Murray Porter
JUNO award winning blues musician and songwriter Murray Porter is the featured performer in this episode.
Murray is a Mohawk who grew up on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, in Southern Ontario, where blues have been a mainstay of the musical diet for years. He now lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Murray’s gravelly, soulful voice sings not only of the history and contemporary stories of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, but also universal themes of love, lost and found. His powerful expressive voice has been compared to Dr. John or even Joe Cocker.
Although Murray has been performing for over 30 years, it was the release of his album “Songs Lived & Life Played “ that he really started to see his popularity grow. The album won the 2012 JUNO for Aboriginal Album of the Year. It was nominated for two Western Canadian Music Awards and four Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.
In this recording we hear Murray performing as part of the biannual festival of aboriginal dance, singing & drumming “Da Kų Nän Ts’étthèt” in Haines Junction, Yukon. We recorded this show at St. Elias Convention Centre on June 3rd, 2017.
Murray, on keyboard, is joined on stage by harmonica player Calvin Lindstrom from Whitehorse.