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FEATURED PERFORMERS

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Manitou Mkwa Singers (Spirit Bear Singers)

hail from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. They are a family Hand drum group that sing pow-wow, and round dance songs. They are all Bear Clan which is in relation to their group name “Manitou Mkwa Singers”. They work diligently as helpers in ceremony and community initiatives. They also try to bring awareness to indigenous issues, and advocating for their First Nation and their inherent and treaty rights. Their music is meant to uplift the spirits of people and bring good positive energy to those in need.

Over the last 10 years since the release of their first album, the Manitou Mkwa Singers have been nominated in the following music awards;
The 2015 Indigenous Music Awards for the category of best hand drum group.
The 2021 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards, (SSIMA) in two separate categories.
  - Hand-Drum-fiddle-instrumental of the year
  - Pow-Wow traditional & contemporary album of the year.


The 2022 Juno nomination in the (first ever) Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. The Manitou Mkwa Singers plan to record their next studio album in the summer of 22’ with a huge focus on the reclamation of their indigenous language “Anishinaabemowin”.  

Manitou MKWA
Beany John
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Crystal "Beany" John

Beany is a champion Grass dancer and is a contemporary Hoop Dancer. She is currently the only women in Canada given permission to be part of the Grass Dance Society and was initiated when she was 10 years old. Beany has been dancing and teaching Hoop Dance throughout Canada and the U.S. since 2004. She is one of four KNDT Hoop Dancers that toured with Nelly Furtado and her SPIRIT INDESTRUCTIBLE tour. In March 2022, Beany took 2nd place in the 2022 World Hoop Dance Competition at the Heard Museum in Phoenix Arizona. Her mix of Hoop Dance and Hip Hop has been called "dynamic" and "exciting". Her contemporary style is one of a kind and has a following throughout Canada and the United States.

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Digging Roots

confirm the release date for their fourth album, Zhawenim, out June 17 via Ishkōdé Records, with a new song Sweetwater, out today.

In Sweetwater, a rippling, swirling ballad released today, Digging Roots slow it down with echo-drenched guitars and smooth flowing vocals. Water holds memory, she’s a carrier, she’s a shape-shifter in, on, and through the earth, and all of life, says guitarist/vocalist Raven Kanatakta. This composition is a love song, for the water, for the revolutionaries, for our families, lovers and friends. As waves wash over, may the sweetness of her compassion add ceremony to our consciousness.

Meanwhile, SKODEN lights up with a new video that matches the song’s energy and strength. The song, released in January, is a big burst of positive energy and global call to action on climate change.

Zhawenim, which means to love unconditionally in Anishinabemowin, raises resistance through pure, powerful joy. As a collection, Zhawenim expresses the revolutionary act of giving, and receiving love. The album looks beyond the horizon to a future that waits to be claimed by the next generations. Zhawenim: a radical act of love.

The release of Zhawenim in June, National Indigenous History Month in so-called Canada, also marks the one-year anniversary of Ishkōdé Records, now home to Digging Roots, Amanda Rheaume, Morgan Toney and Aysanabee. 

Digging Roots
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Jace Martin
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Jace Martin

Jace Martin is a Mohawk from Six Nations of The Grand River & has been in the entertainment business since he was 11 years, performing in everything from tv shows to theatre on stage.  He eventually focused on music releasing 8 albums & winning 5 Awards, while touring across North America.  He has shared the stage with Sam Moore, Jeff Healey, Jonny Lang & Robbie Robertson.
Jace has been featured on CBC, GLOBAL, SHOWCASE & Much Music & was heard by over 400 Million people singing during the closing ceremony of the 2015 Pan Am Games.  His last album “Mighty” was nominated for “Adult Contemporary” Album of the Year at 2017 Independent Music Awards & “Pop Album” of the year at the 2017 Toronto Indie Music Awards.  His song, “Free to Fly” debuted #35 on The USA Mainstream Billboard Charts, following in the giant footsteps of 1974 “Come & Get Your Love” by Redbone.
Jace Martin has been nominated at the 2018 Indigenous Music Awards for “Producer of The Year” for his work on Leah Belle “Time For Some Country” Album which is  being played across Canada on over 30 Major Radio Stations & across the world online & Sirius XM. Jace has also produced AK Mcleod’s last album which made it through the first round of Voting for “Blues Album of The Year” at the 2016 JUNO Award Nominations.  Martin’s new single “Ghost” was produced by GRAMMY Nominated Producer, Gavin Brown, is set to be released May 18 2018. (written by: Larry K, indigenousinmusic.com)

David Moses 
Biography to come. 

David Moses & Kassandra Moses
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Logan Staats

In 2018, veracious Mohawk singer-songwriter Logan Staats was chosen from 10,000 hopeful contestants vying for a spot on musical competition show 'The Launch'. Before an audience of 1.4 million viewers, Staats won, officiating the breakthrough that would lead him to Nashville and Los Angeles, and to his single “The Lucky Ones” reaching number one in Canada and winning the Indigenous Music Award for best radio single.

In the years between now and then, Staats has come home, making the intentional decision to re-root at Six Nations of the Grand River. “I wanted to bring my song writing back to the medicine inside of music, to the medicine inside of reclamation,” he says following an intense phase of constant touring.

To Staats, music is a healing salve, contemplatively composed and offered to listeners in need of comfort. Since returning home, Staats has been able to create music authentically again, reclaiming his sound through honest storytelling and unvarnished, sometimes painful reflection. 

“My nation and my community are in every chord I play and every note I sing,” says Staats. “They’ve saved me.” 

Counting musical icon Buffy Sainte-Marie (whom he frequently opens for) among his mentors, Staats wants to pay forward the guidance he’s received by connecting with Indigenous youth through music. He frequently leads workshops and visits local schools. “I want them to know there’s a reason to keep going,” he says, “there is a way out of the dark.”

 

... and here is a link to his latest music video: https://youtu.be/g9wwsTiiQxE

Logan Staats
Everett Morrison
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Everett Morrison 

Everett Morrison is an Aboriginal (Cree) bass-baritone. Everett is originally from Moosonee, Ontario and now resides in Wikwemikong, Ontario. Everett is a band member of The Crees of Waskaganish Quebec. He is a graduate of Cambrian College’s Music Program (Voice) and a Graduate from Laurentian’s Music Program (Voice).
Everett has studied with Marion Harvey-Hannah and Dr. Robert Hall. He has performed throughout Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec. Everett also facilitates Voice Workshops for Aboriginal Youth. Everett made his professional debut spring of 2017 with the Canadian Opera Company. He sang the role of the Wandering Spirit war chief of the Crees in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of the Canadian opera Louis Riel. Everett also sang at the National Arts Centre of their production of Louis Riel in June of 2017. Then in July of 2017 in Quebec City for Opéra de Québec / Festival d’opéra de Québec in Louis Riel.


Everett made his Opera in Concert debut singing the role of David Joe in Victor Davies world premiere of the opera The Ecstasy of Rita Joe March 2018. Everett sang the bass solos for Contraries: a chamber requiem, by Unsettled Scores, which was based on Residential school. It was in partnership with The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto June of 2018.

DAVID LARONDE 

is a Canadian Indigenous singer-songwriter performing contemporary folk, edgy rock and blues.  He hails from the ancient Teme-Augama Anishnabai or “Deep Water People” in beautiful Northern Ontario. 

With three full length albums out David’s storytelling is a fresh take on heartbreak, loneliness, love, hope and joy for life. His music is uplifting and refreshing as a cool summer breeze as it transcends an urban influence and the mystery of ancestral magic of his homeland.  His song-writing empowers the human spirit to be free from the burdens of modern society.

His debut album Right City Wrong Town was nominated for Best Blues Album 2013 by the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award. David’s latest album called I KNOW I CAN FLY was recently released on June 4, 2021 and received a CFMA 2022 nomination for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year.

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David Laronde
Inuit Throat Singers
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Inuit Throat Singers

Aneeka Anderson 

is Inuk from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, though she was born and raised on Algonquin territory in Ottawa, Ontario. She has been throat singing since her birth sister Charlotte taught her as a young girl. She is recently graduated  from McGill University where she studied Political Science and Anthropology.

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Abigail Carleton

is a throat singer of almost 14 years, taught by her older sister. Abigail loves any opportunity to share her culture with those who are willing to listen, especially if accompanied by her sisters, Aneeka and Charlotte. Abigail has her BSW, and would love to use it to help Indigenous people.

Tom Wilson
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Tom Wilson

is a Canadian music legend, famed storyteller, and visual artist. Wilson’s memoir, Beautiful Scars published by Penguin/Random House has become a national bestseller. The memoir has been adapted into a TVO Original documentary (directed by Shane Belcourt) and premiered at Hot Docs in May, 2022. Exposing incredible truths about Wilson’s biological family and Indigenous heritage, the documentary delves into the singer-songwriter’s lifetime quest to find himself and ultimately uncover his true identity as a Mohawk man.

Tom Wilson's extensive career and tireless efforts as a musician has bestowed upon him numerous nominations and awards from the Hamilton Music Awards to the Polaris Prize to the Juno Awards, including certified gold and platinum records. His songwriting has seen his works recorded by and with artists such as; Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Jason Isbell, Colin James, Lucinda Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mavis Staples,

The Rankin Family, as well as his own bands Lee Harvey Osmond, Junkhouse, and Canadian treasure, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Lee Harvey Osmond was awarded a 2020 Juno Award for the album “Mohawk”.

After the success of his show at the Art Gallery of Burlington Beautiful Scars: Mohawk Warriors, Hunters and Chiefs, Tom’s paintings are now on display in various galleries across Canada.

In 2020, Tom established the Bunny Wilson Indigenous Scholarship fund at McMaster University, supporting year one indigenous students from Ontario secondary schools completing an undergraduate program in any faculty.

Metis Fiddlers & Jiggers
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Metis Fiddlers & Jiggers

Guitarist and singer/songwriter Derek Miller is a journeyman musician with eclectic taste and a knack for blues-inflected roots rock. Born on the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk Territory, in Canada in 1974, Miller became interested in music in his early teens, and by the late '90s had not only toured with iconic Canadian vocalist Buffy Sainte-Marie, but had also won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award. In 2000 he performed on and co-produced Keith Secola & the Wild Band's album Fingermonkey. Then, in 2002 he released his debut album, Music Is the Medicine, for which he garnered a Juno Award. Extensive touring followed his debut success, and by 2005 Miller found himself exhausted and struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. Subsequently, he entered rehab and spent the next year or so working to regain his physical, mental, and spiritual health. In 2007 he released his sophomore effort, The Dirty Looks.(written by: Matt Collar)

Brock Stonefish
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Brock Stonefish

Brock Stonefish has toured North America for 20 years as a Performing Singer/Songwriter and as a Blues and Jazz Guitarist. He cut his teeth on the East Coast playing 2 times a week at Jazz On The Park in New York City. Brock also put his mark on the Boston Blues Scene playing 5 nights a week in various clubs. After being Showcased on Rez Blues TV across Canada, Brock went on to open for BB King and share stage lineups with Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Our Lady Peace, Barenaked Ladies, and high school guitar classmate Serena Ryder. Most recently Brock's ceremonial singing was featured on the 2021 Red Nation Awards in Hollywood California. Brock Stonefish has also travelled to South Korea to share his traditional Indigenous family Songs for he is from the Bucktown Delaware Nation mixed with Lenape, Chippewa, and Oneida bloodlines.,A performance by Brock Stonefish is guaranteed to captivate and inspire any if not all live audiences.

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Crystal Shawanda

Although she bases herself in Nashville, TN, these days, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Crystal Shawanda was born full-blooded Ojibwe on the Wikwemikong reserve on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada, and her fascinating journey to becoming a promising young country star is the stuff movies are made of. Shawanda started writing and performing when she was very young, and by the time she was 11 years old she was already picking up playing gigs wherever she could. Her talent and passionate drive soon got her noticed, and she signed with RCA Records Nashville in 2007, quickly releasing the impressive single "You Can Let Go." That would have made for a pretty good story right there, but Shawanda's rise to "instant" fame was actually fully documented in the six-part CMT series Crystal: Living the Dream, which aired at the very start of 2008. (written by: Steve Leggett)
 

Crystal Shawanda
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Gary Farmer

Biography to come. Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario into the Cayuga Nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy. He grew up in Buffalo where his father worked as a crane operator. Farmer attended Syracuse University and Ryerson Polytechnic University, where he studied photography and film production.
Farmer's first acting role was in the 1976 play On The Rim of a Curse, about the Beothuk. His first major television role was on the CBC's Spirit Bay. He subsequently played police captain Joe Stonetree on the syndicated TV series Forever Knight, and Chief Tom in the CBC first nations TV series The Rez. Farmer is best known for his role as spiritual Native American guide Nobody in Dead Man. Farmer reprised the role for a cameo in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, also directed by Jim Jarmusch.


He also has a blues band called Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers. The band has released two CDs, Love Songs and Other Issues in 2007 and Lovesick Blues in 2009. He recorded the audiobook version of Louise Erdrich's 2012 novel The Round House, winner of the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction. Farmer appeared in season 1 of the Sundance TV series The Red Road in 2014.

Gary Farmer
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Derek Miller

Guitarist and singer/songwriter Derek Miller is a journeyman musician with eclectic taste and a knack for blues-inflected roots rock. Born on the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk Territory, in Canada in 1974, Miller became interested in music in his early teens, and by the late '90s had not only toured with iconic Canadian vocalist Buffy Sainte-Marie, but had also won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award. In 2000 he performed on and co-produced Keith Secola & the Wild Band's album Fingermonkey. Then, in 2002 he released his debut album, Music Is the Medicine, for which he garnered a Juno Award. Extensive touring followed his debut success, and by 2005 Miller found himself exhausted and struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. Subsequently, he entered rehab and spent the next year or so working to regain his physical, mental, and spiritual health. In 2007 he released his sophomore effort, The Dirty Looks.(written by: Matt Collar)

Derek Miller
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