Welcome to the Indigenous Music Renaissance

As all of us at RPM know, Indigenous music is thriving, growing and expanding across Turtle Island and around the world. There is a veritable renaissance in native music being made by an emerging generation of Indigenous artists that are proud, talented and pushing beyond the borders of genre, stereotypes and convention.

In an in-depth feature for CBC Music Magazine, writer Jesse Kinos-Goodin samples from the who's who of Indigenous artists in Canada, including sound bytes and interviews with A Tribe Called Red, Tanya Tagaq, Wab Kinew, Leonard Sumner, Inez Jasper and many more.

What the article makes clear, is that this is more than a moment for Indigenous music and musicians—this is a paradigm shift toward a new movement of Indigenous music.

So support Indigenous artists wherever you are, and sites like ours that are working to build community and increase the reach and influence of this inspiring generation of native artists who are leading the way forward.

A resurgence. A revolution. A renaissance. Idle No More. Call it what you will, but we’ve reached a significant moment in the history of Canada’s relationship with First Nations, and it’s reflected not just in the proliferation of indigenous music, but also in its mass acceptance by the mainstream. A Tribe Called Red are only one small piece of it, but their success represents a key turning point for a movement being led by young, indigenous artists across the country who are not only changing preconceived notions of what it means to be part of the First Nations community, but challenging the mainstream to re-evaluate their relationship with it. Buffy Sainte-Marie sowed the seeds in the ’60s; today, the seedlings cover the entire country.

Read the rest here: A Tribe Called Red, Wab Kinew, Tanya Tagaq on the indigenous music renaissance