Alan Syliboy & The Thundermakers

Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers are an award-winning Canadian Indigenous Rock and Spoken Word group out of Mi’kma’ki. Blending genres from rock, jazz, improvised experimental, spoken word and ambient orchestral music, the Thundermakers maintain a foothold in the past, while always pushing towards a better future for Indigenous Peoples everywhere. They have received three nominations for Indigenous Artist of the Year from the East Coast Music Association (2019, 2021, 2022) and won Indigenous Artist of the Year in 2018 and 2019 from Music Nova Scotia.

Alan Syliboy (vocals, percussion) was born and raised in Truro and lives at Millbrook First Nation, NS. He looks to the Mi’kmaq petroglyph (stone etchings) tradition for inspiration, and developed his own artistic vocabulary out of those forms. “Inspiration for my spoken word pieces comes from things I find researching our Mi’kmaw culture” says Syliboy of the storytelling practices that he’s embedded within the group. “I think that artists play a big role in instilling pride in our own people again; it’s a traditional role for an artist to interpret the symbols of the past, I think that’s the way it’s always been passed down. It is my hope that we can advance our culture by moving in a contemporary direction.”

Hubert Francis (vocals, acoustic guitar) of Elsipogtog, NB has been a fixture in the Canadian Indigenous music scene for over 40 years. His band Eagle Feather received three Juno Award nominations, and in 2019, Francis was awarded the Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award by the East Coast Music Association. Of Francis’ remarkable musical journey, Syliboy declared in a 2019 article by CBC “He’s the ultimate hero when it comes to music in our culture.”

The band is also comprised of Syliboy’s son, Evan Syliboy (electric guitar), Lukas Pearse (electric bass, upright bass, projections), Joanne Hatfield (vocals, piano), Aaron Prosper (vocals, percussion), Shawnee Paul (vocals, fiddle) and Matt Gallant (drums). Their live performances, featuring multi-media presentations of Syliboy’s visual art and animations comprise a show-going experience as powerful as it is exploring in nature. They’ve performed hundreds of times across the Atlantic provinces including at the 2017 Stan Rogers Folk Festival with late Canadian-American jazz drumming icon and friend Jerry Granelli (1940 – 2021), two collaborations with Symphony Nova Scotia (The Fusion Sessions in 2021, and the Pjila’si Sessions in 2022) and were featured at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, NS in 2023.

Their new album “Marks on the Ground” captures much of the recent collaboration with Symphony Nova Scotia. A blend of contemplative storytelling, re-imaginings of traditional Mi’kmaw songs and stories through a contemporary lens. Examining topics such as colonization, cultural loss and climate change. This new self-produced project will be released in June, 2024. 

Mother Earth’s Warning (Official Video) out now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG8T0X8MInI

The Fusion Sessions – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsJsHq62Tck
The Pjila’si Sessions – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEcJ-iRCJUY

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