| SCHOOL OF ROCK
There is nothing remotely rock 'n' roll about 9 a.m. Nine a.m. is for Starbucks lines and traffic reports and math class; it's not usually a good hour for those who favor late nights and loud music and guitar rigs. But here it is, a few minutes before 9 on a summer morning, and a few dozen rockers are trickling into a school building in north Dallas. They have on baggy shorts and ripped jeans and their favorite rock 'n' roll T-shirts: The Ramones. Nirvana. Fall Out Boy. Guns N' Roses. They're loaded down with guitars and amps, basses and drumsticks. They are trying very hard to act like they didn't just climb out of their parents' Camrys and Explorers and minivans. Yep, these early-morning rockers are all under the age of 16. Some of them are accomplished musicians; others just wanna be.
Indigenous frontman chasing the sun on his own
Guitar heroes don't come easy these days. There was a time generations were marked by their six-string icons. We know most of them -- Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore and Eddie Van Halen -- just to name a few. Some hail hyper-speed wizardry or plodding tuned-down tones as the makings of a guitar god, while others are more inclined to use descriptions like "passionate," "emotional" and "soulful." Native Nakota Indian Mato Nanji falls in the latter category. He leads an idea more than just a band. He calls his music Indigenous. It's how he expresses himself in a number of different directions within his chosen genre, that of electric blues. Eight years ago vocalist and guitarist Mato, his brothers Pte (bass), and Horse (percussion) along with sister Wanbdi (drums) left their reservation in South Dakota to record "Things We Do," a tangled mixture of rocking blues with Stevie Ray Vaughan appeal.
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