LOS ANGELES (Native
Music Rocks ) - "We created Native
Music Rocks for one reason: to showcase Native American Musicians to the mainstream and to provide a 'forum' to be heard. Our goal is to show the world that Native American musicians can play more than just flutes and drums! The talent is vast and will be performing all types of music."
-Micki Free
Led by Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, musician and mixed blood (Cherokee & Comanche) Native American Micki Free, this summer's NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS TOUR! will feature the first-ever collection of Native American artists performing rock, country, roots rock, native folk, gospel, blues and reggae on a major cross-country trek. The month-long tour will coincide with the debut of the NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! line of apparel at Hard Rock Cafes around the world and will wrap up with a special November show celebrating "Native American Heritage" Month. The annual holiday-established in 1990 and celebrated annually since 1994-celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers and settlers of the United States.
The NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! Tour will feature headliner Micki Free's American Horse (featuring former Lenny Kravitz drummer Cindy Blackman), along with Crystal Shawanda, Casper, Martha Redbone, Levi & The Platero's, Hank Nelson Jr. and Paula Bowers Sanchez.
"There has never been anything like the Native Music Rocks! Tour," Free says. "This is a history-making event: Native American musicians touring the Hard Rock Cafes, which are now owned by Native Americans (The Seminole Tribe of Florida). I am honored to be involved as one of the musicians chosen to lead the way."
Beyond the Hard Rock Cafe shows, the NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! TOUR participants will also make special appearances at the Indian Market in Santa Fe, NM on August 22, The 2nd Annual Native American All Star Jam (AIANTA Conference), also in Santa Fe, NM on September 23; and October 24 at the National Indian Education Association in Milwaukee, WI.
Free works directly with The Seminole Tribe of Florida to promote Native American Music and musicians. The NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! Program-(www.nativemusicrocks.com) sponsored by Hard Rock International and The Seminole tribe of Florida-is being developed as a forum to showcase the diversity of musical talents within the Native American community.
The tour also celebrates the debut of the NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! line of clothing, which will debut at Hard Rock Cafes nationwide to coincide with the tour's kick off. The fashion line will be exclusively available at Hard Rock Cafes and includes a limited edition run of items designed by Hard Rock International with Free, who also oversaw the design of the entire collection. Items include men's and women's t-shirts, hoodies, tanks and hats, all adorned with a variety of Native American art that translates to contemporary fashion.
"I have been a huge fan of the Hard Rock brand forever-buying their t-shirts from Cafe''s worldwide while I was on tour," says Free. "Now to be directly involved, creating and developing the Native Music Rocks apparel line with Hard Rock International is a dream come true. Their commitment to carrying the line in Hard Rock Cafe''s is a huge step for the global introduction of Native Music Rocks! apparel to the mainstream."
The NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS tour dates are as follows:
NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! TOUR DATES:
Date City Venue
Wed, Aug 26 San Diego, CA Hard Rock Cafe
Thurs, Aug 27 Hollywood, CA Hard Rock Cafe
THE NMR FASHION SHOWCASE TOUR DATES:
Date City Venue
Tues, Sept 1 Tampa, FL Floyds/Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Wed, Sept 2 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Cafe
Thurs, Sept 3 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Cafe
Tues, Sept 8 New York, NY Hard Rock Cafe
Wed, Sept 9 Ledyard, CT Hard Rock Cafe @Foxwoods Casino
Sept TBA Las Vegas, NV Opening of New Hard Rock Cafe'
October 31 Naples, FL NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS! Celebrates
"Native American Heritage" Month
About the NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS artists
Micki Free: Most Native Americans don't sport turquoise & silver skull shaped rings on their fingers. But most Native Americans have never played London's Hyde Park in front of 100,00 fans. They weren't discovered by Gene Simmons of KISS, and were managed by Diana Ross. Most Native Americans have never had their guitar "put up on the wall" of a Hard Rock Cafe. Most Native Americans never got a chance to jam with Prince, recorded with ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, or have former Lenny Kravitz superstar drummer Cindy Blackman as a band member. Nor have they ever won a Grammy, or as a member of the R&B super group Shalamar, gone multi-platinum and sold millions of records...or have been immortalized in a Dave Chappell skit on national TV. That's because most Native Americans...aren't Micki Free.
Crystal Shawanda: Crystal is a citizen of both the U.S. and Canada. She was born in Ontario and grew up on a reservation called Wikwemikong on Canada's Manitoulin Island. Shawanda's debut album, Dawn of a New Day, was released in the summer of 2008. The album debuted at No 2 on the Canadian Country Albums chart and No 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and Crystal became the highest charted album by a full-blooded Native American country artist in the SoundScan era.
Casper Lomayesva: This Hopi/Dine' singer has created a sound that combines his native roots with the positive vibes of reggae music. Casper's music is filled with hope and power. The words are a reflection of his own philosophy on life, influenced not only by the sounds of crucial reggae music but of traditional Hopi culture.
Martha Redbone: (Choctaw/Shawnee/Cherokee) This singer is blessed with a voice that can make you weak in the knees, lift you up and exalt you, mesmerize you, soothe you, thrill you. Redbone purrs, whispers and hollers her messages of struggle and redemption over her unique gumbo of old school soul, rock, funk, jazz, blues and traditional Native American music.
Levi & The Platero's: This three-piece family group-from the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation-is comprised of 16-year-old Levi on guitar, his father Murphy Platero on bass guitar and Douglas Platero on drums. Since the late 50s, members of the Platero fmaily have been known for their musicianship within the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation near Albuquerque, NM. The group has worked hard at breaking the mold of Native American blues music, cooking up a unique hybrid of blues and rock.
Hank Nelson Jr.: After some set backs in his teens and twenties, Hank went back to his roots and used music as a release. With the support of a wife and family, in December 2007, he entered into the Seminole Star Search Contest where he was chosen as a spotlight award winner. He has now recorded three tracks on an album highlighting Native American music and which will be sold in all Hard Rock Cafes around the world.
Paula Bowers-Sanchez: After earning a BA in Psychology from NYU and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University, Paula Bowers-Sanchez turned her attention to the entertainment industry upon being chosen as a Grand Prize winner of the Seminole Star Search. Paula is currently pursuing her acting career in Hollywood, California, while at the same time working with a voice coach and music producer, as well as creating lyrics as he explores a career in music.
