pats Pub, Vancouver, BC
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
w/ guests
May 17: Kootenay Co-op, Nelson, BC
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
Jasmine Netsena
May 18: tba, Edmonton, AB
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 20: Ironwood Stage & Grill, Calgary AB
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
Iskwe
Jasmine Netsena
May 21:Vangelis Tavern, Saskatoon SK
George Leach
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 22 : The Artful Dodger, Regina SK
George Leach
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 23: Pony Corral, Winnipeg MB
George Leach
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 24: The Apollo, Thunder Bay ON
Nick Sherman
Cris Derksen
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 26: G101 Gallery, Ottawa ON
Cris Derksen
Laura Ortman
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 27: Barbeside and Tonic, Peterborough ON
Cris Derksen
Laura Ortman
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 29: The Great Hall, Toronto ON
Cris Derksen
Laura Ortman
Kristi Lane Sinclair
May 30: Cafe Aleatoire, Montreal QC
Cris Derksen
Laura Ortman
Kristi Lane Sinclair
June 1: Cameo Gallery, Brooklyn NY
Cris Derksen
Laura Ortman
Kristi Lane Sinclair
Jennifer Kreisberg
Attention all artists! The 2014 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards has opened its doors to submissions.
The Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, aka the annual celebration of Aboriginal music and musicians, as voted by the public, will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 11th and 12th later this year. Now is the time to submit work in consideration for nomination.
The awards honours the best blues, country, gospel, rock, pop and rap albums, as well as single, songwriter, female entertainer and male entertainers of the year, and more, in what amounts to the biggest glitzy musical bash in Indian Country each year. Submit your work now!
The eligibility period is May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2014. Download the submission form and read all the rules at aboriginalpeopleschoice.com. Deadline April 30, 2014, 5:00 P.M. Central.
Back for its 14th year, the Distiguished Storytellers Festival (previously Sâkêwêwak Festival) brings five days of storytellers, elders, spoken word artists, dancers, performers and music to Regina, Canada.
Sâkêwêwak is a Cree word meaning "they are coming into view." The Artist Collective and annual festival has always brought emerging and established artists and their work to the prairie city of Regina, celebrating both traditional and contemporary performance and storytelling artists. The festival includes storytelling luncheons, evening performance, and a daily story telling bus tour with Cheryl L'Hirondelle.
This year's lineup is packed with goodness. Moe Clark, Daphne Pooyak, Bob Smoker, Jack Dalton, Stephen Fadden, Lara Kramer Danse, Ryan McMahon and Mihirangi are all scheduled to perform. Weekly passes and tickets for individual events are available - get the full schedule and more at: sakewewak.ca/storytellers-festival.
To get started, here's Mihirangi's "Make That Soul." Dig it!
Kimiwan's first anniversary is being celebrated this weekend in Saskatoon and we've put together a playlist of the artists who are gonna rock that house so we can all join the party!
Kimiwan is a quarterly publication created by Joi Arcand - the artist behind a lot of RPM's graphics, like all of the killer podcast images (swoon) - that showcases words and art from emerging and established indigenous writers and artists.
Clarence Two Toes (Ryan McMahon) - "Preshow Vid'yo"
Nick Sherman - "Wrong Side of Town"
Eekwol - "Too Sick"
Leonard Sumner (Lorenzo) - "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"
Bear Witness - "The Battle is Getting Hotter"
Interested in contributing to Kimiwan? From facebook.com/Kimiwan.zine, here are the submission guidelines:
we are looking for all kinds of art: drawings, photographs, paintings, collage, scribbles, thoughts, ideas, graffiti, words, poetry, lyrics, short stories, recipes, interviews, essays, creative non-fiction, or whatever media you use to express yourself.
topics we are interested in...
decolonization, identity, family, land, laughter, love, rage, youth voice, healing, nostalgia, surviving, technology, music, tradition, your story...
how to submit...
email is best. send us hi-res *300 dpi* scans/photos of artwork
we accept: .jpeg, .tiff, .pdf, .psd, .ai, .doc
Our guest contributor this week is Ojibway/Métis comedian—turned Idle No More organizer and activist—Ryan McMahon. He reflects on what it is about the rising #IdleNoMore movement that has captured our collective imagination, attention and revolutionary spirit. And how it's taken us from online discussion to a massive mobilization that is literally taking over hundreds of shopping malls, town squares and community centres across Turtle Island—and now the world.
This is the story of how we are reuniting our people through our songs, dances and cultures.
The Round Dance Revolution has arrived.
This was supposed to have been written days ago. When I was asked by RPM to do a guest post I immediately said, “Yes, I’ll write a guest post: Indigenous... music...culture...#IdleNoMore... Sounds great!" And I hung up the phone.
Then I attended the first Idle No More action in Winnipeg and when I got home that night I started writing. Sorta. It was -38 with the windchill that day - so - I think I drank tea for hours and sat under blankets, but, I’m trying to sound responsible here.
So.
I wrote for a few hours that night. I wrote. And wrote. I heard typewriter keys in mind. Much like Hunter S. Thompson, I wrote. Sorta. Like Hunter S. Thompson. Well, minus the whiskey, the smokes and the drugs, so, not like Hunter S. Thompson at all, but, dammit, I wrote.
Now, full disclosure - at best, I’m a below average writer. My words, brain and fingers don’t connect. I can’t articulate myself very well in this medium (I’m writing two books by the way, I bet the publishers are stoked I’m saying this publicly) and I struggled to find a clear sense of what I was feeling.
But I knew I was feeling something. We all were. We all are.
The Idle No More Movement, the politics and the struggle, were providing me with mind-boggling confusion, anger, sadness and happiness. The fact that mainstream media were ignoring the movement as a whole, the fact that one of our strongest leaders is currently on a hunger strike and the fact that I felt like we were Tweeting and Facebooking into a vacuum...everything exasperated my frustration. I struggled to find something that hadn’t been covered yet, when the incredible Métis blogger Chelsea Vowel, my Anishinaabe brother Wab Kinew, and many other journalists and independent media were providing great coverage. So I struggled.
And struggled. No angle. Nothing interesting to say. Nothing informative to add.
Then, two days ago I decided that my piece was going to focus on 'Revolution Music'. I’d call on our Indigenous musicians and artists to find their inspiration in the movement to start building our soundtrack.
We have so much talent in our communities—some of the most exciting musicians on the planet are Indigenous, and I was excited about 'calling them to action'. I talked to many of my musician friends who are working on music right now and, although some are working on new music or have released new tracks recently—there wasn’t much of a story. It seemed like a lazy idea. Maybe it was too obvious. Too simple.
But then it happened.
The Round Dance Flash Mob Explosion
A Round Dance Flash Mob was planned and executed in Regina, SK. The next night a Round Dance broke out inside West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton (North America’s largest mall) during the busy Christmas shopping season.
Then round dances started appearing everywhere: Saskatoon, Ottawa, North Bay, Regina, Prince Albert...the list goes on and on. There are currently round dance actions, traditional song and game flash mobs, and other peaceful music-based actions planned across Turtle Island.
On Wednesday, we saw YouTube video surface of a group of native brothers and sisters from Minnesota singing the “AIM Song” in the Canadian Consulate office in Minneapolis. Incredible.
The round dance revolution.
It’s happening. Right?
The music revolution is happening. And thank God (if there is a God...c’mon, you know my deal with all that) it doesn’t look like Woodstock. Instead, it’s a beautiful, peaceful and inclusive action. We are being led by our drums.
It’s perfect. It’s accessible. It’s transportable. It’s cheap (hey, we’re on budgets, ya know).
And it's a whole new form of direct action, protest and resistance. As Metro News Saskatoon reported:
With flash mob round dances already occurring in Regina and Edmonton some...say the flash mob has become one of the more effective forms of protest....compared to traditional methods of protest, the flash mob is a more engaging and welcoming way to spread a message.
The rounddances across Canada are amazing. They bring me so much pride and hope. #idlenomore
We are the Indigenous Peoples of this land. We have held unique worldviews and cultural and spiritual practices for thousands of years. So many of these practices included drums.
As kids, we were told that the drum beat represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth. We were told our songs come from Mother Earth. We were told that our communities are only as strong as the sound of our drums.
Then “they” came. And many of our drums went silent. Completely silent. Our songs were banned. Torn from our lives. Forcefully. Violently. But, although they silent for a time, our old people kept their bundles. Some hid them. Some buried them.
Then, slowly, the sound of our drums re-emerged. They started to spread through our communities again. They signalled hope. They signalled our return.
Our drums were being used. And we began to gather again. We danced again. And our communities are slowly regaining their strength.
It's perfect. It makes perfect sense. A Round Dance Revolution. It has reinvigorated and re-inspired our People. It has lifted the spirits of thousands. The act of the “flash mob” can be called “Political/Guerilla Theatre” but it’s not politics in and of itself. It’s a glimpse into who we are. It is perfect.
One Heartbeat: December 21, 2012
At 12:00pm on Friday, December 21st, thousands will gather on Parliament Hill to drum sing and dance—while thousands more will gather in communities across Turtle Island for round dances, songs and prayers in support of all our relations.
Idle No More has called on all Nations to drum and sing across Turtle Island on December 21, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. Central Standard time, for a global synchronized Spiritual Awakening.
We want to honor and recognize the Drum as it represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth and the heartbeat of our people.
Indigenous peoples call on all people and nations to join us in solidarity in “One Heartbeat” through the Drum as we honor the ways of our Ancestors.
We have much to do to sustain this movement. We have long term and short term planning to get underway. BUT. If we need to #SoundtracktheStruggle: it's already here. Our songs remind us that we’re fighting for the land, our languages, our women, our children and for our lives.
Round Dance Flash Mobs That Have Happened To Date:
Regina, SK
Edmonton, AB
Ottawa, ON
Regina, SK
North Bay, ON
Saskatoon, SK
Round Dance Flash Mobs Scheduled To Happen This Coming Week:
Sault St. Marie, ON
Green Bay, WI
Rapid City, SD
Kamloops, BC
Prince Albert, SK
Duluth, MN
Fort McMurray, AB
Akwesasne Mohawk Territory
North Battleford, SK
Winnipeg, MB
Victoria, BC
Vancouver, BC
Kenora, ON
Moncton, NB
Grand Prairie, AB
Sarnia, ON
Tempe, AZ
Hamilton, ON
Brandon, MB
Burnaby, BC
Richmond, BC
Denendeh, NWT
Halifax, NS
Phoenix, AZ
Seattle, WA
Havre, MT 12/22
Billings, MT 12/22
Missoula, MT 12/23
Now the only question is: where will you be?
Ryan McMahon is an Ojibwe/Métis comedian, actor and writer hailing from Couchiching First Nation. He runs the weekly comedy and current Indigenous events podcast, RedManLaughing.com, and his comedy can be found at RyanMcMahonComedy.com
RPM Records
Revolutions Per Minute is a global new music platform, record label, and boutique agency for Indigenous music culture. RPM’s mission is to build a visionary community of Indigenous artists and to introduce Indigenous music to new audiences across Turtle Island and around the world. Our main site, RPM.fm, has featured the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists and shared their music across our social networks of more than 275,000 followers.
RPM Records is the first of its kind: a label for contemporary, cross-genre Indigenous music, run by Indigenous people. Selected by The FADER as one of “5 New Canadian Record Labels The Entire World Should Know”, RPM Records artists include Ziibiwan, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Exquisite Ghost, and Mob Bounce.
