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Black Lodge Singers

Northern Plains Native American Drum Groups

VIEW BLACK LODGE SINGERS RECORDINGS

Black Lodge Singers

Northern Plains Native American
Drum Groups

VIEW BLACK LODGE SINGERS RECORDINGS

Black Lodge Singers are one of the most respected northern style drum groups on the pow-wow circuit, highly in demand as a host drum throughout the United States and Canada. The Black Lodge Singers are Kenny Scabby Robe(Blackfeet), his wife Louise (Yakama), and his 12 sons.

Kenny is noted on the circuit as one of the leading pow-wow song makers.  Two of his sons, John and Elgin, are also known for their prolific original song making and beautiful singing voices.

The Black Lodge Singers have over twenty albums to their credit on the Canyon Records label.

In 1994, they were GRAMMY AWARD Finalists in the Best Traditional Folk Album category for their collaboration with R. Carlos Nakai and William Eaton on the album,  Ancestral Voices.

2006 brought their third GRAMMY nomination to the group in the Native American category for MORE Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs.  Previous nominations include Weasel Tail’s Dream (2002) and Tribute to the Elders (2001).  Their albums The People Dance, Enter the Circle: Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene, Round Dance Tonight! and Kid’s Pow-Wow Songs, displays their creativity and innovation as a traditional drum with original compositions.

Their collection of kid songs makes kids of all ages laugh and get up and dance.  Songs include:  Mighty Mouse, Ask Your Mom for 50 Cents, Flintstones, Hakuna Matata, Bunny Hop and many other favorites.  After having performed these songs live during Tiny Tot dance contests for many years, they have finally put them to tape.  As far as we know, this collection of songs is the first of it’s kind.

Never ones to shy from new challenges, they performed with the Phoenix Symphony  in the world debut of the classical composition,“Native Drumming,” written especially for their drum, voices and orchestra.   Composer James DeMars, who has written several classical compositions for R. Carlos Nakai, met with the Black Lodge Singers at their home pow-wow in White Swan, Washington to learn their singing style and song structure to be able to compose these works.

Quotes:
Native Drumming is …mesmerizing, haunting, hair-raising and astonishing….  just plain gorgeous in its sonics, with the strings racing over the singer-drummer like a veil of night over the desert…   ….if the powers that be don’t record this thing, they’re nuts.”  Kenneth LaFave, Arizona Republic

“Native Drumming is a concerto for traditional pow-wow drum with vocal work by the Black Lodge Singers… The effect of combining these two descrete and techinically opposing musical traditions is powerful and exotic….  An impressive effort.”  NAPRA Review, Spring 1998

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