PBS SERIES LOOKS AT NATIVE AMERICANS AS POP MUSICIANS

ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. (AP) — Perhaps you never knew that the man credited with inventing the power chord was Native American. Link Wray had Shawnee ancestry. Robbie Robertson of The Band is of Mohawk and Cayuga descent. Blues pioneer Charley Patton was part Choctaw. The contributions of Native Americans to popular music are the subject of a new PBS series, “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World.” It premieres tonight on most PBS stations. It’s the brainchild of Stevie Salas, a guitarist of Apache descent who was on tour with Rod Stewart when he wondered if he was the only Native American to play Madison Square Garden. Salas’ investigations into other Native American musicians resulted in an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and now a documentary.

by Margie Szaroleta