Digging Roots will perform Saturday, July 26.

Music is nourishment, medicine, a tool to heal. That’s the philosophy of Digging Roots. Anchored by husband-and-wife singer-songwriting duo ShoShona Kish and Raven Kanatakta, their groove mixes roots-rock, soul-folk and blues with traditional Indigenous music, all in service of exploring serious topics: connection to the land, residential schools, gun violence, the climate crisis.

Kanatakta grew up in a small Quebec Anishinaabe reserve, Winneway and studied at Berklee College of Music. Kish is Anishinaabe, from Batchewana First Nation but grew up mostly in Toronto. She is a music producer and activist – the founder of the International Indigenous Music Summit and the music label Ishkōdé Records. Kish and Kanatakta formed the band in 2004 in Ottawa, releasing four albums that include many collaborations including Tanya Tagaq, A Tribe Called Red, and Kinnie Starr. Critical acclaim and awards have been nonstop including Canadian Blues Awards, two JUNOS and Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Digging Roots is all about inspiring us to move together in a round dance where people gather in a circle to heal, honour, and celebrate life. It’s not uncommon for a round dance to break out at a Digging Roots show sometimes literally, always metaphorically.

- Eric Rosenbaum