On the Radar: Up & Coming Indigenous Artists

Here's a look at some up & coming young Indigenous musicians on the RPM Radar.

Beaatz Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick Canada

Shelby “Beaatz” Sappier is a 19-year-old rapper  and hip-hop producer from the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada.  When his music came across our desks, we were amazed to find such a stylish, bumping and professional style from such a young artist. Be on the look out for his new stuff and check out his music below:

Beaatz on YouTube Beaatz on Myspace

Sonia Eidse Métis

Métis artist Sonia Eidse out of Winnipeg is a singer-songwriter emerging onto the scene with a smooth and calming sound that immediately draws you in. She recently appeared on the APTN program Rising Stars, which featured some of the newest Indigenous musicians in the scene.  She is currently working on her first EP release and performing live shows around Winnipeg.

Sonia Eidse Manitoba Music Profile Sonia Eidse on APTN Rising Stars

Lil’ Pappy Métis

Lil’ Pappy is making a huge splash onto the scene with his driving pop sound.  Mastering a number of instruments including piano, electric guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, ukulele, synthesizer, organ, xylophone and banjo by the young age of 16 and exploring multiple music genres has served his music well. He has opened for the likes of Robin Black and Marianas Trench and climbed the ranks of the top 50 on Canadian Idol. Lil’ Pappie is definitely someone to watch out for. For more info see the links below and here's a preview of his Weezy-influenced latest:

Lil’ Pappie on Stressedstreet Lil’ Pappie on YouTube

Samantha Crain Shawnee

Out of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Choctaw singer Samantha Crain’s acoustic musical style has been taking her around the festival circuits and making a huge impression on the music scene. With some cowboy boots and a guitar, she has made her way into the collective roots musical conscience with her compelling songs, haunting melodies and great videos. Be on the lookout for Samantha Crain and her band Frontier Ruckus in Canada this summer. She will be performing in July for the Winnipeg Folk Festival and at the Vancouver Folk Festival.

Samantha Crain’s Website

Dey & Nite Arapaho

Identical twins from New Mexico, Dey & Nite are a fast-rising pop/R&B duo touring across Turtle Island to share their style and talent with crowds across Canada and the U.S. The twins have sung back-up for Paula Deanda, shared the stage with acts like Soulja Boy and Baby Bash and most recently toured Australia Mexico and Brazil singing back-up for Hilary Duff. These two amazing singers are a pop act you should definitely watch out for. Check out their a cappella rendition of the Bill Withers classic "Ain't No Sunshine":

Dey & Nite's Website

Stay tuned for more Indigenous music artists on the RPM radar.

Who's on your radar for Indigenous Music Culture? Check out our Get Involved section and Suggest an Artist

Q&A with Young Jibwe: Ojibwe Artist/Producer

Young Jibwe (former Unkle Fester) is an Ojibwe artist whose beats you hear in the RPM trailer and podcast. We like him. We also sent him an RPM Q&A and got some insightful information back from him. Crystal Gale and Wyclef Jean may never be mentioned in the same article again.

Q: What’s your name? A: Cameron Jude Monkman, Indian Name: Zoon Ga Deh (Strong Heart)

Q: What’s your Nation, tribe or band and where is it located? A: Ojibwe from Lake Manitoba First Nation

Q: How does your Indigenous culture inspire your music creation? A: Having seen what our people have gone through has given me the motivation to stand up and produce healing music for those who've been through the pain, and for those who are only learning about it.

Q: Growing up, what were your major musical influcence? A: Crystal Gale. Her music was very mellow and relaxing and I enjoyed her voice.

Q: What are some of your experiences traveling to Native communities? A: Well, my grandfather, Glen Monkman Sr. took a principal position in Pukatawagon, Manitoba in the late 90's and it was my first real experience of the 'rez life'. I enjoyed it for the most part. It was very different. It opened my eyes to a wider view of Nature and my people's historic way of life.

Q: What thoughts do you have about the labelling of Aboriginal music in Canada and in the global scene? A: I would much rather call it 'Urban Native American" music.

Q: If you could work with any artist past or present, who would they be and why? A: I would work with Wyclef Jean, Timbaland and Sierra Noble, because all three of them have the motivation to express themselves with music and have the ability to reach out to the crowd and get everyone up on their feet.I've been a fan of Wyclef Jean for awhile and I admire his involvement with the changes that impact the world and the great things that he throws out there for people. He's not your average Corporate artist, he cares about the world he lives in.

As a Music Producer, I would say Timbaland because he's very talented and patient with making beats as I am, and I learned a few tricks from him through videos and interviews that he has done in the past.

I grew up in Winnipeg and attended Gordon Bell High School with Sierra Noble and I got to know her as a very young talented individual who's heart speaks with great wisdom and empowerment. She is a proud Métis fiddler and is not afraid to speak about her history.

Q: What else do you do other than music? A: I attend rallies and speak occasionally at community events that surround Gay Rights (I’m Bisexual). When I came to Toronto, i attended the "No One Is Illegal" protest and made an unscheduled speech about gays being killed in Iran. You can watch it on YouTube: No One is Illegal Rally 2011

Q: Do you have any advice for upcoming artists about touring? A: Don’t eat McDonald's - fast food is not good for performing, it actually decreases your energy.

Q: What are your future music plans? A: I’m planning on moving to Los Angeles sometime next year to work with a few Producers and songwriters. I’m not sure about recording an album at this point, I think I wanna wait until it’s the right time to put a major project together.

Q: What kind of R&R activities do you enjoy? A: Marijuana, Video Games, Graphic Design, and beat Making.

Q: Any thing else you want to share with the world of Indigenous Music Culture? A: When people are inspired by Hip-Hop, it motivates them to make changes, whether being in their own life or the Community around them

Keep up with Young Jibwe on Facebook at Monkman Productions and Reverbnation.

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.

Alan Greyeyes Keeps it Friendly in Manitoba

Alan Greyeyes, member of the Peguis First Nation, is known to every Aboriginal artist across Canada. He talked to RPM about his work with Manitoba Music, AMP Camp, and what it takes to make it as an artist.

RPM: So Manitoba Music is huge. Can you tell us how that got started?

Alan: Manitoba Music has been around since 1986. The Aboriginal Music Program was launched April 1^st, 2004 and I’ve been here for about six years now.

RPM: How did you get involved with it?

Alan: About ten years ago I started out with my eye on the business side of the music industry. I went through university, did my BA with a major in economics, learned how to write funding applications and handle the marketing side of the industry – I learned about graphic design, editorial writing and photography. When this job came up I was lucky enough to be offered it. I’ve been here ever since. I also work with the Manito Ahbee Festival.

RPM: The Manitoba music scene has rocketed in the last ten years there. What elements do you think helped that growth?

Alan: Definitely the support of the provincial government. For the time I’ve been here, we’ve had a lot of support with the Aboriginal program through Eric Robinson - it’s really been his vision to create a Nashville-North for the Native community. So we’ve been able to, with his support, build an infrastructure here. And it’s not just him, there’s NCI FM – they recently launched a second station, StreetzFM, which is all hip-hop, and they’re doing a lot to support the music scene. Also APTN has their offices here. We have three or four Aboriginal print publications as well. So there’s a lot going on, a lot of media infrastructure here, and a lot of great artists.

RPM: How has Indigenous culture inspired your path to where you are today?

Alan: It comes down to values and the importance of giving back and supporting other people in the community - just trying to be nice in an industry that sometimes isn’t very nice. Trying to do things that benefit multiple people – that’s where the influences of Indigenous culture work their way into what I do on a daily basis.

RPM: The Manito Ahbee festival has really taken off. When did that start?

Alan: We launched in 2006 with a lot of support from the provincial government and some pretty significant private sector sponsors. 2006 was the first year we did the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards and the Manito Ahbee Festival. The festival has evolved since then. In the beginning it was really trying to be a catchall for all disciplines, film, visual arts, music, dance, but the festival definitely has more of a focus on music right now with the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards and with traditional music and dance through the composition pow wow.

RPM: You’re also involved with AMP Camp which I attended last year and it was amazing. How did that start?

Alan: AMP Camp is a program we run through Manitoba Music and it’s a partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. That program was really the brainchild of Gerri Trimble at the Canada Council for the Arts. My first year that I started here at Manitoba Music was the first year the partnership was implemented and the first year that ran the project. We’ve completed the fifth year of AMP Camp and we have the call out for the sixth year, which will be March 4-9, 2012. It’s with the vision and support of the Canada Council for the Arts that we’re able to do such a great development project for Aboriginal artists across Canada.

It’s business workshops in the morning and artistic workshops in the afternoons and evenings and we get instructors from across Canada that have a lot of practical and industry experience, but are also super nice and willing to sit down with the participants throughout the week and at meals and after hours and just share some of their experience and some of their knowledge. It’s not just “okay class is over we’re going to go our separate ways” – we try to bring people that will really be part of the community and who are interested in giving back.

You’re there to collaborate, you’re there to learn, and you’re there to share you experience with others. I’ve been lucky to be part of it. I don’t run it per se - we’re in collaboration with the Canada Council to set the agenda. I do a lot of the paperwork and a lot of the flight bookings and stuff like that – the details.

RPM: And you’re always one of the first ones awake there.

Alan (laughs): I value my sleep – I’ve got two kids now – so sleeping on the road is kind of a nice luxury. I’m just to getting up early – I’ve got that old man internal clock now.

RPM: What kind of thoughts to you have on the label of Indigenous music? Some people call it pigeon holing.

Alan: I tell artists to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible, whether you’re a country artist submitting to the country music awards and doing gigs in country music venues, and also doing gigs on first nation reserves, or in Métis communities. You’ve got to pay the bills and if you’re labeled one thing in one community, and that gets you a couple gigs, I think you should take advantage of it. As far as pigeon holing goes, I haven’t seen too many negative connotations of that. I know that artists have spoken about that. If you’re at a level where you’re competing with people that have big machines and teams and infrastructure behind them, you’ve got to have that kind of stuff together as well. You’ve got to have a great website, you’ve got to have music videos, and management, and booking agents. If you don’t have that, you’re at a disadvantage, no matter what label you have on you.

RPM: In addition to promotion and marketing, what other advice would you have for upcoming artists?

Alan: In music, the song is King. So working on better songs, continuing to edit, write with others, read books, develop a unique perspective and a different way of seeing things is very important.

RPM: You heard it here kids – Alan Greyeyes says you should read books.

Alan: Read books! And be nice. Be nice is key. I know a number of artists and festivals that our board doesn’t want to work with just because they’ve seen them get arrested or they’ve seen them using drugs, or they’re just not conducting themselves well. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do to help if they’re a jerk. Be nice - not just nice to the people who pay the bills, nice to the people who are picking up your luggage, nice to the people working the sound board, people who are working the door – when you’re an artist, all those people are there to take care of you so it’s really important to be nice to them.

Alan Greyeyes is the Aboriginal Music Program Coordinator at Manitoba Music, where he helps run AboriginalMusic.ca, AMP Camp and the Manito Ahbee Festival. You can also find him on Twitter: @alangreyeyes.

Ryan McMahon's Comedic Path

One of the funniest men in Indian Country is Ojibwe/Métis comedian, actor and writer Ryan McMahon. You heard him as Clarence Two Toes in our our debut podcast - and Clarence will be back at RPM in the near future.

Hailing from Couchiching First Nation, Ryan sat down with us to talk about Charlie Hill, the importance of the audience, and tying tarps with shoelaces.

RPM: Who were your major comedic influences growing up?

Ryan: Like most young kids when you first see Saturday Night Live that’s a pretty cool thing. But my parents are recovered alcoholics, and as a young kid I’d go on and off the reserve with my Grandma and other people who would just take care of us as my parents were in recovery. During one of those times, I remember being seven or eight years old, I saw Eddie Murphy Delirious. That for me was the first time I ever saw something that powerful, where somebody is talking and everybody listens. I don’t know if it was because of the environment that I grew up in or because of the attention that performers got, but I always felt like that was something that I wanted to do. So growing up it was SNL, it was Eddie Murphy, it was Adam Sandler, and it grew from there. Charlie Hill for sure in terms of Native comedians. He didn’t do the Indian Conference Trail and the cushy jobs after dinner at the hotel conferences and what not, he went straight to the mainstream and the comedy clubs and he slugged it out and made his way as high as you can go. For me Charlie Hill is somebody that I look up to and honour every time and any chance I get.

RPM: He was groundbreaking.

Ryan: He was the head writer of the Roseanne show, arguably one of the best sitcoms ever on TV, in terms of it being progressive. I’m working on a TV project with him actually. He’s going to be editing my book this summer, and he and I are going to link up and do a lot of stuff. There’s so much that people don’t know about him because he never toots his own horn. Nobody’s ever tooted his horn for him and I’m just going to be a champion of him because we see these other Native comics out there and nobody’s paying homage to those that really deserve it. Charlie’s just such a good guy, and a funny guy, and it’s unfortunate but he’s judged by that old Indian Time special and all these other things, but the dude is wild, he’s political. He was one of Richard Pryor’s favourite comedians, which you can’t even measure, and George Carlin called him one of the top five comics ever. It’s time for us in Indian country to embrace our own.

RPM: Do you have any advice for upcoming comedians, artists, writers, actors?

Ryan: Everyone wants to throw around this idea of celebrity and it’s a bull shit concept to me. We’ve all got stories, we’ve all got ideas, it’s how we harness them and challenge them and what media we use to tell them - there’s no secret out there to this stuff, it’s whether you do it or not. It’s how well you do it, how well you learn it – your work ethic. I don’t really believe in talent, it only takes you so far. It’s getting up every day and answering your phone on time and returning emails on time and being professional at shows and treating bookers with respect, and demanding that respect back. And having a website and business cards. Every handshake is important and there’s a lot that goes into this that people have to learn. But there’s no secret to it.

Everybody talks about how hard it is, but I’m trying to see it the other way. I’m trying to say how easy it is. We can distribute our music by ourselves. We can build our own websites. We can book our own shows and our own tours.

RPM: Related to that, what’s one thing an artist should never do on stage?

Ryan: I don’t know if there just one thing – there’s a whole bunch of things you should never do and I’ve seen most of them done. But I think one of the worst things you can do is blame an audience. I’ve seen a lot of live performers blow up on their audiences and you know when it comes right down to it, I can’t feed my kids unless there is an audience. So I’m grateful to the people that support me, that repost my stupid videos, that want to see me live, that send me encouraging messages - the audience is the most important thing. Do I think about them when I’m writing? Absolutely not. Do I think about them when I’m on stage? Absolutely.  Every audience in important. People that come out and support you you have to be grateful for – never take that for granted. If you take an audience for granted they’ll stop coming.

RPM: What’s your favorite Indigenous McGiver story? Something you had to fix when all you had was your Indigenous ingenuity.

Ryan: I was at a Pow Wow in Eagle Lake Ontario, near Dryden Ontario, and a storm came in so fast you could see the sheet of rain coming across the lake. The MC was trying to get everyone to return to their camps and this old mentor of mine, Doug Fairbanks, gets up like the wind and runs - and he’s a big guy - over to the elders section and he just starts tying down these tarps. He had both of his shoelaces off and his belt. He had my shoelaces and the shoelaces of every singer that was around, just tying them together because we were trying to keep these old people dry in their campground.  When it was happening it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen because those elders were so appreciative and laughing and joking and it was just an example of how people come together when you really need them to. We were all soaking wet . When we got back, two of the tents in our campground were blown over and windows were left rolled down and everything inside the vehicles was soaked, but in that moment it was so perfect.

RPM: When the movie comes out, which actor will play you?

Ryan: Me! I need the work. I’ve been told that I’m like a better looking John Candy, or a fatter Jack Tripper, from Three’s Company. So I don’t know who looks like me out there to play me, so it would probably be me.

RPM: Yeah you! Do it yourself Bro!  Is there anything else out there you want to share with the world of Indigenous Music Culture?

Ryan: Let’s just support each other. If we can rise up together good things will happen. I support a lot of young Native comedians who have never been on stage before, but I’ll put them on stage because to me the more successful we are as a comedy movement, the better I’ll be. I’ll have to work harder when I’m being challenged in that way in my own community. So the higher we all rise up the better.

Ryan is on tour this summer, and always on Twitter: @RMComedy. Check him out online at: ryanmcmahoncomedy.com

Murray Porter on Six Nations Blues

RPM met with Murray Porter before his recent Vancouver gig at The Sutton Hotel and talked about songs as teachers, BB King under the covers and the origin of the Blues.

RPM: I’m excited to be here. Let’s start by representing, Indigenous style.

Murray: My name is Murray Porter, I’m from Six Nations Reserve, I’m Mohawk Turtle Clan. That’s where I grew up, for the first forty five years of my life and I’ve been in Vancouver for five years, playing my music around the west side of town, and it’s been really great. I’m loving it. People have been very receptive to me, very welcoming.

RPM: On the Fresh Coast of Turtle Island. How does Indigenous culture inspire your music creation process?

Murray: You know, music is a personal thing, songwriting is a personal thing. At the heart of my being, I’m Native, that’s the first thing. I’m a musician second, but beneath it all I’m Native. That in itself has to rub off on what you write, and the way you think, and the way you feel, and how you put ideas down on paper. In my language, in my culture, we didn’t have written language, it was all storytelling, legends passed down orally. So that’s what songwriting is, it’s an oral thing. You’re passing down your song. And I like to do it also in a way to kind of educate people to the way we see things. When Columbus came here, we never thought we were being discovered, we thought we were being killed. So we had to show them how we see the world. Some of my songs are about that – education. About teaching them the issues that affect us and how what they do affects us, and how what their forefathers did affects future generations. That’s my take on things.

RPM: Growing up, what were your major musical influences?

Murray: When I grew up, my parents listened to a lot of country and western - like a lot of Native communities country was a big thing. So I listened to George Jones and Merle Haggard and guys like that. In my teen years – because Six Nations is only about 45 minutes from Toronto, an hour from Buffalo New York and two hours from Detroit – a lot of urban stuff was happening in the area. I could hear a station from Chicago on the AM radio under the covers. I heard BB King “The Thrill is Gone” and I was like wow man what is that kind of music? And the guy said “this is the blues” and I thought blues? Wow, I love that music. So from that moment, BB King was the guy that set me on the path to the blues.

RPM: You talk about Six Nations and their cultural influence and I read that Robbie Robertson said you’re a blues master man.

Murray: (laughs) Robbie’s from Six Nations as well. We’ve got a lot of talent coming out of that little place there. Derek Miller has one two Juno awards for his music. So it’s a small place – our reserve only has about 10,000 people on it, that’s the extent of it. And it’s very small geographically, so we’re kind of bunched together a little bit. It turned out to be a great thing. Robbie Robertson was an influence. And I’m sure I influenced Derek somewhat because I knew him when he was a kid so that kind of tradition goes down through the ages. The next people are going to follow Derek. It always takes someone to open the door for the rest of us.

RPM: Yes Six Nations is putting a lot of stuff out right now.  When I see Derek, he stands like Robbie Robertson.

Murray: It’s the old Mohawk stoicism. It’s a lot of pride – you’re proud of who you are, you’re proud of yourself, you’re happy to be doing the thing you love the most. I love playing music. That’s what I love to do when I’m not doing anything. And to get paid to do it is amazing.

RPM: That’s important now for younger Indigenous artists to be able to have that, to give them pride.

Murray: When I come to play these things, I don’t tell them I’m Native. It has no bearing on it. It’s all about the music. When they find out later, they’re very intrigued and want to ask me questions and stuff like that. But, I think we all need to be proud. For any young kids who want to get into any type of music, I would say learn an instrument. Even if you want to be a hip hopper or do rhyming, you should learn an instrument - it will really help you on your career if you do. A few good chords on the guitar, or the piano, something, it helps your overall musicianship so you can understand what you’re talking about.

RPM: Notes to young rappers – you heard it from Murray Porter himself. Better musicians, not just better rappers.

Murray: Rap is all about music, that’s where it all began. Learn your chops, that’s all I can say.

RPM: You got any favourite reading materials you would point people too?

Murray: For me, I read a lot about music, the blues. So many of the original blues players had Native blood. Down in New Orleans, the Mardi Gras Indians are a half black half Native tribe of Indians down there - they started the whole Mardi Gras Festival.

People are starting to realize what influence our people had on the blues. When the slaves would escape the plantation, they’d go into the woods and they had no idea how to survive so they’d get into the Native camps and they had drums. The slave owners had taken away their drums, to take away their culture. The Native people had drums, and the whole call and response thing that we use in our music as well, it’s the same thing as in the spirituals they sang in the fields picking cotton. We should be knowledgeable about what our people have done for music in general.

RPM: Anything else you want to say to the world of Indigenous music culture?

Murray: Keep happening. Keep strong. Without the next generation, the music would die off. Without the next generation there won’t be any more Native music unless someone keeps doing it. So keep doing it!

Find Murray Porter on Facebook and CBC Radio 3 to keep up with his latest news and tour dates.