SPOTLIGHT: Savannah Rae Boyko

At 16 years old, Savannah Rae Boyko from Fisher River Cree Nation, has a list of accomplishments and original style under her name that will keep her in the game and running along side the best.

At first glance, her styling may take you to the 20's, then at first hearing you think: "Right...20-something Pop Star". Cue the buzzer because you'd be double-wrong. Savannah Rae Boyko is a teenaged Cree girl from Friendly Manitoba's Fisher River Cree Nation. Currently working on her debut EP with Chris Burke-Gaffney of CBG Artist Development (who also produced artists like Chantal Kreviazuk and Eagle & Hawk to name a couple), Savannah has a bright future ahead of her and the right people on her side.

Savannah's musical style has radio written all over it, and with her history of singing since she was a child watching Disney cartoons, she has the chops needed to hit the airwaves. Her music is fun and professional, bringing to the table a clean and energetic flavour filled with accents of summer and youth.

According to her bio, she was barely a teenager in 2006 when she was selected to sing on K-Tel's Mini Pop Kids 3 and Mini Pop Kids 4 in 2007. Since then she has placed in the top 12 on YTV's The Next Star and was a featured contestant on CMT's Karaoke Star Jr. The stage has been a no stranger to Savannah at all with her starring in the lead role of Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie at Downtown Disney Florida and also in the chorus for Strike! The Musical for Manitoba Theatre For Young People. Performing for Prime Ministers and Legislators is also no problem for Savannah.

Given the name "Little Fawn", Savannah stays in touch with her roots and recognizes the struggles of her people even when performing after government apologies to Residential School Survivors at Manitoba's Legislature. Savannah's grandmother was a survivor of residential schools, and her modest upbringing are a reminder to the close proximity of a darker time in Canada's history for Indigenous people.

Now to be on stage, television and in the studio, Savannah brings a light to her family and people of the Fisher River Cree Nation and heads out of the gate with a great start in the music industry.

Savannah's Website Savannah's Reverbnation Page 

RPM YouTube Playlist: Winnipeg - Volume 1

Accompanying our Winnipeg Podcast, we've compiled some YouTube videos of amazing Winnipeg Indigenous Hip-hop artists into a playlist on our RPM YouTube channel.  

Team Rezofficial - Lonely Wab Kinew - Good Boy w/ Lorenzo & Troy Westwood Sadie - Boombox w/ Kross Lorenzo - What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? Hellnback - Kneehigh Winnipeg's Most - All That I Know

What videos would you like to see featured on our YouTube channel and playlists?

Send us your video picks on our Get Involved page and Suggest An Artist.

VIDEO: Manik - "Hood Miracle"

From the first single of the new Starmakerz Family Album, Manik brings us a look into the raw streets of the Downtown East Side of Vancouver B.C. with is new video released for the DJ Sichuan produced song entitled “Hood Miracle”.

Haida/Cree Hiphop artist Manik has been representing the Indigenous Hiphop scene from Vancouver since the 90's and is now well known in the North American MC battle circuit. As a member of Stressed Street movement, The Starmakerz Family and the Sundayskool Dropoutz, he has been a monumental force within the Indigenous music scene.

Check out more from the Starmakerz Family on their Reverbnation Page and Manik's Reverbnation Page.

Got a video you want to promote on RPM.fm?

Send us a link to: info@rpm.fm

L.A. Skins Music Festival: July 15th, 2011

The 2011 L.A. Skins Music Fest hits the City of Lost Angeles this weekend bringing Indigenous music talent to the world-renowned Autry Center, July 15th, 2011.

Los Angeles, California holds the largest urban population of Indigenous Native Americans in the United States. With over 250,000 Natives in the city, you can be sure the talent pool of musicians holds some true stage power within it.

On July 15th, the 2011 L.A. Skins Music Fest will bring to the Autry Center an amazing collective of Indigenous music talent. This is the fifth year that the L.A. Skins Fest has showcased Indigenous music to the people of Los Angeles.

The show includes acts such as Ainjel Emme, a pop, folk and soul singer, RedCloud a widely renowned Huichol rap artist known for his deadly freestyle skills and his Cree DJ Crystle Lightning, Dey & Nite the identical twin Spanish-Arapaho R&B duo from New Mexico, and Quese IMC the East L.A. underground legend from Pawnee/Seminole heritage out of Oklahoma.

The 2011 L.A. Skins Fest will be an amazing venue for Indigenous artists to showcase their talents and has also received recognition and support from large entities such as SONY and the American Composers Forum and is sponsored by CBS, NBC/Universal and Paramount Pictures.

The L.A. Skins Music Fest starts at 7pm on July 15th at the Autry Center in Los Angeles, California.

This will be a great show, so if you're in the Los Angeles area be sure to check it out!

For more information, check out the L.A. Skins Music Fest website.

Also check out this great promotional video for the festival.

Got an Indigenous music event you want to promote?

Send us some information to: info@rpm.fm

Kahnawake Powwow 2011: Photos and Video

It's #PowwowWednesday! And to quote kahsennanoron, "holy people & technology are fast". The day after the 2011 Kahnawake Powwow took place in Kahnawake, Quebec, hundreds of photos and, so far, over twenty videos have popped up online.

For those of us who can't make it out to the powwows, the abundant documenting of these gatherings gives us a sense of being there - at least the senses of sight and sound are sated. If anyone can get the smells online, let me know. The immediacy connects us too - knowing these photos were just taken, the drum seems to still reverberate in the background.

Some of the best photos can be found on southshorecommunity's flickr set.

Here's the grand entry:

Thank you to everyone who captures these moments!

Hoka! Mohawk Nation represent...

Portraits from the Squamish Powwow 2011

This past weekend marked the 24th year of the Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow. It was 30 years before that when the annual event had been forced into oblivion as the nation's children were sent to residential schools and the elders passed away.

Sunny Dhillon wrote in Rhythm nation: Squamish youth celebrate tradition with 24th annual powwow [The Globe and Mail]:

In the mid-1980s, [Gloria] Nahanee regularly took her two daughters to events at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre. She would occasionally speak with people who remembered the Squamish Nation powwows and encouraged her to start them back up.

She listened...

“I can’t believe it’s 24 years already. After five years, it was like holy cow. And then 10 years. And now it’s like 24th annual? It’s so amazing,” the event organizer said.

The event draws thousands of visitors and performers from across Turtle Island - "a far cry from the inaugural celebration when the performers were essentially [Ms. Nahanee] and her daughters."

Farah Nosh captured beautiful portraits - see the whole set here.

Also, YouTube user cyberska has a number of fantastic videos up, like this one of the Women's Fancy Crowhop:

Ryan McMahon's 'Indian Vaudeville' Tour 2011

Ojibwe/Métis comedian Ryan McMahon takes his Indian Vaudeville Tour to a community near you starting in August 2011.

The amazingly funny and diverse comedian Ryan McMahon (and his alter-ego Clarence Two Toes) announced via YouTube video last week that he will be taking the Indian Vaudeville Tour out into Turtle Island country.

As well as playing shows, Ryan will be shooting a documentary of his journey. Ryan says that he will travel to your community for a plane ticket, a hotel where he won't die in the night and whatever you think you should pay him. A humble tactic for one of the hottest Indigenous comedians around right now for sure.

You can check out the first dates of this tour at the Soaring Eagle Resort & Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Thursday August 4th and Saturday August 6th which also falls on their 27th Annual Saginaw Chippewa Pow Wow weekend.

For more information on how to bring Ryan McMahon to your community and more about the Indian Vaudeville Tour, check out his website and the video below. BOOM.

Ryan McMahon Comedy Website Indian Vaudeville Tumblr 

Also check out Ryan McMahon's interview with RPM and Clarence Two Toes on the RPM Podcast #001

VIDEO: Don Amero - "Right Where I Wanna Be"

The gifted songwriting of Métis musician Don Amero gets a rich visual treatment in Amero's first-ever, official video for his new single "Right Where I Wanna Be".

This incredibly catchy tune offers Amero's unique take on country-inflected pop music, with some great slide guitar work and a hook that will stay with you for days. Look out for our conversation with Don in the RPM "Winnipeg" Podcast and download another great Amero tune in our Music section: "Life's Been Pretty Sweet". 

#FrybreadFriday: 'More Than Frybread' Trailer

Is Indian Country getting it's own mockumentary à la "Best In Show"? It looks like it, from the trailer for Holt Hamilton Productions' latest film. 

More Than Frybread follows some of the competitors in the inaugural World Wide Frybread Association Arizona Chapter Frybread Championship, like Hopi finalist Betti Muchvo:

"There are two things in life that I am probably best at: making bread and beauty pageants."

Good luck Betti! We can't wait to see the whole film, reportedly being released this summer.

Gotta love #frybreadfridays...

SPOTLIGHT: Blackfire, Diné/Navajo Punk Rockers

Declared "fireball punk-rock" by the Godfather of Punk Joey Ramone, Navajo Punk band Blackfire serve traditions with fiery fury.

Jeneda, Clayson and Klee Benally are the sister and brothers punk-rock collective, Blackfire, from the Black Mesa in the Navajo Nation. Holding strong in their family unit, Blackfire has grown and gained international acclaim and a large grassroots following by staying true to their roots and traditions in music and Indigenous culture.

Blackfire's hard-driving sounds are accented with socio-political messages and sometimes mixed with traditional Navajo musical stylings. Their message speaks strongly to the genocide, eco-cide, government oppression, displacement of Indigenous peoples and other socially conscious struggles against violence and in support of human rights. Through their impassioned politically-driven sound, Blackfire translates high-energy into a fiery fury of intellectual, spiritual and musical medicine.

The family trio have been touring the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe since 1989, and at times have combined performances with their traditional family dance group "The Jones Benally Family". Blackfire was the first Native American group to be invited to play on the Vans Warped Tour and in 2007, they released their double-CD entitled [Silence] Is A Weapon, which was produced by Ed Stasium, who has produced high profile acts like The Ramones, Living Color and the Talking Heads.

While touring the world with major festivals, appearing on tribute albums to Punk legends the Ramones, Blackfire remains true to their message and roots by only playing all-ages venues at festivals, clubs and concerts. They also spend time with youth doing lectures, workshops and school residencies promoting respect for all cultures.

Their musical activism branches out into the world by touching audiences in Europe and beyond, but also in the fight for recognition of issues within their own homeland. Most recently the band has used their reverence to bring attention to the expansion of an artificial ski facility on a sacred mountain near Flagstaff, Arizona in which the 13 tribes in the area hold sacred. After the supreme court denied an appeal to two lawsuits against the Arizona Snowbowl's artificial snowmaking, Blackfire still holds their ground in bringing light to the situation on their sacred grounds that they and their ancestors have used for generations for ceremony and medicine gathering.

Proving that music is about more than money, power and fame, Blackfire shows us that we can make a difference if we choose to fight and bring the fire to system. For more about Blackfire's fight to save the sacred peaks, check out this article at Truthout.org

Check out more about Blackfire on their website.

This is the video for their song "Overwhelming" from their last album (Silence) Is A Weapon

Gordon Tootoosis Dies: Celebrated Cree Actor and Activist Dies at 69

Gordon Tootoosis, one of Indian Country's most beloved and well-known actors, has died at 69.

Tootoosis, who was from the Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, starred in almost every major Indigenous film and television series over the course of his storied and accomplished career.

From early roles in Alien Thunder, Black Robe and North of 60 to his more recent appearances in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Blackstone, Tootoosis was an icon of Indigenous film, theatre, and television.

We first learned of his passing Tuesday afternoon as the news broke on Twitter:

His death was later confirmed by CBC News:

Celebrated actor Gordon Tootoosis has died, a family member is confirming to CBC News.

The cause of death was not immediately available but he was recently hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia. Tootoosis was 69.

He was born on the Poundmaker Reserve in rural Saskatchewan.

In addition to his film and television work, Tootoosis was also active in First Nations politics.

He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2004 for his achievements as "an inspirational role model for Aboriginal youth."

Tootoosis was taken from his home as a youngster and placed in the Indian Residential School system. Like many in the system, Tootoosis endured harsh circumstances at the school.

As an adult, he became a social worker and was a band chief for a time.

Actor Gordon Tootoosis Dies: family [CBC]

Our hearts go out to the Tootoosis family and Gordon's many friends and supporters. He will be dearly missed.

May he rest in peace.

Here is a wonderful video tribute to his life and work from 2007:

[video via Native American Sublime]

VIDEO: Elisapie Isaac - "Turning My Back"

The enigmatic and haunting voice of beautiful Inuk singer Elisapie Isaac drifts effortlessly between her native Inuktitut and English in this gorgeous new single from her recent album "There Will Be Stars".

Isaac came to our attention several years ago through her work with Taima, a wonderful collaboration with guitarist/composer Alain Auger.

And if this new song is any indication of where her music is headed, "Turning My Back" offers us a trip to a dreamy place, above the clouds, within what Isaac calls "a constellation of music from our universe".

Lovely.