0 Comments Native American Music Awards October 3

Several years ago I happened on a stage performance by Arvel Bird at the Texas Indian Market. Since then I have driven many commuter miles to the sound of his Animal Totems album, a mixture of New Age and Celtic styles. Bird plays every kind of music from bluegrass to jazz and plays the Native American flute as well as the fiddle. The classically trained violinist’s latest CD,  Tribal Music Suite, Journey of a Paiute, a reflection of his Scottish and Paiute heritage, tells a story of cultural conflict and of a life journey. Bird is one of the nominees for Artist of the Year in the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards, to be held Saturday, October 3 in Niagara Falls. The awards will be webcast live at 8:00 pm EST.

Nominees in the folk category include Annie Humphrey-Jimenez for The Sound of Ribbons; Atsiaktonkie for Four Wolves Prophecy; Jonathan Maracle for Christmas On Turtle Island; Samantha Crain for The Confiscation: A Musical Novella; Papago Warrior for Papago Warrior P-dub Style and Tonemah for Ink Blots and Random Thoughts.

Nominees for best blues recording include Graywolf Blues Band for Dancing In The Rain; Gary Small & the Coyote Bros. for I Don’t Play By The Rules; Pappy Johns Band for Having A Good Time Now; Jimmy Wolf for I’ve Been Driftin From Door to Door and Skylar Wolf for Devil’s Son.