JOANNE SHENANDOAH

About the Artist

Joanne Shenandoah is a Wolf Clan member of the Oneida Nation -- Iroquois Confederacy. She is the daughter of Maisie Shenandoah, a Clanmother, and the late Clifford Shenandoah, an Onondaga chief and jazz guitarist. Her parents had a deep love for music, encouraging Joanne to study voice, flute, piano, clarinet, guitar and cello. Joanne's talent combined with her beautiful, clear voice enable her to embellish the ancients' songs of the Iroquois using a blend of traditional and contemporary instrumentation. After spending 14 years as a computer programmer and consultant in Washington, DC, Shenandoah became close with the tribal elders and her extended family who reacquainted her with the stories and songs of her people, which prompted a personal artistic reawakening in 1989. Since then Joanne Shenandoah has won several musical achievement awards, most recently she received "Best Female Artist" at both the 1999 AND 1998 Native American Music Awards and in 1997 she was recognized as a "Native American Woman of Hope."

Ms. Shenandoah has drawn upon her rich heritage in establishing a reputation as one of America's foremost native recording artists. Her music reflects the indigenous philosophy and culture which continues to have a profound effect on the world today. She has performed and recorded with many accomplished musicians in Europe and America, most recently Neil Young. From traditional chants to contemporary ballads of Native ways, her music has been described as an emotional experience, a "Native American trance."

Recordings