This weeks show has an amazing range of indigenous artists and with a 20 minute segment of Klee Jones Benally‘s diverse fantastic music. Also on the show are OPLIAM & Carolers For Ceasfire, Keely Smith, Tippie & PJ Vegas, Appropriation, Blackfire, Joey Stylez, Ethan Peters Beats & Wolf Castle & C-brazy, Lola Parks, Graeme Jonez Music, Cameron Tallchief, Sekawnee & Chase Scanz & EfraubYB, Skyler Davis & Brother Mikey, E9ypt & Ulali, and Sean Beaver.
Rest In Power, Warrior Klee Benally
Diné activist and musician Klee Jones Benally walked on, on the morning of December 31, 2023. He was only 48 years old.
He was a member of the Navajo Nation and was a long-time passionate advocate for a number of issues affecting Native peoples. He fought tirelessly for the unhoused, against colonialism, against capitalism, for sacred sites, against uranium mining, against police violence… the list goes on.
Klee was an anarchist, indigenous activist, author, documentarian, musician, boardgame designer and much, much more, one friend said Klee was a “molotov cocktail of energy with a wisdom far beyond his years”. Not only advocating for indigenous rights, he supported all who were oppressed by the colonial capitalist system and supported those who also fight for a better tomorrow.
He was also an instrumental figure in Taala Hooghan infoshop, the anti-colonial direct action resource centre in Flagstaff, Arizona.
On Thursday, Dec. 21, Benally launched his book, “No Spiritual Surrender, Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred,” at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Flagstaff. No Spiritual Surrender is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience. Klee unrelentingly agitated against colonial politics towards Indigenous autonomy and total liberation of Mother Earth. In the book, he writes, “If history is written by the conquerors, it will be unwritten by those who refuse to be conquered.”
His band Blackfire was created in 1989, with his siblings, Jeneda and Clayson Benally and was fuelled with the same messages he shared in his book, justice for Indigenous people and the land. A really talented musician, he did a whole bunch of solo stuff after Blackfire. (links below)
We Want to be Free: An Interview with Klee Benally
Klee Benally – To The Ground
“Everything for everyone, nothing for ourselves.” A quote from Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Blackfire Live 2007
http://kleebenally.com/ Bandcamp – Appropriation The Unsustainable Sessions
The first show of ’24 has Indigenous made Singer/songwriter, Rock, Punk, Hip-Hop, Indy, Ambient, Jazzy Funk, Latin and Dance. From members of the O’odham, Choctaw, Wabanaki, Uto-Azteca, Tl’esqox, Apache, Chippewa, Ojibwe, Oglala Lakota, Navajo, and Inuk nations. From Raye Zaragoza, Samantha Crain, Aspects, Mali Obomsawin Music & Magdalena, Backwater Township, Stevie Salas, Fight the Future, Los Cogelones, Lyrical Native, SouFy & Def-i & Nataanii Means, Dizzy Jenkins & Chhoti Maa, Andachan, Brother Mikey, Echos Of…. & Lovely Things, QVLN – Quetzal Guerrero & OVEOUS.
Special extra 2023 show #53
Extra long special show to include some of the tracks I couldn’t fit into the usual shows. Indigenous made Indie, LoFi, Stage Musical, Blues, Country, Rock, Metis Fiddle, R’n’B, Rap, Hip Hop, Experimental, Dub Step, and more. From members of the Cree, Lakota, Mohawk, Inuit, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Mi’kmaq, Choctaw, Metis, Cherokee and Mi’kmaq Nations.
The fantastic indigenous artists in the show are – Bear Grease & Melody McArthur Music , James N. Wilson, Isolated South, Aajuik & qiyuapik, Native Pool Boy, Cary Morin, Rhonda Head, Anachnid, Sultans of String & Kendra Tagoona & Tracy Sarazin, Métis Fiddler Quartet, Verna Polson, Norman Kistabish, Nathan Cunningham Music, Teagan Littlechief Music, Siissisoq, Handsome Tiger, Aakuluk Music & qiyuapik & Echos of.., Morgan Toney, Stella Standingbear, Kahtolin, Celeigh Cardinal, The North Sound, Koli Kohler, Simon Lynge, The Tewa, Shylah Ray Sunshine & Lavva, The Real Toni Hickman, OPLIAM, Ryan LittleEagle & Clayton Ryan Music & Tom Frear, Tchutchu, L’Nu Joker & JRDN, Vangorian and VARNA(GL).
William Prince
week 52 2023
This weeks show has some awesome Indigenous made Punk, Indie, Rock, Blues, Classical, Soul, Hip Hop, Pop, Rez Metal, and Electronic, by music makers from the Piipaash, Quechan, Northern Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Iñupiaq, Métis, Inuk, Lakota, Nisenan, Cree, and Washoe nations.
With some of the best indigenous musicians out ther today, 1876, Eric Jackson & The Willow River Band, Pattie Gonia & Yo-Yo Ma & Quinn Christopherson, iiwaa, Native Pool Boy, vbnd & TOVA, Stella Standingbear & Sten Joddi, Elisapie, 9a – “nee-nuh”, Resistant Culture, Jamie Coon, Violent Ground, ONCE A TREE, Mattmac & Rex Smallboy, Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate, and Darksiderz & CGK.
Jay Silverheels
A short film on Harry Smith AKA Jay Silverheels AKA Tonto, the first native actor to star in a network TV weekly series which played on 163 television stations.
The Man Beside the Mask
Before Johnny Depp stepped into the role of Tonto, Ontario born Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels was remembered at the Tonto, the faithful ‘Injun sidekick’, in the 1950s TV series “The Lone Ranger”. Aside from his Pidgin English dialect, he became a pioneer for a generation of Aboriginal viewers – the only First Nations actor on the airwaves of the era.
The Man Beside the Mask
Before Johnny Depp stepped into the role of Tonto, Ontario born Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels was remembered at the Tonto, the faithful ‘Injun sidekick’, in the 1950s TV series “The Lone Ranger”. Aside from his Pidgin English dialect, he became a pioneer for a generation of Aboriginal viewers – the only First Nations actor on the airwaves of the era.
week 51 2023
The show this week has a few Xmas tracks on it! And also includes Indie, Nursery Rhyme, Country, Contemporary Folk, Rock, Ambient, Christmas, Pow Wow, Techno/Jungle, and Reggae from artists of the Mohawk, Métis, Cree, Choctaw, Inuk, Mohawk, Ojibwe, Nakota, Mi’kmaq and Potawatomi Nations.
With Yako of Teach Native Culture, Brandi Vezina, Burnstick, Aaron Neville & Robbie Robertson, Cary Morin, Renee Lamoureux, Beatrice Deer Band, Tom Wilson aka LeE HARVeY OsMOND, The Prairie States, Sebastian Gaskin, Billy Simard, Elexa Dawson & Stanley Hotel, Chevy Beaulieu Music, The Bearhead Sisters & Tre’leigh, Lena Horn, KindaColt and Jah’Mila & Wolf Castle & Aquakultre & Wendy MacIsaac.
Bear Grease
I can tell you I have the first single release from Bear Grease Musical on the show sometime around Xmas. By Bear Grease and Melody McArthur Music.
Featuring an all-Indigenous cast, this hilarious twist on the 1978 classic, Grease, reimagines the beloved musical as culturally relevant with Indigenous humour and pride. Bear Grease is the brainchild of Crystle Lightning (Cree) and MC RedCloud (Huichol), a husband-and-wife hip-hop duo who go by the name LightningCloud.. The music has been kept in ’50s style, but drums and flutes are brought in to demonstrate more traditional aspects of the culture. There’s also a touch of hip hop, to help Bear Grease appeal to younger audiences.
