“Rainwater and Whiskey” and “Empty Hands” are the latest singles off Mohawk singer-songwriter Logan Staats‘ forthcoming third album. These songs further explore Staats’ vintage country, soul and blues sound that were showcased on his 2023 Juno-nominated album, A Light in The Attic. His songwriting often centers on Indigenous rights and reclaiming identity. He continues to build on his mainstream success from winning a national Canadian music competition television series in 2018.

Cherokee and Muscogee singer-songwriter Kalyn Fay‘s new album, “Garden”, channels quiet, rural life in Oklahoma. Fay waited two years before releasing the album because they “wanted to give the songs time to breathe.” The songwriting on the album is both personal and confessional, drawing inspiration from their family, their Native community, and the landscapes of Oklahoma.

Break 1 Music: Holy Man (song) Logan Staats (artist) A Light In The Attic (album)

Break 2 Music: Round Dance (song) Black Lodge (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Former U.S. Poet Laureate and musician Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) immerses listeners in a diverse array of jazz styles and deeply emotional poetry on her new album, “Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace”. Co-produced by Grammy-winning artist Esperanza Spalding, the album features originals and covers, including a re-interpretation of Charles Mingus’s “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Harjo also transforms her 2015 poem, “I Pray for My Enemies”, into a feverish, free-form composition, while “Rabbit Is Up to Tricks” draws on the power of traditional oral storytelling and “Stomp All Night” delivers a fun, funk-filled jam.

Acclaimed jazz vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) and the 16-piece ensemble of talented Native musicians known as the Indigenous Big Band make their album debut with “Incarnadine”. The album honors Native jazz pioneers like Mildred Bailey (Coeur d’Alene) and Jim Pepper (Kaw/Muscogee), as well as featuring innovative originals like “Wawasint8Da” and “Ddat Suite, MVT. 3 Iron Horse Gallup”. The ensemble continues to earn critical praise especially for their live performances, highlighted by their 2024 spring residency at the Kennedy Center.

We’ll speak with both Joy Harjo and Julia Keefe about their new albums in this episode of Native Playlist, our regular feature on Indigenous music.

Break 1 Music: Instinct (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace (album)

Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cary Morin (Crow/Assiniboine) is back with a new album featuring more of his introspective lyricism, soulful singing and skillful fingerstyle guitar playing. The new album, “Pocket of Time“, captures memories and slices of everyday life on the Crow Reservation in Montana. It is a calm, mellow listen and another refreshing entry in his expansive catalogue that spans folk, blues, reggae, and “Native Americana” genres.

“Big Changes” is the forthcoming album from Status/Non-Status, a Canadian indie-rock band led by Anishinaabe musician Adam Sturgeon. It is the third studio record, following up on 2022’s “Surly Travel”, which was named one of Exclaim! Magazine’s top albums of the year. Beautiful vocals stretch overtop fat guitar chords and incidental sound effects like the unmistakable chime of jingle dress cones. Sturgeon says he never set out to represent all Indigenous musicians, but he feels a responsibility to Indigenize his own music.

Break 1 Music: Everything To Me (song) Cary Morin (artist) Pocket of Time (album)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

Ya Tseen pushes the boundaries of the musical collaboration’s signature psych-pop sound with their latest album, “Stand on My Shoulders.” It’s the second full-length album led by musician, visual artist, and totem carver Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂) under the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records label. The music features diverse collaborations from the indie rock group Portugal. The Man, famed singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, and the experimental hip hop artist Pink Siifu. It explores themes of kinship and collectivism but also pays homage to Galanin’s late father – lauded Tlingit silver carver and musician Dave Galanin.

Cochemea Gastelum‘s latest offering, “Vol. III: Ancestros Futuros“, completes an album trilogy that explores dreams, oral history, memories (both real and imagined), and Gastelum’s Yaqui identity. The new recording brings together the fruits of Gastelum’s 25 years in the music business performing with the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, and the popular rap-duo Run the Jewels.

Break 1 Music: Twilight (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)

“Cruel Joke”, the new album by Cherokee singer-songwriter Ken Pomeroy, scored celebratory reviews from Rolling Stone and NPR’s World Café among many other outlets. Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate puts an Indigenous twist on classical music, teaming up with the Dover Quartet, which BBC Music magazine calls one of the greatest quartets of the last 100 years. And the popular First Nations powwow group Northern Cree released two singles with Juno-award winning blues duo Blue Moon Marquee. They are among the countless talented Native musicians who are mastering their craft and reaching new audiences in 2025. We’ll review some of the notable music from this past year.

GUESTS

Brett Maybee (Seneca), host of “The Mainstream”, “Gaënö’”, and Full Moon Radio; multi-instrumentalist; and singer- songwriter

Larry K (Ho-Chunk), CEO and program host of “Indigenous in Music”

Tory J (Quinault), host of “Sounds of Survivance” on KEXP

Break 1 Music: LUCKY8 (song) Ribbon Skirt (artist) Pensacola

Break 2 Music: Hug Room (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Throat-singing Inuit sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay released their sixth album, offering a soundtrack to the traditional stories they grew up with. “Legends” blends PIQSIQ’s cultural improvisational technique with sophisticated studio production.

First Nations Cree singer LOV is on tour, propelled by the success of the video releases for the singles, “Matriarch” and “Mama“. Her upbeat soulful, rhythmic style invokes Amy Winehouse, but LOV has a message all her own drawn from her roots on her Treaty Six Reserve.

Country crooner Blaine Bailey barely blinked after getting eliminated from the musical competition reality show, “The Road“. He hit the road with his own tour singing songs from his album, “Indian Country“, with a classic sound built around lyrics full of Native pride.

GUESTS

Blaine Bailey (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), singer and songwriter

LOV (Poundmaker Cree Nation), singer and songwriter

Tiffany Ayalik (Inuit), singer and songwriter for the duo PIQSIQ

Inuksuk Mackay (Inuit), singer and songwriter for the duo PIQSIQ

Break 1 Music: Good Buddy (song) Fontine (artist) Good Buddy (album)

Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

Two Native American women from Oklahoma are carving distinct and inviting musical paths through the music world.

Samantha Crain’s seventh album, “Gumshoe“, offers the latest installment in the veteran Choctaw singer-songwriter’s musical evolution. The cover artwork — a photo of her own beadwork — is a clue to the roots she draws on for strength and inspiration.

And Ken Pomeroy’s debut album, “Cruel Joke“, invokes a simmering depth of feeling that transcends her young age. She is a natural storyteller from the Cherokee Nation with a lot to say.

Both of these creative artist are added to our Native Playlist.

Break 1 Music: Gumshoe (song) Samantha Crain (artist) Gumshoe (album)

Break 2 Music: Fancy Dance (Song) Yellow Hammer (artist) Yellow Hammer (album)

Seattle-based Indigenous funk/jazz band Khu.éex’ is an ensemble full of storytellers and their stories carry a punch. They are back with another double album titled, “Red Cedar in the Hour of Chaos.” They carry on their unique P Funk-inspired sound and blend it with hip-hop, doom metal and psychedelia, all while drawing from Tlingit, Haida, and other Native roots.

Earth Surface People (Photo: Cheyenne Weston/@greezy.lens)

Another band, this one from the Southwest, weaves Diné stories and concepts into their just-released album filled with neo-soul and jazz influences. “Yáágo Dootliźh” is the second album from the Indigenous soul collective Earth Surface People.

We’ll talk with members of both these groups about the power of Native storytelling through music.

GUESTS

Preston Singletary (Tlingit), co-founder of Khu.éex’, musician, and glass artist

Sondra Segundo (Haida), lead female vocalist for Khu.éex’, author, and educator

Dakota Yazzie (Diné), leader of Earth Surface People

Break 1 Music: We Pray (song) Khu.eex (artist), Red Cedar in the Hour of Chaos (album)

Break 2 Music: Seeing Two (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

Two musicians with Diné roots give audiences distinctly different takes on their desert Southwest origins. The Phoenix-based band Mogley and the Zoniez have built their sound playing for years in the Southwest café and bar circuit. The melodic and energetic indie-alt sound and distinctive vocals have become a favorite for a growing number of fans. They have a new EP to add to their set list, Better Late Than Never. We’ll hear from lead singer Quenton Oney about how they reach their audience and what’s next.

Hataałii’s new album, “I’ll Be Around“, is an affirming and beautifully dark low-fi project. He ditched the professional studio route for a DIY production in a shed in Albuquerque. The result is a personal and intimate set of songs sure to find far-reaching resonance.

GUESTS

Quenton Oney aka Mogley from Mogley and The Zoniez (Diné and Inuit), lead singer and guitar player for Mogley and The Zoniez

Hitaałiinez Wheeler (Diné), singer and songwriter

Break 1 Music: Love Is Over (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

Mi’kmaq fiddler and songwriter Morgan Toney’s brand new album hopes to Heal The Divide for listeners. Shoshone poet and writer Tanaya Winder is releasing her first album of music, Call Back Your Heart, soon. And Navajo-fronted Tucson band The Reztones are bringing their high energy psychobilly sound on the road in their home state of Arizona and packing songs from their latest album, Chest Full of Arrows. We’ll add these artists to our Native Playlist and hear samples of their work.

GUESTS

Morgan Toney (Mi’kmaq), fiddler, singer, and songwriter

Ace Begay (Diné), vocalist for The Reztones

Tanaya Winder (Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné, and enrolled with the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe) musical artist, writer, and motivational speaker

Break 1 Music: The Calling (song) Morgan Toney (artist) Heal the Divide (album)

Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)