The Indigenous Artists of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists of All Time

Among the greatest of guitar legends in the history of Rock N' Roll - according to the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine - are a number who are of Indigenous ancestry.

Rolling Stone's list "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" includes Robbie Robertson, the legendary creator of the electric distorted power chord Link Wray, and Kiowa legend Jesse Ed Davis.

From Indian Country Today's Rolling Stone Picks Hendrix, Robertson, Wray—and Jesse Ed Davis:

Davis was one of the great guitarists for hire in the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing on records and on stage with true rock royalty. After touring with Conway Twitty and playing on Taj Mahal’s first three albums, he went on to work with George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Leonard Cohen, and Keith Moon, among many others. When it came time to record his own albums, the friends who showed up to play along told the story of just how essential Davis had become: Contributors to Jesse Davis (1971) included Eric Clapton, Gram Parsons and Leon Russell.

Indeed, each of these three of our guitar-slaying brothers are iconic in their own right and are well-deserving of the recognition!

Here's Robertson's classic Somewhere Down the Crazy River:

VIDEO: RPM interviews the Miracle Dolls

The Miracle Dolls are an indie, punk and alternative band from Los Angeles, CA, fronted by Hidatsa/Kiowa twin sisters Dezy and Dani De La Rosa.

The Miracle Dolls have been playing music together since the age of 13. The sisters, now in their twenties, have already had two bands, one being a former punk band called Blister, before forming the Miracle Dolls around five years ago. RPM interviewed them on skype about their passion for music, their love for community and rock and roll heroes.

For more information on the guitar donation program please visit the miracledolls.com.

VIDEO: Postcommodity's Futuristic Music

Postcommodity is an interdisciplinary artist collective comprised of Kade L. Twist (Cherokee), Cristóbal Martínez (Mexica), Raven Chacon (Navajo), and Nathan Young (Pawnee, Kiowa). They have been working together as a collective since 2007.

All of the members of the group are musicians and have created work outside the collective:

Nathan Young has his solo project called Alms. Kade L. Twist is in a noise/drone band Usga based out of Phoenix, AZ. Raven Chacon has worked as a composer and performer in the West Coast and Southwest music scenes for the last dozen years.

Raven's work is primarily as a solo noise artist and chamber composer. He also co-founded the organization First Nations Composers Initiative  and has also performed in dozens of bands. Raven currently has collaborations with musicians William Fowler Collins, Deerhoof's John Dieterich, and pianist Thollem McDonas.

RPM speaks with Postcommodity about coming together as a collective to create sound art and perform experimental noise for audiences and what drives their work.  Interview and performance recorded at Museum of Contemporary Arts.

Postcommodity will have an installation piece at the upcoming ImagineNative 2011 and will also be doing a piece this winter for Toronto's Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

Look for the new EP of Postcommodity on Anarchamoon Recordings called Your New Age Dream Contains More Blood Than You Imagine. Raven Chacon's label can be found at Sicksicksickdistro.

VIDEO: Doc feat. Spencer Battiest - "The Storm"

Latest video from Unconquered Media for "The Storm", the debut single by Doc feat. Spencer Battiest, showcases great filmmaking that helps tell the story of the colonial history of the Seminole people.

Kiowa/Choctaw director Steven Judd of Unconquered Media brings us a stunning visual look into the history of the Seminole people of Florida with "The Storm", a debut video  by Doc feat. Spencer Battiest of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Mixing history with digital media, Rap and R&B, this video proves to be a great medium for the translation of their message of strength and solidarity for Indigenous people.

The director Steven Judd is a successful writer and director who brings much experience to this project, having worked with the likes of Disney & ABC in addition to film festivals such as Univeral/NBC's Comedy Shortcuts Diversity Film Festival & imagineNATIVE.

This song is also up for some NAMMY awards such as Best Rap Hip Hop Recording, Debut Artist of the Year, Song/Single of the Year.

For more information on Doc and Spencer Battiest check out thestormsong.com

Do you have a favorite Indigenous music video?  Or maybe you're releasing a video soon? Let us know by commenting below or drop us a line to: info@rpm.fm 

DOWNLOAD: Postcommodity - Excerpt from "Piles of Cougar Pelts"

Postcommodity is an interdisciplinary artist collective comprised of Kade L. Twist (Cherokee), Cristóbal Martínez (Mexica), Nathan Young (Pawnee, Kiowa) and Raven Chacon (Navajo).

This group of musicians have been on the scene since 2007, joining forces to make sound art, experimental noise and installationworks.

Look for RPM's interview with the collective tomorrow, but for now here's a snippet of one of their live performances from summer 2011.

DOWNLOAD: Postcommodity- Excerpt from "Piles of Cougar Pelts"

SPOTLIGHT: Jesse Ed Davis, Kiowa Guitar Legend

Kiowa Guitarist Jesse Ed Davis Lives on as a Legend of Guitar Music. Here is a look at his life, music, and legacy.

Jesse Ed Davis was born September 21, 1944 in Norman, Oklahoma to a Muscogee Creek/Seminole Father and a Kiowa mother.  Beginning his career in Oklahoma city, he later moved on to be one of the most revered sessional guitarists in the history of Blues and Rock music.

After leaving the University of Oklahoma in 1960, Davis began touring with country legend Conway Twitty. He then moved to California where he connected with Taj Mahal to play guitar and piano on Taj's first 3 albums where his versatility allowed him to play many styles including blues, rock, country and jazz. After that he moved on to work with John Lennon and George Harrison for several of their solo album projects.

Other artists Davis played guitar for include Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Keith Moon, Jackson Browne, Steve Miller, Harry Nilsson and Van Dyke Parks just to name a few. Also Jesse played with American Indian activist and poet John Trudell in the collective called the Graffiti Band.

Jesse Ed Davis passed away on June 22, 1988 after collapsing in a laundry room in Venice, California at the age of 43. His death was attributed to a heroin overdose.

His impact on music lives on through this style and influence he had on the sound of music in his time.

Here is one of his songs called "Keep Me Comin" released in 1973.