Aboriginal Music Week brings outstanding lineup to Winnipeg Posted by Kim Wheeler, CBC Music producer / SCENE Staff | Thursday August 23, 2012

Tanya Tagaq, world-renowned avant-garde throat singer, will take the stage at AMW 2012 (Sarah Race)

Aboriginal Music Week (AMW) proves it is a force to be reckoned with. And lucky for us Manitobans that all the action takes place right here in Winnipeg.

"I think our programming committee's main goal each year is to put together concerts that no other audience in the world has access to," said Alan Greyeyes, chair of Aboriginal Music Manitoba, which presents Aboriginal Music Week.

The line up AMW announced today goes to show that Aboriginal music reflects a community, not a genre. There is something for everyone here -- Gary Farmer's blues,A Tribe Called Red's electronica, Brazilian global bass queen Zuzuka Poderosa, Winnipeg singer-songwriter Don Amero, and the hiphop of Wab Kinew.

Winnipeg's Wab Kinew will perform an all-ages show at AMW 2012.

Aboriginal Music Week 2012 runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, and opens on the Tuesday with a concert by world renowned avant garde throat singer Tanya Tagaq. (Tagaq hails from Nunavut, but currently calls Brandon, Manitoba home). Also on that bill is spoken word artist Moe Clark, who performed at the Games in London this summer.

The week ?holds a number of all-ages shows, including a Halloween party featuring local artists Wab Kinew and Savannah Rae Boyko. It's 17-year-old Boyko's first appearance at the festival.

"It's a huge chance for me to share my music with our community and I'm completely thrilled and honoured to be a part of it," said Boyko.?