In November, 2011 the 12^th Annual Native American Music Awards (Nammys) were announced at a gala show and concert in New York. Check out their website for all of the artists who were honored. In my book, though, one artist who really stood out was Shane Yellowbird.

Yellowbird grew up in Hobbema, Alberta and is Cree. He exploded onto the country music scene in 2006 with the release of his debut album Life is Calling My Name. The album garnered Yellowbird four top ten singles and a host of awards, including Rising Star of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, Best Country Recording at the Nammys, and Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year at the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards (APCMA).

Pickup Truck, one of the songs from Life is Calling My Name, reached the top 5 in Canada in the summer of 2007. Backed by excellent musicians, Yellowbird has a mellow, confident voice, an easy demeanor, and a great sense of humor. He’s fun to listen to – it’s easy to see why he made a splash.

Yellowbird released his second album, It’s About Time, in 2009, and again he nabbed a bunch of awards (including Best Country Recording at the Nammys and Single of the Year, Country Album of the Year, and Male Entertainer of the Year at APCMA). Two songs on the album, Bare Feet on the Blacktop and Watching You Walk Away, reached the top ten in the Canadian Country Music charts. On the strength of his second album, Yellowbird was the subject of a documentary by director Antonio Hyrnchuk. The 30-minute television special chronicled the days leading up to Yellowbird’s debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry in November of 2009:

Take a listen to Bare Feet on the Blacktop. A rousing song with great instrumentation (an impeccable mix of country and bluegrass flatpicking – listen especially to the guitars), Yellowbird displays his easy ability to paint compelling visual images with his lyrics.

Update:

In March of 2012, Yellowbird released a single video of his song Sedona, Arizona. Here's a teaser for the video (warning, it ends half way through):

And here's a new YouTube recording of one of his best songs, I Get That a Lot These Days:

Check out Yellowbird at his website.

Credit: tonspionRhine as in Rhine River. These cowboys from Berlin are hugely popular in Germany, and are selling out concerts through much of Central Europe and Britain with their blend of country, rockabilly boogie and plain old good time rock and roll. OK, some sex appeal doesn’t hurt either. Oh right. And talent. As Sharon Stone once said, ‘you can only sleep your way to the middle.’

Credit: WhiteTrashFastFoodBoss Hoss’ 2005 debut was titled, ‘InterNashville Urban Hymns’, described as an effort to put a country spin on some of their all-time favorite songs and introduce them to a new generation of hip youngsters in the party capital of the world.  The seven man group has been steadily gaining popularity ever since.

Credit: semajblogeaterThey took a one and a half year hiatus and traveled to Texas to gather inspiration for their latest effort, ‘Liberty of Action.’  A tribute, they say, to the love of freedom. Along the way, they realized a lifelong dream, playing venues across the Lone Star State, including the landmark Continental Club in Austin. This video was filmed in Austin and it is infectious:

The BossHoss -- Don't Gimme That - MyVideo

The Houston Press described one of their concerts thusly: “We weren’t really sure whether we had witnessed…some kind of brutally ironic Berlin-intellectual post-industrialist art statement that we are too hick to understand. What we did know was that The Boss Hoss delivered the fun.”  Indeed. 

Boss Hoss Frontmen Sascha Vollmer and Alec Völkel are dedicated Elvis and Johnny Cash fans. “Elvis is ageless,” Vollmer says. “He was sexy, good looking, and even in his dotage had a voice like a young god. His music was a revolution.”  High praise from the Berlin hipsters.

Credit: WikipediaIn their new CD, The Boys have teamed up with Nena, of 99 Red Balloons fame for a cover of Nat King Cole’s evergreen, L.O.V.E.  OK, I sense some tongue in cheek on this one but I had the hots for Nena in the early 80s and it appears she has only gotten better with age.