Metis radio on the web

If you’ve never heard Metis music before, you should go over to metisradio.fm and tune in. This is a good quality 64kb stream of traditional and contemporary Metis music.

Metis music is predominantly a fiddle genre, springing out of the traditional cultures of the French and Scottish traders that went west and married First Nations women. As the Metis Nation arose in the 18th and 19th centuries, so did the music, becoming a unique genre of fiddling, although borrowing many tunes and styles from Celtic, French, Old Time and, more recently, country music.

Saying that Metis music is just fiddle music doesn’t do it justice though. Traditional influences still pervade the music and hand drumming, singing and chanting are still a part of the Metis music world. It is perhaps the most diverse single genre of traditional North American music.

One of the real treasures of this site is the collection of recordings from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in North Dakota, which is a strong home of the American parts of the Metis Nation. These recordings are astounding quality and give an amazing overview of this diversity and range of music produced out of the French, Scottish and Chippewa traditions.

Bonus stream: Aboriginal Voices Radio Canada’s national Aboriginal broadcaster, broadcasting in Toronto on 106.5fm and across the web.