Index of 2025 Native Rhythms Performers

We are proud to be able to offer our guests 3 full days of free concerts with a program of world-class performers. The performers listed here are those currently under contract. Check our schedule page for the days and times of each performance.

(listed alphabetically)

2025 Native American Cultural Encounter

2025 Native Rhythms Headline Performers

Shelley Morningsong & Fabian Fontenelle

2019 and 2016 Native American Music Awards “Artist of the Year”! Shelley also won a 2019 Native American Music Award for the Best Blues Recording. As a Grammy Member, ASCAP Member, Shelley Morningsong (N. Cheyenne) has recorded five sensational Native American, Contemporary albums and has emerged as one of New Mexico’s finest Native Performers. Morningsong has received five Native American Music Awards, among other awards and accolades, including the 2011 Native American Music Award for the “Record of the Year” (Full Circle).

Shelley’s husband and musical partner Fabian Fontenelle (Zuni/Omaha) adds a breathtaking and beautiful element to their performance with his traditional northern plains style dancing, storytelling and drumming. Fabian is an original member of the American Indian Dance Theater. Both Shelley and Fabian were touring members of the famous Robert Mirabal’s Musical “Music from a Painted Cave” feature on PBS Special Performances. Shelley and Fabian have been featured in several magazine’s such as Cowboys & Indians, Native Peoples and New Mexico Magazine.

Lowery Begay

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Lowery Begay is from the Dine’ (Navajo) Nations and was raised on the Navajo Reservations in New Mexico and Arizona. Lowery grew up learning the traditional Navajo ways from his grandparents. He has been dancing as a hoop dancer and Northern Style Fancy dancer for most of his life, and has been dancing, storytelling and playing the Native Flute professionally for over 15 years. 

Lowery competed at the World Hoop Dance contest every year at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and holds the title of 2004 Schemitzun Hoop Dance Champion. In 2005, Lowery was part of a major production as a hoop dancer and fancy dancer called “Spirit: The Seventh Fire.” He has also performed with Brule, Lakota Dance theatre, Native pride dancers and Spirit of the Mist in Niagra Falls. 

Lowery has had the opportunity to share his gift around the world traveling and performing in Japan, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Belgium, Germany, England, and at the Grand Opening of the Native American Museum in Washington, D.C.

Painted Raven

Drawing inspiration from Mother Earth, Native culture, nature and wildlife, and combining the ancient Native American flute with today’s modern instruments and musical styles, is what creates the signature sound of Painted Raven, the Native American flute and World Music band featuring Annette Abbondanza, Holly Red Feather, and Kimberly Kridler.

Annette, Holly and Kim grace the stage as one of the Native American Flute world’s very few female trios and bring with it a unique warmth, combined with an energy and diversity that truly showcases the amazing musical versatility of the Native American Flute.

Painted Raven, created in 2002, has released twelve albums to date, each one slightly different from the last.  All original and all instrumental, featuring the Native American Flute as the lead instrument combined with many other modern and ancient instruments, as well as many diverse musical styles. Their music has received multiple awards, including the Native American Music Awards (NAMMY), Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA), One World Music Awards, Meet The Composer Award, and multiple music award nominations, as well as being aired on many local, national, and international radio and web broadcasts.

Painted Raven will be celebrating the release of their thirteenth album this November at the Native Rhythms Festival in Melbourne, FL. Their brand new album, titled Best of Times, features a bittersweet and joyous blend of the Native American flute and modern instruments which musically pieces together a beautiful collage of friendships, triumphs and losses, reflection, lessons learned, and gratefulness for the wonderfully fun times shared with friends and family through the years.  Best of Times and other Painted Raven’s CDs and USB albums will be available for sale and autograph at the event.

Additional information about Painted Raven is available online at: www.painted-raven.com

Painted Raven also appears on:

YouTube ( www.youtube.com/user/PaintedRavenMusic ) 
FaceBook ( www.facebook.com/PaintedRaven2 )

Randy McGinnis

Native American Music Award winner, Randy McGinnis is a passionate advocate of Native American flute music. Randy is of Cherokee decent. He grew up in Southern Ohio where he learned the values, traditions, and language of his native culture. His ancestors left North Carolina prior to the Trail of Tears and settled in Kentucky before eventually moving into Southern Ohio. The songs he plays on his Native American flute are from the old songs he grew up listening to as a small boy. Randy’s style of playing has been described as “playing from the heart.”

When Randy shares his art, it not only includes incredibly beautiful music, but he brings with it a rich history of his Cherokee people. He includes the beautiful Cherokee language in his performances, often wearing his traditional regalia on stage. He is committed to doing his part to keep the Cherokee language and culture alive and has assisted in teaching it to many people.

Randy founded the Smoky Mountain Flute Circle in Townsend, Tennessee and was presented a prestigious award from famed Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai for the promotion, preservation, and education of the Native American flute. He served on the Advisory Board for the International Native American Flute Association and was on the Board of Directors for the Renaissance of the Native American Flute. Randy also served on the Board of Directors for the Smokey Mountain Heritage Center. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Flute Tree Foundation.

Randy recorded in his own studio, Deer Star Productions, which he founded in 2008. In addition to solo performances, he has performed with other flutists, violinists, cellists, guitarists, and many other instruments.

Randy founded Echota Technologies Corporation in 1997. Echota was certified by the Small Business Administration as a Native American 8a corporation. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer until he sold the company. The Department of Defense Nunn-Perry Award was given to Randy in 2006. In 2008, Randy was the winner of the Tennessee Minority Small Business of the Year and in 2009 won the Tennessee Small Business Person of the Year.

Randy is passionate about passing on the traditional skills of playing the Native American Flute. He has taught thousands of adults and children the joy of this beautiful instrument. Along with the Smokey Mountain Flute Circle in Townsend, Tennessee, Randy founded a school program called Ancient Voices. This program taught underprivileged children, both Native American and non-native, to play the flute. Each child was given a flute of their own to take home.

Current CD’s by Randy include: “Ancient Voices of the Smoky Mountains,” “Walking with the Spirits,” “The Water Place,” “Smokey Mountain Dreams,” The Journey,” and “Freedom’s Hope.” The “Walking with the Spirits” album, which featured Knoxville Symphony Orchestra violinist, Lucy Carlson, won a 2010 Native American Music Award (NAMA) for Best Compilation Album. “The Water Place” album was submitted in 2011 for a Grammy nomination. Over the years, he has been nominated numerous times for various NAMA awards. In 2015 he was nominated for the NAMA Male Artist of the Year. In 2017 he won The Native American Flutist of the Year and in 2020 Randy won The Lifetime Achievement Award for Native American Flute.

Website (randymcginnis.com)

Billy Whitefox

Billy Whitefox Stall is a Native American of the Southeastern Muskogee Creeks. As a tribal dancer in men’s traditional dance Billy won many awards. He then began teaching tribal dance to youth and in 1985, was gifted his first flute by a student’s father. It was a cedar flute given to him by Quana Parker, Jr., and of course this changed his life. With his interest now focused on tribal flute music, he sought knowledge from his Uncle Clyde concerning rivercane flutes.

He played his Native American Flute Music and made his Old-Style Rivercane Flutes for the next few years, until in 1998 he released his first professional CD, “Sacred Journey”.

Billy was made Vice-Chief of the Red Heart Clan of Alabama in 2003, a significant event and great honor in his life. In 2009, Billy was asked to join the Southeastern Elders Council and was re-appointed by Governor Crist to his 3rd consecutive term as a Florida State Commissioner on Human Relations.

In 2005 Billy was awarded Flutist of the Year, winning that year’s Native American Music Award or NAMA with the release of his second disk, entitled “When the Wind Sings”.

Billy shares his Creek ancestry through international recordings of Native American flute music and storytelling. He enjoys touring the country sharing his music and stories of his heritage. Billy Whitefox is also a national champion Flute Maker, well known for his old-style techniques in making rivercane flutes.

Timothy J.P. Gomez

 Award-winning musician Timothy J.P. Gomez is a renowned musician, composer, and educator specializing in the enchanting sounds of the Native American Style Flute. With an exceptional ability to create melodies that draw inspiration from the wonders of nature and the profound connections between individuals, Gomez effortlessly transports his audience to a realm beyond imagination. Infusing a rich tapestry of diverse melodies and drawing inspiration from Mother Nature, his musical creations weave an enchanting synthesis that mesmerizes the very core of our being.

Through his heartfelt compositions, Gomez seeks to ignite a flame of conservation and nurture a deep appreciation for the natural world and its countless adventures. Each note he plays carries the power to inspire and awaken a profound love for the environment. Timothy J.P. Gomez, a visionary musician, invites us all to embark on a transformative journey through his melodies, where nature, music, and the human spirit unite in perfect harmony.

Currently, Timothy graces the stages of festivals and concerts nationwide, leaving audiences spellbound with his mesmerizing performances. Furthermore, he generously shares his expertise through private online sessions and workshops, enabling aspiring flutists to broaden their skills under his guidance.

For more information, visit timothyjpgomez.com.
YouTube channel:  youtube.com/c/TimothyJPGomez
E-mail: TimothJPGomez@gmail.com

These are singles recorded by Gomez and available for download from his website:

Mark McGourley

Mark McGourley is a seasoned performer and multi-instrumentalist with 40 years of professional experience. He started his career performing bass guitar, keyboards and lead vocals in a variety of cover bands throughout the Tampa Bay area. For the past 25 years he has focused more on his acoustic guitar and vocal abilities and has become a solid solo act performing at the top venues along the Sun Coast beaches.

More than 30 years ago Mark’s mother gifted him his first Native American flute and he has been playing and composing on it ever since. He has written several hundred tunes largely inspired by nature and many of these peaceful songs are based on melodies created with the NA flute. His original performances feature selections which are sure to soothe the soul from his debut CD titled “Universe Dance” as well as tunes from his upcoming second album focusing on NA flute, guitar and percussion.

In 2009, Mark performed as guitarist with world premier NA flutist R. Carlos Nakai and multi-Grammy nominee world percussionist Will Clipman. Over the past 15 years Mark has performed at several NA flute festivals and events in the U.S. and his performance of Kokopelli’s Dance is featured on the Live from the 2010 Native Rhythms Festival compilation CD along with many of the world s top NA flute artists. More recently he has performed as guitarist with multiple ISMA and NAMA award winner Steven Rushingwind’s Native Groove band and also with Grammy award recipient Robert Mirabal.

Mark has journeyed by motorhome several times all across the U.S. and has hiked very extensively throughout more than 30 of our country’s most beautiful National Parks. He has accumulated video and photo imagery of all these majestic places which he produced into a multi-media live show of his music synchronized with a video projection backdrop of his moving visual images of nature during his flute performances.

He was selected and performed at the 2012 INAFA Convention where he premiered his “Universe Dance Visual Concert” and officially released his debut CD. He also launched his first tour of the Midwest to promote this powerful live show, which continued along the eastern seaboard during the summer of 2013. Mark has performed for many years as both a featured artist and a headliner at the Native Rhythms Festival in Melbourne FL.

In 2013, two songs from Mark’s debut CD were nominated as finalists for the 2013 Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) in the Native Spirit category, along with Mark Holland and winner Jonny Lipford. The 45 minute studio version of his music synchronized to his nature video is currently available on DVD and his second CD “Celestial Spirits” is in progress.

Please register to attend Mark’s workshop “Playing Guitar with NA Flute” – date & time TBA – and stop to say hello at his vendor booth featuring CD’s, DVD’s.

Mark holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and a M.A. in Education from the University of South Florida.

For more more information and audio-visual demos please visit Mark s website at www.markmcgourley.com.

Christina Noordover

(Winner of 2024 Paula Ellis Memorial Flute Players Competition)

Christina’s biographic story coming…

Otter Oliver & CreeAtive Native

Otter is a champion of many American Indian dance styles. Otter will be performing the ‘Grass Dance’ at Native Rhythms this year. He is lead singer and drum keeper of his drum group ‘Red Boys’. They have won many contests throughout North America.

Ed WindDancer

Ed is very proud to be a Veteran serving with the 25th Infantry Division. In 1975, while stationed in Hawaii, he became president of a Native American Dance Troupe and was instrumental in starting some of the very first Pow Wows in Hawaii.

Ed is a respected educator who is proud of his Nanticoke heritage. A gifted player of the Native American flute, and also a respected traditional dancer, Ed has performed for audiences throughout the United States and Europe, and has dedicated his life to preserving his culture through the art of music, dance and education. He has served as Head Man and kids day educator at many powwows throughout the East Coast.

In Ed’s unique and one of a kind performance, you will experience the history and rich sounds of the American Indian flute, and receive a rare opportunity to experience authentic traditional American Indian dance. He teaches about his heritage, culture, and explains in detail, his traditional attire along with its history and significance. He has captivated thousands with his 2 popular albums: Breath of My Soul, and Dragonfly Medicine.

He performed many, many years with his grandmother, Kay Taylor. She always ended their performance by saying: “Walk softly upon this grandmother…live each day as if it were your last…and above all, enjoy the journey, the destination is the same. Aho”

2025 Native American Cultural Encounter

Jim Sawgrass - East Meets West

JimSawgrass.com

Jim Sawgrass is a native Floridian of Muscogee Creek (Mvskoke) descent and living historian of the southeastern tribes of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. He served on the Florida Indian Council from 1991-1995. Sawgrass has been sharing his knowledge of the Southeastern Native American tribes for over 30 years. 

As a child, he was always interested in history, building forts, and exploring the woods and nearby swamps. The outdoors was always, and continues to be a big part of his life. He became more involved with his Native American heritage by attending Pow Wows, Native festivals, and historical reenactments. He learned more about Native culture and history from many elders, outdoors-men, and reenactors he was surrounded by. He is also an Eagle Scout and applies his scouting skills to this day.

In 1988, Sawgrass began presenting programs professionally on Native American history and started the “Deep Forest Historical Native American Programs”. Since then, he has performed at places like schools, Pow Wows, state and national parks, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals and many other places around the U.S. He also been featured on many television networks such as History Channel, Travel Channel and Discovery Channel.

Katrina Fisher - Plains Tipi Encampment

Information coming…