Biography
Sihasin is a trio of multi award-winning musicians Jeneda and Clayson Benally from the (Dine) Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona and their father. As brother and sister they grew up protesting the environmental degradation and inhumane acts of cultural genocide against their traditional way of life.
The family tour throughout the world playing music, facilitating youth empowerment workshops and striving to build bridges of respect between communities, cultures, and our relationship with the environment. They have released two albums, both produced by Ed Stasium (The Ramones, Talking Heads, Living Colour, Joan Jett, Mick Jagger). Both album releases, “Never Surrender” and “Fight like a Woman” won Native American Awards, Global Music Awards, and Indian summer Music Awards. In 2016, they collaborated with The Okee Dokee Brothers on a song called “Sister Moon and Brother Sun” on the album “A Western Adventure Album” which received a Grammy Nomination. In 2017-2018’s Winter season, Sihasin’s rendition of “Winter Wonderland” (Cleopatra Records, “Punk Rock Christmas”) was used in Hyundai’s car commercial “Naughty or Nice”alongside legendary singer Tony Bennett. The trio has been ambassadors for American Music Abroad through the State Department, touring communities in Peru and playing for the American Embassy’s Fourth of July event at the Ambassador’s Estate. They collaborated with Peruvian band, Uchpa, to create a song on behalf of the event titled, “Freedom”. Their song “Shine” spent 18 weeks on Sirius XM’S Aboriginal Countdown reaching the #1 spot and they were highlighted in the Huffington Post as the #1 Freedom Fighting band to get you through the Trump Years.
In their three decades of playing music and touring, they have performed on many stages including The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Tanz n Folk Fest, L’Oympia Theatre, Worldfest, The Woody Guthrie Center, The Amerind Museum, for the US Embassy in Peru, and on many Indigenous Reservations throughout The United States.
