NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nominees Announced for the Eleventh Annual
Native American Music Awards
To Be Held On October 3rd, 2009
In Niagara Falls
Hosted By Gil Birmingham
Ritchie Valens To Be Inducted into NAMA Hall of Fame
Stevie Salas To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
September 3, 2009 – Niagara Falls, NY. Nominations for the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMA) were announced today by The Native American Music Association & Awards, reflecting the combined votes of the NAMA Advisory Board Nominating Committee.
The 11th Annual Native American Music Awards will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at the Seneca Entertainment Center in the Seneca Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. The Awards ceremony will be hosted by Gil Birmingham who has received recent public acclaim for his portrayal as Billy Black in Twilight. Birmingham’s other TV and screen credits include; Dreamkeeper, Skins, Nip/Tuck, 10 Items or Less, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and his powerful portrayal of Dogstar in Steven Spielberg's six-part TV miniseries, Into the West. Birmingham will return as Billy Black in the Twilight sequel, New Moon, scheduled for release in November 2009.
“It is with great pleasure that we announce the inclusion of Gil Birmingham to the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel for the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards”, states Karen Karsten, Executive Director of Entertainment for Seneca Gaming Corporation. Gil represents the very best of what NAMA stands for – a formal recognition of outstanding contributions in the arts by Native American performers. We couldn’t be more honored to have Gil join us in Niagara Falls for this very prestigious occasion.”
This year’s Hall of Fame induction will be held for the late Ritchie Valens of Yaqui heritage on his mother’s side. It has been 50 years since the tragic passing of Ritchie Valens who was killed on a small private plane that took off from Clear Lake, Iowa bound for Fargo, North Dakota that never made its destination. The plane crash also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson and the pilot on February 3, 1959.
A special Hall of Fame tribute performance will be held in honor of the late Ritchie Valens’ by his brother, Mario Ramirez, and his Backyard Blues Band. Since 1993, Backyard Blues Band has been entertaining crowds with their straight ahead " Backyard Style" approach to blues. Mario's passion for his music, and his desire to honor the memory of his late brother Ritchie Valens, are the driving force behind his band.
The induction presentation will be made by Tommy Allsup, famed guitarist in Buddy Holly’s band who lost the coin toss with Valens to ride on the ill-fated plane. The coin-toss scene was depicted in the film La Bamba. In a music career spanning more than 60 years Tommy Allsup (an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation) has played on hundreds of country chart toppers and worked with artists as diverse as Bob Wills & Texas Playboys, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Tanya Tucker, Kenny Rogers, Paul McCartney, Charlie Rich and Willie Nelson. Allsup was elected to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 1999.
Special recognition will also be given to guitarist /musician/producer Stevie Salas as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Stevie Salas is an American born rock guitarist of Apache descent. With humble beginnings, Salas' unique heavy funk/rock guitar styling's quickly helped him make a name for himself in music industry circles in the late 1980's. After 20 years in the business, Salas' talent and swagger have earned him great respect in the music world as a studio and concert musician. He has recorded, toured with, written, produced and directed many record industry greats including; Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, George Clinton and Justin Timberlake. As a producer Salas has worked on many global superstar projects including the 1989 classic "What Up Dog" by Was (Not Was) which Rolling Stone Magazine named one of the top 100 records of the decade. As a film composer he has scored many films and TV shows but he is best known for the guitar score to the cult classic "Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure" where he not only scored but he also appears as the hands of George Carlin in the famed wild guitar solo ending. Aside from the work he does live and in the studio, Salas also tours the world as a solo artist, often playing sold out concerts and festivals in the UK , Europe and Asia and has sold two million solo records around the world. He has won many awards including a Native American Music Award for Best Rock Recording in 2008. He is the host and executive producer of the one hour live comedy/music TV program Arbor Live in Canada and for the last four years has worked as the Music Consultant for 19 Entertainment for American Idol’s Chris Daughtry, Jordan Sparks, David Cook , Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. Stevie has also advised the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian on contemporary music programming and helped conceptualize the idea for an exhibit on American Indian contributions to the roots and advancement of contemporary music."
The Native American Music Awards is proud to announce the nominees for this year. A plethora of new up-and-comers were nominated alongside established artists and previous winners throughout a diverse array of 30 music categories spanning all genres. This year’s leading nominee is classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala (Yaqui) with five (5) nominations surrounding his three recordings; Portraits, Allegro, and Tango!. Three of those nominations are in the World music category and the other two are in Instrumental and Male Artist. This year also features several other classical instrumental recordings including; Dawn Avery’s Tulpe (Mohawk Haudenosaunee) who was nominated for Debut Artist, Molly & The Mohawks by composer Augusta Cecconi-Bates for Best Historical Recording, and Works By Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate by composer Jerod Tate & The San Francisco Symphony & Chorus (Chickasaw) for Best Instrumental Recording.
Following up with four (4) nominations each are: Apryl Allen (Comanche) with Na Unu Nahai (Shape Shifter) for Debut Artist, Pop, Record of the Year and Song/Single of the Year; Bryan Akipa (Dakota Sioux) with Songs From The Black Hills for Flutist, Male, New Age and Record of the Year; Jana Mashonee (Lumbee) with her recording A Change Is Gonna Come that features a collaboration with Derek Miller (Mohawk) for Pop, Best Video and Song/Single as well as for her release, New Moon Born which earned her Artist of the Year; and Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida) and Michael Bucher (Cherokee) for their recording Bitter Tears Sacred
Ground. Together they share nods for Record of the Year and Best Compilation. Shenandoah earned Best Female and Song/Single for the track, Riding Free. Bucher earned Best Video for his single, Don’t Forget About Me and Best Male.
Garnering three (3) nominations each are debut artists; Jace Martin (Mohawk) with his eponymously titled release and Samantha Crain (Choctaw) for The Confiscation: A Musical Novella. Jan Michael Looking Wolf (Kalapuya – Grand Ronde Tribes), with The Looking Wolf Project Joy Harjo with Winding Through The Milky Way (Muskogee) and Kevin Locke (Lakota/Hunkpapa Sioux & Anishinaabe) with Earth Gift also earned three nods each.
Tied with two (2) nominations each are; Broken Walls, Annie Humphrey, Arvel Bird, Black Lodge, Brule’, Cherokee National Youth Choir, Darryl Tonemah, Desert West, Douglas Blue Feather, Eagle & Hawk, Gary Small, Golana, JJ Kent, James Peshlaka, Jim Boyd, Jimmy Shendo & Moeity, Lenape Spirits, Lietsoiitah Ye’ii Bi Cheii Singers,, Mary Youngblood, Michael Searching Bear, Out of the Blue, Primeaux & Mike, R. Carlos Nakai, Rain Song, Red Hawk, Rezhogs, Skylar Wolf, Stevie Salas and Tony Redhouse.
This year's Rap Hip Hop Recording category was besieged by entries marking a new high for submissions in that category. Finalists in that category are; All Day All Night by the Rezhogs (Yakama), The Backside by Chase Manhattan (Muscogee Creek, Ojibwe), Native Anthem (Yall Aint Know) by Sandy & Chris Hunt, Kash Kow, Lou Nice, Chief, Stoney Creek, Charly Lowry, and Aaron Locklear, Bluelight by Quese Imc (Pawnee/Seminole), The World & Everything In It by Team Rezofficial (Cree) and Talisman Wasted Talent by N8 (Yakama).
"These nominations throughout all 30 music categories reflect an astounding and diverse range of both new and established talent from our community," said Awards President Ellen Bello. We are extremely honored to be able to pay tribute to a music great as the late Ritchie Valens and give special recognition to international artist, Stevie Salas. We are also honored to have the participation and support of Gil Birmingham as our host and music veteran Tommy Allsup as a special guest presenter. We look forward to a spectacular Awards celebration running the full musical gamut of popular and traditional initiatives.”
Tickets for the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards are on-sale now through all ticketmaster outlets. Public voting to determine the winner of each category has now commenced and is open to the general public. Anyone interested in voting can visit the Awards websites; www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com. Music from all nominees is currently featured on the audio players on the website.
See below for a complete list of official nominees for the 11th Annual Native American Awards:
A ARTIST OF THE YEAR
1. Arvel Bird Tribal Music Suite, Journey of a Paiute (Southern Paiute)
2. Jan Michael Looking Wolf The Looking Wolf Project (Kalapuya – Grand Ronde Tribes)
3. Jana Mashonee New Moon Born (Lumbee)
4. Jim Boyd Harley High (Colville Confederated Tribes)
5. Kevin Locke Earth Gift (Lakota/Hunkpapa Sioux & Anishinaabe)
6. Tony Redhouse Deep Within (Dine)
B. BEST BLUES RECORDING
1. Dancing In The Rain Graywolf Blues Band (Intertribal)
2. Devil’s Son Skylar Wolf (Navajo)
3. Having A Good Time Now Pappy Johns Band (Iroquois)
4. I Don’t Play By The Rules Gary Small & the Coyote Bros (Northern Cheyenne)
5. I’ve Been Driftin From Door to Door Jimmy Wolf (Mohawk)
C BEST COMPILATION RECORDING
1. Bitter Tears Sacred Ground Joanne Shenandoah & Michael Bucher (Oneida/Cherokee)
2. Clear Water Reflections Various Artists (Ute/N Cheyenne/Lakota/Huichol/Ojibwe)
3. Come To Me Great Mystery Various Artists (Intertribal)
4. First Light Golana (Cherokee)
5. NBA Vol 1 JSK Presents (Warm Springs/Wasco/Modoc)
6. Sacred Place Mary Youngblood (Seminole/Aleut)
D BEST COUNTRY RECORDING
1. Live At Totah Theater Desert West (Navajo)
2. Life Aint Hard Ray St Germain (Metis)
3. Out of the Blue Out of the Blue (Cree)
4. Rattle Snake Bruce Hamana (Hopi)
5. Life Is Calling My Name Shane Yellowbird (Cree)
E DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
1. Apryl Allen Na Unu Nahai (Shape Shifter) (Comanche)
2. Benjamin Grimes Truth (Dine)
3. Dawn Avery Tulpe (Mohawk Haudenosaunee)
4. Jace Martin Jace Martin (Mohawk)
5. Samantha Crain The Confiscation: A Musical Novella (Choctaw)