As we begin Native American Heritage Month, I’m thrilled to introduce a playlist of Native artists working in roots, Americana, and everything in between. This is a list for all year round, and is intended to highlight both the serious challenges in Indian Country thanks to 600 years of white supremacist settler colonialism — and the beauty found in pride, struggle, and resilience.
- Keith Secola — “NDN Kars” (Circle — 25th Anniversary) — I can’t get enough of this song, or of Secola’s dry humor. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out the rest of Circle, which truly captures heartland rock, country, and Native themes.
- Raye Zaragoza — “Red” (Woman in Color) — I wrote Woman in Color up in No Depression when it came out, and the album is still a powerful testament to self-love: whether the music is defiant or whimsical, Zaragoza knows herself and points the way for the rest of us.
- Vincent Neil Emerson — “The Ballad of the Choctow-Apache” (Vincent Neil Emerson) — Emerson’s self-titled debut is a lean country album that places Emerson front and center. I’d love to see what he does with a ‘90s-style full-band sound. I urge you to check out Emerson singing “Learning to Drown” live here.
- Samantha Crain — “Pick Apart” (Pick Apart) — Samantha Crain has been a consummate musical explorer these past few years, ranging from folk to pop to her current niche of a sort of deconstructed folk jazz.
- WIlliam Prince — “Wasted” (Reliever) — I featured Prince’s latest single “Run” on my Canadian Country playlist. Prince’s gravelly warmth reminds me of John Moreland. His songs plumb the depths of difficult experiences, but he always brings a grain of optimism amidst the pain.
- Tanya Tagaq – “Tongues” (Single) — It doesn’t get much better than Tanya Tagaq, whose combination of traditional throat singing and contemporary genres is utterly enchanting. “Tongues” came out a few weeks ago, so I hope that means an album is close behind.
- Mary Youngblood — “And We Shall Dance” (Beneath the Raven Moon) — Spotify categorizes Youngblood, a trailblazing flautist, as a new age musician. But her music transcends all kinds of genres as she both innovates and honors traditional Native American flute music.
- The Jerry Cans — “Ukiuq” (Inuusiq) — This is not the Jerry Cans’ most recent album, but it’s the one that welcomed me into their fold. I love how the band’s pride in their home and culture is suffused throughout the music.
- Che Apalache — “Cambalache” (Latin Grass) — Che Apalache began as a cross-cultural collaboration in Chile, and they’ve stormed the bluegrass scene since their debut album Latin Grass, an amalgamation of bluegrass and traditional music from across South America.
- Buffy St Marie — “You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind) ft. Tanya Tagaq” (Medicine Songs) — I got to see Buffy St. Marie during Jazz Fest 2016 and it’s not a moment I’ll soon forget. The strength you hear in this song? The defiance? That’s what seeing her in person is like. I listened to Medicine Songs for the first time while prepping for this playlist and it’s an incredible tour de force of pride, rage, protest music evoking Tagaq’s days in the folk movement, and a healthy does of electronic music, of which she was the first person to record an entire album of in 1969’s Illuminations.
I think that following me on Spotify is a thing you can do to make sure you get a new playlist from me every Friday! You can also follow Tuesday Teardrops, a playlist of new and exciting songs that refreshes every — you guessed it — Tuesday! As always, buy music and/or merch directly from the artists because Spotify is a horrible and exploitative platform!
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