Joe Rainey’s Gift for Pow Wow Singing and Collaborative Music Making

Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine – Weekly Radio Show

Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce -- a.k.a. Minnesota -- to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community.

Native Lights – Joe Rainey’s Gift for Pow Wow Singing and Collaborative Music Making

On today’s show, we talk with Joe Rainey (Red Lake Nation), an Ojibwe Pow Wow singer, music archivist, and collaborative music maker.  Joe grew up in south Minneapolis and now lives in Wisconsin with his wife and five children.

In this conversation, Joe Rainey shares his love of music, pow wow singing, and appreciation for the many people who have influenced and encouraged his unique journey and career path as a professional music maker. We loved hearing about Joe’s creative process and how his experimental debut LP called “Niineta”, came into being during the pandemic. 

The release of “Niineta” will be celebrated at a performance party at First Avenue’s 7th Street Entry, on June 27th, 2022. Learn more here: https://first-avenue.com/event/2022-06-joe-rainey/

Check out more of Joe Rainey’s music here: https://joe-rainey.bandcamp.com/ and here: https://soundcloud.com/rainmanmnx

Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/