Tunes From Turtle Island

Black Belt Eagle Scout – My Blood Runs Through This Land
from The Land, The Water, The Sky out February 10, 2023
And playing in Europe, end of February

One of the greats of Indigenous Rock has sadly moved on, co-founder and bassist of XIT, Jomac “Mac” Suazo (Taos Pueblo) passed on at his home on Christmas Eve.
Jomac “Mac” Suazo was the bass player of the bands;  Lincoln St. Exit, XIT and later, eXit with The Ox Boyz. Suazo became most legendary for his work with XIT whose music still resonates among Indigenous peoples throughout the country. XIT, which stood for Crossing of Indian Tribes, was originally formed as Lincoln Street Exit in the early 1970s at Valley High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Suazo, along with A. Michael Martinez, Lee Herrerra, and R. C. Gariss were then joined by Tom Bee and released several groundbreaking albums. Their debut recording, “Plight of the Redman,” was released in 1972 on Motown Records. It was a concept album chronicling the changes in Native American life since the arrival of Columbus.  The recording was the first of its kind to combine traditional and electric instrumentation along with chanting and Native dialogue. Their followup, “Silent Warrior” was their second release on the label in 1973 in which Suazo co-wrote two of the songs. The album came at the height of the Wounded Knee takeover in South Dakota, and XIT quickly became labeled by the media as the musical ambassadors of the American Indian Movement.
In 1999, XIT performed at the Second Annual Native American Music Awards and were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.