Southwest Stories
with Steve Brown
The Two Steves: Steve Rushingwind
International Three Time Native American Music Award Winner, Three New Mexico Music Award Winner, Four Time Indian Summer Award Winner, One World Music Award Winner and Three Time Finalist at the Indigenous Music Awards, Steven Rushingwind, Native Flute Musician, and Voting GRAMMY member, has been playing Native Flute for 11 years. His music is defined as Native American, World Beat and Native Fusion. Steven is currently up for 5 Native American Music Award Nominations for the 18th Annual Awards Show. He was a finalist at the Indigenous Music Awards for "Best Indigenous Entertainer of the Year" 2015 and nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2016 Native American Music Awards. Steven, a California Native, raised in a small house with one bathroom and a large family in south Pomona, a city 25 miles east of Los Angles, always had a passion for music. His family couldn't afford musical instruments nor lessons although Steven longed to express himself musically. His father, full blooded Opata and Cahuilla and his mother from Chihuahua Mexico maintained a solid tight family and those tight bonds remain today.
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Steven's latest release, "Rushingwind" is a solo flute album, produced by longtime friend Daniel Wonacott (Finch bassist) and recorded in Temecula, CA. Steven returns to the beginning, the beginnings of his journey with the flute. He reflects back of the newness and wonderment of the flute and how he is now capable of doing what he originally wanted to do with it and play the way he had dreamed of in the beginning. This album takes you on a journey of fun and happiness while exploring the ying and yang of life and persona. This album is currently up for Five NAMMY Awards.
Steven's release "FUEGO" recorded with his band , The Native Groove was released in February of 2017. He wraps his Native American roots up with his Mexican roots to produce a Latin-American fusion sound that has you toe tapping and twirling. The band sequestered themselves in El Cerrito Studio in San Francisco for 3 days and recorded the killer album.
"Nordic Passage" was a collaboration between Age Reite, a well know Norwegian musician and himself. The album intertwines the Native Sounds with Norwegian contemporary. RED BEATEN PATH, was produced by Harlan Steinberger from Hen House Studios, in Venice, CA and mastered by Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios. Red Beaten Path honors the Native American strife and blessings of the path that the Native Americans have taken. This album was a finalist for the Best Flute CD at the Indigenous Music Awards in Canada in 2015.
Steven joined forces with Nelson Rios (Miami Sound Machine’s percussionist for 20 years) and formed Rushingwind & The Native Groove. The Groove consists of musicians from the East and West coast. The Native Groove had the honor of performing for the Sunwatch Flute Festival, Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards in Winnipeg, Manitoba in September of 2014, Native Rhythms Festival, Melbourne Florida, Los Angeles Arboretum, The Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden and Sacred Fire Studios in Philadelphia PA.
Steven is also half of the duo "Rushingwind and Mucklow." He and Michael Mucklow of Joshua Tree, CA, got together and started writing songs together in 2009. The duo have won and have been nominated for numerous awards nationally and internationally. Rushingwind and Mucklow was awarded Best New Age Recording for Rushingwind and Mucklow’s album BRIDGE at the 15th Annual Native American Music Awards, held November 15, 2014, at the Seneca Casino in Allegany, New York. The Rushingwind and Mucklow album,STRONGHORSE, was nominated for numerous awards during 2014.
Discography
Solo Albums
Cloud Runner (2009)
Sacred Ground (2011)
Red Beaten Path (2014) Winner "Best Native American Album", One World Music Awards 2016, Nominated for Native American Music Awards Best "New Age/Instrumental" 2016
Rushingwind (2018) Winner Best Instrumental at the Native American Music Awards along with 4 other nominations.
Rushingwind and Mucklow
Ancient Elements (2010) (1 NAMMY NOMINATION,1 New Mexico Music Award)
Among the Ancients (2011) (1 NAMMY, 2012, 2 ISMAS, 1 New Mexico Music Award)
Bridge (2012) (NAMMY 2014, 2 ISMA , 1 New Mexico Music Award)
Strong Horse (2013) (1 NAMMY nomination, 1 NMWA nom, 4 ISMA nom)