Miác̓i 

Indigenous Artists for this Event!

• Carsen Gray

  Carsen Gray

  [Haida]

  50 miles off the coast of mainland British Columbia, you’ll find Haida Gwaii. This collection of islands serves as home to just shy of 5,000 residents who all contribute to its quiet magic. Seemingly removed from the rest of the world, yet intrinsically connected to its rawest essence, Carsen Gray calls this place home. Born of Haida Indigenous and mixed descent, the award-winning singer and songwriter commutes the peace of her surroundings into a soulful sound spiked with R&B energy, pop universality, and a twist of local spirit. After making waves across Canada, she introduces herself to the world on her 2022 debut EP for Nettwerk Music Group.
  “It’s very chill, beautiful, laidback, and peaceful,” she says of her home. “The people are nice and welcoming. We all support one another and cheer each other on. Because of where I’m from, I feel like I was able to come out with such a warm project. We’re in a safe little place up here. I’m proud of my heritage, where I come from, and the land I live on.”

  URL https://www.carsengray.com/

  [Haida]

• Jason Camp & The Posers

  Jason Camp & The Posers

  [Haida]

  Jason Camp and The Posers plays what has been dubbed Post-Colonial Rage Rock. The band consists of three Haida madmen: SG_aan Kwah.

  Agang (James McGuire) is on vocals and guitar, Jaahljuu (Graham Richard) rockets away on his drum kit and Jonny Begel hypes up the crowd.

  We write and sing about life on Haida Gwaii, local legends, good times and indigenous struggle worldwide. Our debut EP Neat Times and Family Values gives a snapshot of our sound. Our first full length album First Contact is now released and available on all platforms.

  Both of us are from Haida Gwaii and are of Haida descent. The isolation of the islands we live on has created a hotbed of talented musicians with a DIY attitude, working together to make live shows and on-island recording happen. We have created a lively scene here and have taken our brand of mischief on tour from Skidegate Haida Gwaii to Brooklyn NY.

  On top of making our high energy, rage-filled, Punkabilly music we also both perform in a traditional Haida Dance group. We are experimenting with how to let our background in Haida Dance bleed through into our recordings and our live show.Haida tradition informs our lives in every way.

  [Haida]

• Murray Porter

  Murray Porter

  [Mohawk]

  Murray Porter is Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. He tells the Aboriginal side of history with a mixture of country, blues and humour. He’s a “red man, singing the black mans’ blues, living in a white man’s world!” (from his song “Colours”).

  Murray is a self-taught, singer, songwriter and piano player, who’s spent the last 30 years playing the blues throughout the world, spreading his unique style of foot-stomping, hand clapping, rockin’ blues piano!

  Now living in North Vancouver, British Columbia, his CD “Songs Lived & Life Played”, was released to rave reviews in 2011 and won a JUNO Award for “Aboriginal Album of the Year” in 2012. He was also a 2005 JUNO nominee for ‘Full Circle’ with his former group THE PAPPY JOHNS BAND, and Canadian Aboriginal Music Award winner for ‘Best Blues’.In 1994, he launched a solo career. In 1995, Murray recorded his first solo album “1492, Who Found Who?” for First Nations Music (distributed by EMI).

  In 2006, Murray performed at the “Out of Doors Festival”, at the LINCOLN CENTER in New York City at their “23rd Annual Roots of American Music Festival”, on a 10 foot grand piano, with Sipho Kunene on drums. Blues greats, such as Mavis Staples, Guy Davis, Larry Johnson and Bettye LaVette, were part of the festival. He also performed at “Native Sounds Downtown” at the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, in New York City.

  [Mohawk]

• Saltwater Hank

  Saltwater Hank

  [Gitga’at/Tsimshian]

  A member of the Gitga’at community, Tsimshian folk artist Saltwater Hank resurrects stories of the land, loss and absurd circumstance and shines them through a sepia lens, witnessing ageless characters with hearts and lives on the line. Historically speaking, many have come and gone before us without broad notice, despite having made significant impacts during their lives.
  These are the stories that Saltwater Hank sinks his teeth into, spinning them into timeless folk songs with a penchant for a jig.

  Saltwater Hank’s debut album, Stories From the Northwest, is a recording built upon the influence of Hanks before him. Saltwater Hank’s father Henry (also known as Hank) was his first and most influential exposure to music, and instilled in him a deep curiosity and love for the craft. Born in Prince Rupert, Saltwater Hank’s earliest memories of gingerly strumming his father’s guitar strings, to hearing him, his grandfather and uncles perform the songs of Hank Williams Sr. and other country favourites, the influence of these formative experiences is clear when listening to Saltwater Hank.

  Recorded reel-to-reel in the basement of a church in Prince George, BC with some of the province’s best players, Stories From the Northwest is a collection of expertly played tunes with a nostalgic familiarity and a progressive tone. Recruiting Danny Bell and Amy Blanding (fellow members of retired folk-rock project, Black Spruce Bog), to accompany him on the album along with other esteemed Northern artists Naomi Kavka, Big Fancy, Brin Porter and Chloe Nakahara, Together not only as musical cohorts but as friends too, the album portrays their chemistry and camaraderie, all captured through a single ribbon microphone, true to the methods of eras gone by.

  [Gitga’at/Tsimshian]

• Snotty Nose Rez Kids

  Snotty Nose Rez Kids

  [Haisla]

  Skyrocketing Hip-hop stars Snotty Nose Rez Kids second and third albums (The Average Savage, 2017 and TRAPLINE, 2019) were shortlisted for the Polaris Prize while TRAPLINE was also named one of the top 10 hip-hop albums of 2019 by exclaim! magazine.

  [Haisla]