Eclectic Music and More

Joanne Shenandoah
Native American Traditional Singer and Songwriter

Friday, September 30, 2011 • 8pm
Tickets: $22/advance, $25/door, $10/teens 12-17,
children under 12 are free with paying adult.
Unitarian Fellowship, 4th and C Streets, Ashland

A portion of the proceeds benefits Red Earth Descendants

Presented in part through a grant by Western States Arts Federation and National Endowment for the Arts.

A GRAMMY award and 12-time Native American Music award-winning artist and Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy, Joanne Shenandoah has fulfilled the promise of her Native American name, Tekaliwah-kwa, (She Sings). "She's become one of the most acclaimed Native American recording artists of her time." Associated Press.

Shenandoah has 15 albums and three Grammy nominations and one Grammy award (Sacred Ground - Songwriting and vocals). She received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Syracuse University in 2002, the first ever given to a Native performer. She has received more Native American Music Awards (13 to date) than any other artist including a "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2008. She has also received numerous Syracuse Area Music Awards (SAMMYS) and was presented with the Grand Prize by the Native Film Festival in Montreal, Canada for her soundtrack in the documentary "Our Land Our Life" in June 2008.

Since emerging as an artist in 1990, some of Shenandoah's more prominent performances are concerts in Barcelona, Spain; Cape Town, South Africa; Woodstock 1994; the White House; the Kennedy Center; Carnegie Hall; the National Museum of the American Indian; the Skydome in Toronto; Lambeau Field, Green Bay Wisconsin; the 1992 and 1998 US Presidential Inaugurals; a private performance for former USSR Chairman Mikail Gorbachev; Earth Day at the National Mall; Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, NM; Nuremberg, Germany; Seoul, South Korea and Ankara, Turkey; and as the featured artist at the 2009 World Parliament of Religions in Melbourne, Australia.

Shenandoah's symphony called "Skywoman" premiered with the Syracuse Symphony in 2002. As an actress, Shenandoah is featured in the documentary "Dancing on Mother Earth" (released in 2003 and broadcast on PBS); stars in the feature film "The Last Winter" (released nationwide in 2007); and plays the role of Jikonsasay in the Discovery Channel's "First Nations: The Iroquois" broadcast in November, 2008.

Shenandoah has collaborated in her songwriting with such artists as Neil Young, Robbie Robertson, Bruce Cockburn, R. Carlos Nakai, Bill Miller and Mary Youngblood. Ms. Shenandoah released her 15th album "Bitter Tears: Sacred Ground" on December 31, 2008. The album features Cherokee Nation singer Michael Bucher and features six songs from the Johnny Cash album "Bitter Tears" issued in 1964 along with seven ballads by Bucher and Shenandoah. The album is a tribute to Peter Lafarge, Johnny Cash and Floyd Red Crow Westerman.

"She weaves you into a trance with her beautiful Iroquois chants and wraps her voice around you like a warm blanket on a cool winter's night," said Robbie Robertson, formerly of the Band, who used her voice on his solo album Contact From the Underworld of Redboy. Shenandoah has also collaborated and or performed with Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, Brian Kirkpatrick, Willie Nelson, Rita Coolidge and scores of others.

Over time Shenandoah's been able to channel her love of pop, folk and classical into her ancestrally inspired music and her music has been used in many soundtracks including HBO, PBS, Northern Exposure, Bose Systems, The Discovery Channel, and TRANSAMERICA, to name a few.

Place: Unitarian Fellowship, 4th and C Streets, Ashland • Cost: $30

Come learn what it takes to be a songwriter. Joanne will share her career path and experiences plus some of the basics of the music business such as copyright and publishing, ASCAP, BMI and GRAMMY Associations, royalties and distribution, and agent/manager promotions. You also will learn voice care and the basics of songwriting. All ages and experience welcome.