Buffy Sainte-Marie and a galaxy of award-winning Indigenous artists including: Kinnie Starr, Snotty Nosed Rez Kids, PiqSiq, Shawnee – are all streaming at 2 Rivers Remix 2020, Online Feast of Contemporary Indigenous Music, September 4 • 5 • 6
[‘Q’emcin Aug 11] 2 Rivers Remix (2RMX) are ecstatic to announce that Indigenous Icon Buffy Sainte-Marie will redline the internet with an exclusive streaming performance for the 2020 2RMX Virtual Indigenous Music Feast on September 6. Buffy Sainte-Marie is a cultural tour-de-force and a tireless social justice activist with multiple JUNO awards and a Polaris Prize as well as being the first Indigenous artist ever to win an Academy Award.
From Universal Soldier, her definitive anti-war anthem, to her 2017 album Medicine Songs, Buffy Sainte-Marie makes us all feel stronger and more capable of seeing the world around us clearly. Part rhythmic healing, part trumpeting wakeup call, Medicine Songs is her soundtrack for the resistance.
Based in ’Q’emcin (aka Lytton, BC) the 2RMX Virtual Feast 2020’s additional headliner (streaming) artists are:
JUNO-winner Kinnie Starr, a multi-threat songwriter, performer, visual artist, filmmaker and producer. Starr is a trailblazing female Indigenous artist with her unique blend of conscious hiphop and groove driven pop.
Skyrocketing Hip-hop stars Snotty Nose Rez Kids whose second and third albums (The Average Savage, 2017 and TRAPLINE, 2019) were shortlisted for the Polaris Prize while TRAPLINE was also named one of the top 10 hip-hop albums of 2019 by exclaim! magazine.
Special guests include: JUNO-winning Inuit-throat-singing sisters PiqSiq who peform eerie contemporary compositions incorporating live looping; and 2-Spirit singer-songwriter Shawnee, winner of CBC Music’s 2020 Searchlight and named one of Billboard’s “LGBTQ2 Artists You Should Know.”
Another highlight is the 2RMX Elder Series, which includes JUNO-award winner Murray Porter, a well-known bluesman across Turtle Island, Helene Duguay, who was a member of Quebec’s original girl-group the Beatlettes. Willie Thrasher & Linda Saddleback, and Gordon Dick Sr. will also perform – including their songs from the GRAMMY-nominated historical compilation Native North America: Volume 1.
2RMX showcases exciting Indigenous artists that reflect the diversity and strength of Indian Country – more than half 2RMX lead performers are women, one-third are youth and one-fifth are 2-Spirit artists. According to Artistic Director Meeka Morgan (Secwepemc/Nuu-Chah-Nulth/Nlaka’pamux heritage), “In the Summer of COVID-19, Indigenous artists are reverberating and remixing the Interior Nations Chiefs’ 1910 declaration: “WE WILL HELP EACH OTHER TO BE GREAT AND GOOD.”
Now in it’s third year, ’Q’emcín 2 Rivers Remix has been a FREE multi-day outdoor feast of contemporary Indigenous music and culture hosted by the Nlaka’pamux Nation and the Village of Lytton. The full line-up of 30 Indigenous artists streaming for 2RMX Virtual 2020 will be announced in the coming days.
2RMX 2020 is part of VirtualFeast.ca, a new indigenous-led online platform to highlight and support streaming of contemporary Indigenous performances in the Summer of COVID-19. VirtualFeast.ca provides a single point of reference and discovery for audiences tuned into the burgeoning BC Indigenous music scene. VirtualFeast.ca is collaborative project of BC Indigenous arts presenters including: 2 Rivers Remix Society, Savage Production Society, Full Circle: First Nations Performance, Vines Festival/Resilient Roots.
What: 2 Rivers Remix Virtual 2020 – 3rd annual, FREE 3-day Feast of Contemporary Indigenous Music and Culture
When: Streaming Friday Sept. 4@5pm–Sunday Sept. 6@10pm
Why: BC’s Premier Feast of Contemporary Indigenous Music… and did we mention it’s ALL FREE!
Who: 30 Contemporary Indigenous Musical Artists performing a wide variety of genres
Where: 2RMX.ca/live and your usual live-streaming platforms
How: Stay tuned to VirtualFeast.ca!
See you at the feast…