Ron Sunsinger

An adopted grandson of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Hopi tribes, Ron Sunsinger has brought Native American music up to contemporary standards. His collaborations include work with avant-garde composer Steve Roach and synthesizer player Michael Stearns, with whom he's recorded three albums -- Singing Stones, Kiwa, and Sorcerer -- that use Native American themes as a springboard for imaginative soundscapes. Inspired by the psychedelic visions of Native American shamans and sorcerers in the southwest, Sunsinger has continued to apply a visionary sensibility to his music. Kiwa, released in 1995, featured three Native American ceremonies and a similar-minded new composition. Sorcerer paid tribute to the writings and drug-induced explorations of Carlos Castenada. The owner of a recording studio in Alburquerque, Sunsinger co-produced, with Robbie Robertson, the soundtrack of the Turner Broadcasting Network's documentary, The Native American: Beyond Myth and Legend. A skilled pipe maker, Sunsinger has designed and created numerous ritual objects for the Native American Church. In 1990, he made a pipe that has been used by the United Nations as a human rights award. ~ Craig Harris