Jeff Carpenter

Guitarist Jeff Carpenter is a member of the award-winning folk/rock band, Injunuity, alongside native flutist Brad Clonch. The two formed a band in 2007, performed their first show at Riverwind Casino and then went on to win a NAMMY (the Native American equivalent to a GRAMMY Award) the following year for Best Debut/Duo Group.

Injunuity blends native flute tones and guitar with contemporary rhythms to create a distinctive sound. This contemporary tribal music has successfully found its way into the mainstream music landscape. "People really seemed to like it," Carpenter said. "They really got into this style of music, and from there it really took off." The band has introduced the Native American music and way of life into popular culture, and has also helped preserve an aspect of tribal heritage with its incorporation of the Native American flute.

"If you record something, it's a feeling, it's a part of you. It's captured in history with the technology today," Carpenter's bandmate, Brad Clonch, said. "Tribes centuries ago didn't have recorders, so a lot of those songs were lost and a lot of the history was lost. With Jeff and I, although it's something modern, I still want to think of it as something we're doing historically. By helping keep one aspect of our culture alive through music with the native flute and with other tribal instruments."