Verdell Primeaux facts for kids
Verdell Primeaux is a talented singer and songwriter from the Oglala, Yankton, and Ponca Native American nations. He is famous for his "peyote songs," which are special songs used in the Native American Church. When he sings, he often uses a rattle and a water drum.
Verdell Primeaux and his music partner, Johnny Mike, are known together as "Primeaux and Mike." Johnny Mike is from the Navajo Nation.
Verdell Primeaux was born in 1966 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. His family is from the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota. His father, Francis Primeaux Senior, and his grandfather, Harry Primeaux, were also well-known peyote singers. Today, Verdell Primeaux lives in Many Farms, Arizona, with his wife and children.
Johnny Mike, Verdell's music partner, is from Kitsili, Black Mesa, Arizona. His family connections are to the Near the Water People clan on his mother's side and the Salt Clan on his father's side. Johnny Mike has two children, Rachael and Shane, and lives in Chinle, Arizona.
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Verdell Primeaux's Achievements
Verdell Primeaux has received important awards for his music.
Grammy Award Winner
- In 2002, Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike won a Grammy Award. This was for "Best Native American Music Album." The album was called Bless The People - Harmonized Peyote Songs.
Native American Music Award
- Also in 2002, they won a Nammy Award. This award was for "Best Traditional Recording" for the same album, Bless the People.
Verdell Primeaux's Music Albums
Verdell Primeaux has released many albums, often with Johnny Mike or other musicians. Here are some of his recordings:
- Peyote Songs of the Yankton Sioux – Three Volumes (with Francis Primeaux, Leroy Magpie Hoof, and Francis Primeaux, Jr.)
- Peyote Songs (Volume 1) (with Johnny Mike)
- Peyote & Healing Songs (Volume 2) (with Robert Attson)
- Peyote Songs (Volume 3) (with Johnny Mike)
- Walk in Beauty: Healing Songs (Volume 4) (1995, with Johnny Mike)
- Peyote Songs (Volume 5) (with Johnny Mike)
- Peyote Songs in Sioux & Navajo (with Johnny Mike)
- Sacred Path (Volume 6) (with Joe Jakob)
- Peyote Songs of the Native American Church (Volume 7) (with Johnny Mike)
- Gathering of Voices (Volume 8) (with Johnny Mike)
- Live in Harmony (with Johnny Mike)
- Evolution: Generation to Generation (2000, with Johnny Mike)
- Bless the People: Harmonized Peyote Songs (2001, with Johnny Mike)
- Hours Before Dawn (2002, with Johnny Mike)
- Lost and Lonely (2009)
- Stories Told (2008, with Terry Hanks)
- The Color of Morning (2007, with Xavier Quijas Yxayotl)
- Healing Winds (with Johnny Mike)
- Mystical Warrior
- Peyote Songs From Lakota Country
- Veterans and Honor Songs