The all-in-the-family band has come a long way since playing bingo-hall gigs on the Yankton Sioux Reservation town of Marty, population 100, located in the southeastern corner of South Dakota and bordering on the Missouri River.
At a recent show in Tulsa at the Cain's Ballroom, the band revealed what a few months spent with their chosen instruments in the woodshed and out playing out on the road can do for one's chops. Their 90+ minute set found the tribe in fine form, and if they continue to grow and perform at the rate that they have been--200+ shows in 1999--they definitely will be a band to keep your eyes out for as the first year of the new millennium unfolds.
Guitarist Mato Nanji is growing into a first class player and songwriter. And many critics and fellow slingers are looking forward to watching his guitar playing mature and find its own voice and style.
"Blues This Morning" was released as a "special limited edition blues radio CD-EP" in 1998 and consists of a couple of cuts from "Things We Do" as well as never before released covers of Bob Dylan's "Million Miles" and Elmore James' "Talk to Me Baby." Two "hidden" tracks then follow a version of Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" and one other.
"Blues This Morning" is a decent CD that hardcore fans of the band will want to purchase merely because of the two cover songs. Otherwise most of this is available on other releases from Pachyderm.
"Live at Pachyderm Studio 1998" is the band's latest CD and was released as a way to fill the time while they complete their next studio CD due out in late spring. The nine-track plus one "hidden" can be found on this live CD recorded in front of 35+ record industry professionals, fans and close friends. Two new songs found their way onto the CD, "Water" and "I Wonder Why."
This and all Indigenous recordings are dedicated to Beverly and Greg Zephier-Ate' and Inan.
Web: www.indigenousrocks.com
This review is copyright © 2000 by Matt Alcott, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved.
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