DJ Keeps the Fire Burning

Kevin Kicking Woman found solace in music from a childhood of abuse. Now, as a radio DJ, he shares across the airwaves the traditional music that helped him overcome his struggles.

Every Friday morning on Montana's College Radio station KBGA, Kevin Kicking Woman shares the traditional music of Turtle Island with his listeners on his show Greeting the Sun. It's the music that helped see him through a difficult childhood - adopted out of his family at the age of two, Kicking Woman experienced abuse and bullying as he was moved through multiple homes.

From RezNetNews, Volunteer DJ Shares the Power of Native American Music:

...he began to sing Native American songs that gave him strength. Singing became a gateway that allowed him to leave this world and lose himself in the music and the power of the songs.

“When I start singing I praised the spirits that help carry me," he said.

And now he helps others through the power of music as a volunteer DJ at KBGA College Radio at the University of Montana where he has his own show called ‘Greeting the Sun’. Kicking Woman’s show airs every Friday morning from 6-9 a.m.

Kicking Woman has taken his love for music to a post secondary education, with an undergrad in Native American studies and anthropology, he is now completing a master's degree in cultural anthropology in music. He's working towards using that degree to document the traditional songs of the Blackfeet tribe.

His path to a happy, successful life wasn’t an easy one, but it’s one that can be learned from.

His mother left him when he was six months old, leaving his father to raise him. But his father had problems of his own. He eventually was placed into three abusive homes until he was finally old enough to take care of himself. At nine-years-old Kicking Woman had enough. After being knocked out by a shoe that was thrown at him from across the room he turned to prayer for help.

"I sat at the edge of the bed and I began to cry. I asked God to kill them and I was going to kill myself. All of a sudden I got this really warm feeling in my body and it was like a message came to me. It said ‘Look into your heart there’s a fire burning don't let it go out’,” Kicking Woman said.

Read the whole story at RezNetNews and stream KBGA live at kbga.org.

Speaking Out + RPM

Since 1990, Speaking Out has been airing weekly on Australia's ABC. Now, once a month, RPM will also be contributing to the show!

Speaking Out was the first radio program of its kind - a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs show produced and presented by Indigenous broadcasters. It continues to present culture, lifestyle and political issues affecting Indigenous people in Australia.

As part of a new segment each month, RPM's Ostwelve will be showcasing the latest music from Turtle Island for Speaking Out's audience, on behalf of RPM. We're thrilled to be part of it.

Check out and listen to Ostwelve's first report at abc.net.au/speakingout/stories/s3482444.htm.

Rockwired Radio Music Award Winners 2012

In this digital age, it makes sense that the latest music awards on the scene were announced in a podcast and spread across the Twitterverse. Rockwired.com - the online radio station out of Albequerque, New Mexico - broadcast the winners of their 2012 Radio Music Award Winners earlier this week, and a few our our favourite Indigenous artists were among the winners.

The announcement of winners came at the end of a five-week polling campaign that closed on Friday March 9th. This year, the winners have been awarded the "G-Chord" award – a symbol of artistic excellence, sheer industriousness and a spirit of independence.

“These awards do more than reward artists for making great music,” says Rockwired founder Brian Lush (Yankton Sioux). “These awards also acknowledge the fact that these artists have navigated the rough waters of the music industry and have managed to maintain their musical vision despite a lack of major record label support. It is all about celebrating the music maker and all of the artistry and the business smarts that it takes to remain a music maker.”

Three Indigenous artists were among the winners - Mohawk blues rocker Derek Miller garnered both Best Male Artist and Best Recording by an American Indian Recording Artist, Lumbee singer-songwriter Jana Mashonee won Best Female Artist and Nake Nula Waun was honoured with Best Band.

Listeners were tuned into the podcast and word of the winners spread across Twitter:

Wooohooo!Thanks so much for voting everyone!I won Rockwired Radio Music Awards 2012 Best Female Artist! TU! rockwired.com/temporarysite/… #JanaM

— Jana Mashonee (@janamashonee) March 12, 2012

#NakeNulaWaun Awarded Best Band at the 2012 Rockwired Radio Music Awards. twitter.com/FrankWaln/stat…

— Frank Waln (@FrankWaln) March 12, 2012

The Best Recording by an American Indian Recording Artist was one of two new categories this year, along with Best Jazz Recording. Lush aknowledged that the Grammy®'s recent decision to do away with its Native American Music category was a factor in instituting a category for this year. “It's a slap in the face to ignore the musical achievements of Indian people. There are a lot of great Native artists out there and they deserve recognition.”

In addition to the G-Chord Certificate, winners of the 2012 Rockwired Radio Music Awards are free to advertise any new mp3s. LPs, EPs, or upcoming tours at absolutely no charge up until the next award season.

For a full list of winners, visit rockwired.com/2012winners.html and congrats to all!

Houma Nation's New Radio Station

The United Nation of Houma has launhced its first radio station, broadcasting from Golden Meadow, Louisiana.

The station provides tribal information, local news, interviews with their community members and music. It aims to also be a voice in times of disaster relating to storms and hurricanes as many of the tribe's members live in low-lying, flood-prone communities across south Louisiana.

Two years in the making, the station received grant funding that will carry them through the next three years, by which time they will establish self-sufficiency through advertising and sponsorship.

From Houma Indian station hits airwaves on dailycomet.com:

The tribe hopes to expand the station’s reach, building towers in Terrebonne and St. Bernard parishes so it can broadcast to all United Houma Nation members from St. Mary Parish east to the state line.

“But for now,” [Chief Thomas] Dardar said, “we’re thankful to the people who worked so hard to get this station up and running. Without their foresight, this wouldn’t have happened.”

If you're in the area, tune in to KUHN 88.9 FM, Voice of the United Houma Nation, or listen online unitedhoumanation.org.

Welcome to the airwaves KUHN!

DJ Budda Blaze Cuts It Up For 20 Years & Beyond

Kahnawake’s DJ Budda Blaze shares some insight with RPM about being a radio and Hiphop DJ for the past two decades with K103.7FM out of Kahnawake in the Mohawk territory as well as letting us know about his musical past, present and future.

We got a chance to sit down with DJ Budda Blaze a.k.a. Akwirenhtha (Falling Tree) to talk about his 20-year journey through music and radio as a DJ for the K103.7 FM radio station based out of Kahnewake in Quebec, Canada. In addition to his radio and DJ endeavours, he has honed himself as a hiphop producer for his group FBI and Canadian rap legend D-Shade. We spoke to DJ Budda Blaze via Skype just before his next gig in Ottawa where he will fill in for A Tribe Called Red at the Electric Powwow event this weekend.

Be sure to check out DJ Budda Blaze's Night School Radio Podcast at his website Buddablaze.com

Do you have an artist you would like to hear or see in our interview series? Drop us a line to: info@rpm.fm 

Mohawk Radio: K103.7 FM

This week, the RPM podcast will feature artists from Six Nations - a remarkably musically rich corner of Turtle Island. Also coming out of Six Nations is Mohawk radio station K103.7 fm.

From a shack on the edge of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Kahnawake, Quebec, just 20 minutes from downtown Montreal, the station sends a mix of bingo, native rights, hip-hop and wrestling across the airwaves - heard across the res and through the city and suburbs.

Recently, the NFB produced a documentary film about K103.7, Waves Across the Seaway, which describes the station as "straddling the wide cultural gap between Mohawks and their neighbors."

Tune in and stream K103.7 live at k103radio.com.

Bring Your Drum: Radio Documentary Explores 50 Years of Indigenous Protest Music

Writer, poet, radio broadcaster, and artist Janet Rogers has produced a new radio documentary exploring the sounds of Indigenous protest music that aired on CBC Radio's Inside the Music.

A Mohawk from Six Nations, Janet is entrenched in Indigenous music culture.

Her weekly Indigenous music radio show "Native Waves" airs on CFUV in Victoria, she's a regular columnist for BC Musician Magazine and her own work encompasses all media as a writer, performer and visual artist.

Her new radio documentary, Bring Your Drum, features an incredlibe lineup of interviews with:

John Trudell Alanis Obomsawin Taiaiake Alfred Brian Wright McLeod George Leach Elaine Bomberry Murray Porter Swil Kanim Savage Family

And protest songs by:

Floyd Redcrow Westerman Buffy Sainte Marie Peter Lafarge Willie Dunn Tru Rez Crew 7th Fire Sherri Maracle Lucie Idlout

The documentary aired July 3, 2011 on CBC Radio 2 - Inside the Music.

Listen to the full audio of the broadcast: Bring Your Drum [AUDIO]