Johnny Whitehorse

Native American flautist Robert Mirabal has a storied career, bridging traditional and modern sounds together on a series of albums, and with a series of groups. In 2005, he released an eponymous album under an alter ego, the fictional Johnny Whitehorse. The Whitehorse albums move somewhat away from the new age and fusion elements that Mirabal has taken part in, in favor of a greater emphasis on Western sounds and traditional elements (though under both names he maintains a blend of old and new). As Whitehorse, Mirabal won a 2008 Grammy for Totemic Flute Chants and was promptly nominated for another, for 2010's Riders of the Healing Road. ~ Adam Greenberg