WHISPERING WIND MAGAZINE, Vol 36 No.2
Audio Review: by Teri Vonna Bates
September 1, 2006
'Daughters of the Earth' - Feather River Singers Independent Release www.featherriversingers.com Audio CD/Copyright 2005.
Category: Contemporary Powwow - Northern Style
Bucking tradition and singing in the Cherokee language, this all-female drum is the real deal. Following in the footsteps of great groundbreaking groups like 'The Mankillers' and the 'Lady Thunderbird Singers', this California crew cuts loose. Singing everything from Women's Traditional and Men's Fancy to Tiny-Tot and Fancy Shawl, Feather River's repertoire is impressive. The vocals are powerful, the drumming solid and the melodies, ear-catching. Make no mistake, these ladies can sing.
An impressive debut by the Feather River Singers, "Daughters of the Earth" is simply sublime.
Teri Vonna Bates - WHISPERING WIND MAGAZINE, Vol 36 No.2 (Sep 1, 2006)
THE WHEATLAND CITIZEN
Local Women's Pow Wow Group National Award
by Johnna Bartholomew
June 1 2006
Feather River Singers, a Native Women’s pow wow group from Northern California has been nominated for a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Debut Artist/Group of the Year. The group breaks into new Native musical territory as women in a typically male genre. The NAMMYs are the Native community’s equivalent to the Grammy awards. The winners will be announced June 8 at the Awards Ceremony at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Their debut CD Daughters of the Earth is a collection of twelve original songs in Cherokee and English. The women bring melody and a Cherokee touch to their sound. The sound studio was in a natural outdoor setting incorporating the sounds of birds into the songs. Larry Badger and Curt Burrows of Joyful Sound mixed and mastered the CD in the Yuba City studio. Prentice Robinson, Cherokee linguist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was project language consultant.
The public can vote now at www.nammys.com for their favorite Native artists in 25 categories of music, from Debut artist to rap and hip hop. Go online, click “vote” (before voting you’ll be asked to create a free login and password). The group will perform May 26-28 at DQ University Pow Wow. You can check out their sound online at www.featherriversingers.com with links for purchase.
Songs from the new CD have been featured on local radio stations like KZFR 90.1 FM “Native Voices” from Chico, Dream Walk on KVMR 89.5 FM from Nevada City, and on other Native radio stations in the Southwest.
CD’s can also be purchased at The Village Pharmacy in Wheatland.
Johnna Bartholomew - The Wheatland Citizen (Jun 1, 2006)
CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD
Music Brief: Local group nominated for national Native American Music Award
By ALAN SHECKTER - Buzz Editor
May 11, 2006
The Feather River Singers, an all-female pow-wow group out of Marysville, were nominated for the Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Debut Artist/Group of the Year.
The group, which features Pamela Ames of Chico, will find out on June 8 whether it takes the prize, when the NAMMY awards are presented at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
The Feather River Singers' CD, "Daughters of the Earth," breaks into new territory in Native music, typically a male-dominated genre. On the CD, the women bring melody and a Cherokee touch to their pow wow songs. Recorded in a natural outdoor setting, the sounds of birds and nature were incorporated into the songs.
The CD was mixed and mastered at Joyful Sound studio in Yuba City.
Some of the songs have gotten radio play on community radio stations KZFR in Chico and KVMR in Nevada City, as well as others in the Southwest.
Online voting is taking place through May 21 at www.nammys.com. Click "vote" (before casting a vote you'll be asked to create a free login and password).
The Feather River Singers will perform June 3 at the Yuba-Sutter Pow Wow in Marysville. Visit www.featherriversingers.com.
Alan Sheckter - Chico Enterprise-Record (May 11, 2006)
APPEAL-DEMOCRAT
Feather River Singers Get Nammy Nod
By Josh Kendrix
April 27, 2006
The Feather River Singers have gained national recognition after being nominated for Best Debut Group/Artist at the eighth annual Native American Music Awards.
The Nammys, as they are called, announced the nomination last week.
“We can't believe that we've made it and have been accepted like this,” said Barbara Warren, a member of the group.
“We had a lot of competition in the category and were in total shock when we heard we got the nomination,” said Pam Ames, also a member.
Almost 50 other groups and artists were vying for one of the category's five nominations, according to Warren. “We faced some stiff competition,” she said.
Warren and Ames are advisory members of the Nammys, which allowed them to submit the album for consideration. Nominees were selected based on votes from the advisory members.
The group's members, in addition to Warren and Ames, include Kathleen Shain, Gwen Cochran, Anna Enye, L.E. Honycutt and Seth Honeycutt. They are of Cherokee, Chocataw, Blackfoot and Comanche descent, and are all from the Yuba-Sutter area.
The Nammy nomination was for their debut album, “Daughters of the Earth.”
For the self-produced album, the Feather River Singers performed their songs in an outdoor setting. Sound technicians Larry Badger and Curt Burrows of Joyful Sound in Yuba City placed microphones in trees to record bird sounds as the group was performing its songs. The nature sounds were then mixed into the master recording of the album by Badger.
“We thought that recording outdoors fit the theme of the music,” Warren said. “We thought that since we were in nature, we should include the sounds of nature.”
The album includes songs sung in northern pow wow style in both English and Cherokee.
The reaction the group received for the album was “awesome,” said Ames. “We produced it and sent it to Native American radio stations, and they started playing our songs.”
The songs “Mother Earth” and “Women Warriors of the 507th” have gotten the most radio play, on public radio stations such as KZFR in Chico and KVMR in Nevada City, as well as many stations throughout the Southwest.
“We're all stunned by the (positive) reaction we've gotten,” Warren said.
Copies of the album, as well as song samples, are available online through the group's web site, featherriversingers.com.
The group began 10 years ago in a drumming class held through the American Indian Education Program of Marysville.
“Drums are representative of all indigenous cultures,” said Gwen Cochran. “The drum is a portal and a link to our ancient beginnings.”
“Our songs come from the creator. They are a gift,” said Warren, who wrote six of the songs on the album.
The Nammys are scheduled June 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
“Winning would be the crown jewel of our career,” Warren said.
Voting for Nammy winners is now open to the public at www.nammys .com.
Josh Kendrix - Appeal Democrat (Apr 27, 2006)
NATIVE WINDS GIFT GALLERY
New Music At Native Winds
August 23, 20005
Feather River Singers: Daughters of the Earth
For everyone who remembers the Honeycutt Family (or even if you didn't meet them when they lived in Hawai`i), you will want to add this new CD to your collection. Le and Seth Honeycutt sing with this all-women's drum from Northern California. The songs are sung in Cherokee and English and include men's and women's traditional songs, a two step, a sneak up, a flag song as well as a tiny tots song, an intertribal and songs for fancy shawl and round dances. I cried when I listened to the honoring song written for the Women Warriors of the 507th. We've almost sold out of our first shipment of this album, but more are on the way! Call to reserve your copy today!
Native Winds Gift Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii - Native Winds (Aug 23, 2005)
APPEAL DEMOCRAT
Heart Beats
by Olga Munoz
August 4, 2005
Drumming is more than making music for the Feather River Singers
For the Feather River Singers, drumming is more than making music. "Sitting at the drum is a real responsibility," said group member Barbara Warren of Wheatland. "It's a dedication to a certain way of life."
That way of life is one of respect and heallthy living.
"We say, let's choose (a healthy lifestyle) and encourage our young women to go to college and set goals," said Pam Ames of Chico.
"Once you start drumming and singing you just can't stop," said Kathleen Shain of Smartsville. "It's a spiritual thing. It calls to you. It pulls you in."
The group's lineup also includes Jesse Harris (former member), Gwen Cochran of Linda, Anna Eyre of Live Oak and LE Honeycutt and Seth Honeycutt, both of Lake Wildwood. The seven member women's group sings original Native American songs in Cherokee and English at powwows and cultural events.
"I love that powwow energy of the singing and the drumming," Ames said.
According to Warren, women's drum groups are rare in Native American culture, since some Native Americans don't allow women to drum. In some groups the women must stand behind the men as they drum, Warren said.
But the Feather River Singers are finding acceptance in California drum circles. "We maintain that we have a right to sit at the drum," she said, "But we remain respectful of those who differ."
To be respectful, the group usually calls ahead to make sure it is OK for them to perform, but they are making gains and even very traditional places have asked them to drum.
"It just proves we're breaking through some of those barriers that have been put in front of us," Eyre said.
The group released its first CD, "Daughters of the Earth," in June. The CD was recorded outside with microphones placed in trees. The album features 12 original songs, Warren said.
One track on the group's CD is "Fry Bread Song," which only took the group a day to write. "It was a spontaneous combustion of a song," Eyre said. "It just kind of happened; it exploded."
Warren wrote "Women Warriors of the 507th," which honors military personnel such as Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson, who were held as prisoners of war in Iraq, and Lori Piestewa, a Hopi mother of two who was killed in action.
"Each of our songs is an inspiration; they're a gift from the creator," Warren said. "I'm just a song catcher."
The Feather River Singers' CD is "Daughters of the Earth" is available at The Underground in Yuba City, Chico and Oroville, and online at towerrecords.com and cdbaby.com
Olga Munoz - Appeal Democrat (Aug 4, 2005)