The Crimson Coyote podcast welcomes Native American flute player, educator, journalist, and activist DARREN THOMPSON to Episode #7!
Darren is from the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Indian Reservation in Northern Wisconsin. He has spent most of his adult life serving communities through leadership development, American Indian cultural awareness workshops, and the arts.
His dedication to the preservation of American Indian music has taken him to some of North America’s most prominent American Indian organizations and events, including the Grand Opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
In 2009 Darren released his debut album, “The Song of Flower: Native American Songs from Ojibwe Country,” with Bear Tracks Digital Media, an American Indian owned production label. “The Song of Flower” was highly supported by well-known political prisoner and activist Leonard Peltier and Darren was invited to share his music all over the United States promoting for Peltier’s freedom and performing at his art galleries. He hosts an annual Native American flute retreat in his community, the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reservation.
In 2015, Darren released his second album “Between Earth and Sky: Native American Flute Music Recorded in the Black Hills,” with Drumhop Productions, an American Indian production label well-known in Indian Country that produces the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow CD and many others from throughout Turtle Island. Early in its release, Between Earth and Sky has received acclaim from media and professionals supporting the album’s intent – to preserve history. From the album’s success, Darren was awarded an artist-in-residence opportunity with the world’s largest monument, the Crazy Horse National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Highly acclaimed for his genuine sound, Darren earned a nomination from the Native American Music Awards for “Flutist of the Year” in 2016 for his album “Between Earth and Sky.”
As a result of his dedication, Darren was selected to be a regular performer in the summer months at Crazy Horse giving him the opportunity to continue to share his music with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world.
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