Biography
Joe Rainey, an Ojibwe vocalist rooted in longstanding ceremonial practices, merges those ancient forms with modern electronic textures and has carried powwow music into previously uncharted territory. As a Red Lake Nation member he spent years capturing respected powwow drummers on location before he himself began performing in the traditional vocal style; once several prominent indie and electronic figures took notice, he joined forces with them to craft a hybrid that respects the music’s lineage while exposing it to fresh listeners through loops, percussion, and atmospheric layers that both enhance and expand its character. After establishing a following inside Native circles via his roles in Midnite Express and Iron Boy, he steered powwow expression toward a striking new course with the release of his first album, Niineta, in 2022.
Rainey entered the world in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1985. His Red Lake Ojibwe family raised him inside one of the country’s largest urban Native populations, a city where the American Indian Movement had been established in 1968. By age five his parents had placed him in a children’s singing and dancing ensemble, and he began bringing a portable cassette recorder to powwows to document drummers and singers. During his teenage years he helped launch the Boyz Juniors, a younger extension of the well-known Minneapolis collective the Boyz; he later performed with Midnite Express, whose lineup included veterans of that same group, and the ensemble gained popularity among his peers while appearing at powwows nationwide. He also sang with another offshoot of the Boyz, Iron Boy. Throughout his travels Rainey kept recording other drumming ensembles, eventually upgrading to digital equipment and building an extensive archive of Native performers.
In 2016 both Midnite Express and Iron Boy were invited to the Eaux Claires Festival, the independent-music gathering organized by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of the National. The groups made a strong impression, and the curators invited them back for later editions. As additional artists encountered Rainey and his ensembles, he was asked to appear on projects by Chance the Rapper, Portugal. The Man, and Low. During one set by the electronic musician Andrew Broder, leader of the experimental project Fog, a dancer from Iron Boy spontaneously joined him onstage; Broder was struck by the compatibility between his tracks and the indigenous performance. After comparing artistic approaches, Broder supplied beats in 2020 for a course assignment Rainey was completing in audio engineering that incorporated powwow samples. Pleased with the outcome, the producer requested a folder of archival recordings, which he shaped into a series of pieces that fused traditional material with experimental electronic and hip-hop elements. Rainey then overdubbed his vocals, resulting in Niineta, issued that same year on the 37d03d label founded by Vernon and Dessner.
Rainey entered the world in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1985. His Red Lake Ojibwe family raised him inside one of the country’s largest urban Native populations, a city where the American Indian Movement had been established in 1968. By age five his parents had placed him in a children’s singing and dancing ensemble, and he began bringing a portable cassette recorder to powwows to document drummers and singers. During his teenage years he helped launch the Boyz Juniors, a younger extension of the well-known Minneapolis collective the Boyz; he later performed with Midnite Express, whose lineup included veterans of that same group, and the ensemble gained popularity among his peers while appearing at powwows nationwide. He also sang with another offshoot of the Boyz, Iron Boy. Throughout his travels Rainey kept recording other drumming ensembles, eventually upgrading to digital equipment and building an extensive archive of Native performers.
In 2016 both Midnite Express and Iron Boy were invited to the Eaux Claires Festival, the independent-music gathering organized by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of the National. The groups made a strong impression, and the curators invited them back for later editions. As additional artists encountered Rainey and his ensembles, he was asked to appear on projects by Chance the Rapper, Portugal. The Man, and Low. During one set by the electronic musician Andrew Broder, leader of the experimental project Fog, a dancer from Iron Boy spontaneously joined him onstage; Broder was struck by the compatibility between his tracks and the indigenous performance. After comparing artistic approaches, Broder supplied beats in 2020 for a course assignment Rainey was completing in audio engineering that incorporated powwow samples. Pleased with the outcome, the producer requested a folder of archival recordings, which he shaped into a series of pieces that fused traditional material with experimental electronic and hip-hop elements. Rainey then overdubbed his vocals, resulting in Niineta, issued that same year on the 37d03d label founded by Vernon and Dessner.
Albums
Singles
