6 Indigenous Musicians you need to know

Today is Indigenous People’s Day. Learn more about the diverse musicians coming out of this community by checking out and supporting these six indigenous artists. Be sure to listen to the Spotify playlist at the end…

by Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Blog

Indigenous Peoples’ Day not only celebrates and honors indigenous American peoples, but it also commemorates their histories and cultures, honoring the past, present, and futures of Native peoples throughout the US. Here at Symphonic, we have some amazing Native artists you definitely don’t want to miss! Check them out, and spread the love right here…

Don Amero

“Throughout the last decade, singer-songwriter, performer and 3x JUNO Award nominee Don Amero has made it his mission to tell engaging and unique stories, tapping into his rare ability to effortlessly and genuinely connect with his audience. 2022 marked a momentous year Amero; he earned a 2022 CCMA Award nomination for ‘Ford F-150 Album of the Year’ for his previously released EP Nothing Is Meaningless – which includes his hit single ‘You Can’t Always Be 21’, and later went on to join Tim & The Glory Boys as direct support on their cross-Canada Home-Town Hoedown tour…” // Discover more on Spotify…

Shawnee Kish

“Juno nominated fierce force of vocal ability, Shawnee Kish is a vocal powerhouse blended with soul and spirit aimed to use her voice and music for inspirational impact.” // Discover more on Spotify…

Chief Adjuah

“Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah [formerly Christian Scott] is a two-time Edison Award-winning, six-time Grammy Award-nominated, Doris Duke Award in the Arts Award-winner. He is a sonic architect, trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and designer of innovative technologies and musical instruments (including The Stretch Music app, Adjuah Trumpet, Siren, Sirenette, Chief Adjuah’s Bow and Chief Adjuah’s N’Goni)…” // Discover more on Spotify…

Mattmac

“Hailing from Garden Hill First Nation, Mattmac is a blind music producer and recording artist who has harnessed his melodic pop-trap beats and inspiring story, quickly establishing himself as ‘one to watch’ on the national scene with his debut album, 20/20 — available now! 
 At 5 million+ streams across platforms, Mattmac’s premiere release features poppy vocals combined with hard-hitting trap beats, and thoughtfully honest lyrics that give listeners a glimpse into the mind of a blind creative as he paints vivid sonic pictures of struggle, healing, celebrating love, family and life on the rez…” // Discover more on Spotify…

Raye Zaragoza

“Raye Zaragoza’s Hold That Spirit is an album rooted in this realization. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has always made political folk music that is informed by her identity as a woman of mixed Indigenous, Asian and Latina heritage. She gained recognition in 2016 with “In The River,” which was written to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. When she performed a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR, she spoke and sang about making live music more economically accessible. And, she currently writes the music for Netflix’s Spirit Rangers, a show featuring an all Native American writers room and cast…” // Discover more on Spotify…

Mato Wayuhi

“Mato Wayuhi is a multidisciplinary artist originally from South Dakota. He works in film/TV both as a producer and musical composer, as well as writing his own music, garnering critical acclaim from NPR, Tidal, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. 
 Most notably, Mato is the composer for the award-winning FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs and the feature-length film War Pony, which won the Caméra d’Or prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival…” // Discover more on Spotify…