INDIGENOUS

As one of today’s premier guitarists, Indigenous front man Mato Nanji has captivated audiences with his Vaughan and Hendrix-like prowess since coming on the scene with his family band’s award-winning debut album Things We Do in 1998. The blues world immediately took notice of the young native musicians from the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota: a spot on the 1999 B.B. King Blues Tour; their 2000 sophomore release Circle produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan’s co- songwriter Doyle Bramhall; a 2002 invitation from the Hendrix Estate to join the Experience Hendrix Tour-of which Nanji is still a roster member of guitar legends paying tribute to the legacy of Jimi Hendrix. In 2006, however, the Indigenous siblings would choose to head in different musical directions with Mato left to carry on with the band’s name and music. Several Indigenous discs and musical collaborations later, Indigenous’ 10th release, Time Is Coming (Blues Bureau International) was released in May 2014. Nanji dedicates the cd to ‘the indigenous youth and all young people on the indigenous reservations’.

In 2012, The Plateros a blues-rock power trio of cousins from The Navajo Nation in Albuquerque, NM joined Indigenous as support for what would be dubbed ‘The Kinship Tour’. An award winning band in their own right, Levi, Douglas and Bronson consider Mato Nanji and Indigenous one of their biggest musical influences. In the summer of 2014 Mato would once again call upon The Plateros. This tour, though, would be different. The Plateros would join Mato as rhythm section for Indigenous’ east coast tour. Their incendiary on stage chemistry is innate.

Mato Nanji, Levi Platero, Bronson Begay and Douglas Platero are Indigenous.