Art Napoleon
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
" Art brings a hopeful observer's and teacher's eye to all he sees around him...he straddles both worlds and his music showcases it... the world is a better place for having Napoleon's music a part of it." - Les Siemieniuk, Penguin Eggs
" Art Napoleon should be regarded a national treasure. His work comes directly from the heart and speaks to the modern world." - Doug Cox, Vancouver Island Musicfest
" By the end of the concert he had 14 year olds up dancing, jamming and singing along. There aren't many performers who can charm a teen audience but Art was awesome and the young adults loved it!" - Kate Newby, Calgary International Children's Festival
"This 13-track disc presents a potent distillation of First Nations rhythms and chants with that high, lonesome Northern Canadian country/folk sound."
- Stuart Derdeyn,The Province
"If you’re a fan of solid roots music with a strong emotional subtext, this is one singer-songwriter you should remember… this is good music for both cowboys and Indians."
- John Threlfall,Monday Magazine
"Who better to write meaningful, fierce and touching country music than a First Nations artist from the country. He's a killer writer with a wit sharp enough to skin anybody alive who gets in his way." - Stuart Derdyn, Vancouver Province 2009
"Art Napoleon is a classic example of what a good songwriter should be. He writes about what he knows - the land, the lifestyle of the people where he lives and the challenges he and they face. They're the kind of songs that could only be written by somebody who has lived that experience."
- Doug Simpson,Vancouver Folk Music Festival
"An animated and vivacious but serious exercise in straight-ahead, good-times music..." - Barry Hammond, Penguin Eggs 2009
"Napoleon favours telling detail over stereotype and approaches his subject with both respect and wry humour." - Patrick Langston, Ottawa Citizen 2008
"His voice is handsome and burnished sounding...the songs on his new disc are about lovin', hurtin' and life on and off the "rez". - Adrian Chamberlain, Victoria Times Colonist 2008
Discography
Creeland Covers- Most recent full-length CD of popular covers all performed in an ancient tribal tongue! Some of the most played tunes on North American Aboriginal radio.
Siskabush Tales- full length released sept 2008- airplay on various international music stations, CBC, Aboriginal, Community & College radio. Two songs hit #1 on the Aboriginal Canada Top 30 playlist. Samples can be heard online through CBC2 Live concert series. It was one of Stuart Derdyn's(Vancouver Province) favorite albums of 2008 & won awards for best country & best folk recording at the 2009 CAMAS.
Mocikan: Songs for Learning Cree- full length released March 2008. First kid's recording nominated for a couple Canadian based awards. Airplay on CBC, community & Aboriginal radio.
Miyoskamin - Full-length CD released April 2006. CBC, College & Aboriginal radio with some international play. Top played album of 2006 on CBC Galaxy Folk-Roots program. Songs selected for two compilation projects, one based in France with European distribution.
Outta the Woods - 1st recording, full-length CD. CBC, College & Aboriginal radio play with some TV play.
Photos
Bio
Art Napoleon, a bushman from the boreal foothills of Northern BC, can still skin a moose with a pocket knife but he is known more as an artist whose words and music bridges cultures. He is an extremely versatile bi-lingual singer-songwriter armed with a wicked sense of humour and an uncanny ability to improvise and engage audiences of all ages. A born entertainer, he can embody both trickster and shaman to cast a spell on the gathered.
Raised by Cree speaking, hunting-gathering grandparents near the northern BC-Alberta border, Art crafts songs with clever, personal and honest lyrics. Whether he is telling a story or singing about a life of intriguing and mystical experiences and characters, he somehow manages to be both irreverent and deeply spiritual.
Napoleon has been featured on many radio and TV programs including CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival, the APTN show Tiga Talk, CBC Roundup, North By Northwest, All Points West, Rez Blues and has also hosted CHUM TV's The New Canoe and an environmental TV program Down 2 Earth. His previous recordings have been nominated for numerous music awards including the WCMAs, Canadian Folk Awards, the NAMMIES & the CAMAs. Art's latest release Creeland Covers, a collection of familiar songs performed in his Cree language is receiving rave reviews. His moose-nose stew has been known to heal the broken hearts of both cowboys and Indians. When he is not performing, doing TV voice-overs or speaking at conferences, Art can still be found chasing large mammals.
Art's latest project is The Napoleon Collective, a family EP of retro influenced tribal rock & blues with his daughters Niska & Quanah. Check out the audio section for sneak previews of pre-mastered mixes!
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