Artist Profile: Douglas Spotted Eagle

Spotted Eagle in the studio

Douglas Spotted Eagle, a talented musician; multiple Emmy and Grammy nominee and co-recipient of the 2001 Grammy for his production work on The Gathering of Nations project; new media visionary; and grandmaster of the highest order on all things SONAR. “SONAR is absolutely essential to my production process, and I can say without exaggeration that it is my most used music tool.” Douglas’ Native Restoration Studios, with Tom Bee, has been largely responsible for bringing Native American music, from authentic Pow Wow recordings, to experimental Modern Ethnic amalgams into the digital age, advancing the format from low-fi cassettes to state-of-the-art compact discs. Together, Spotted Eagle and Bee released the first-ever recording of Pow Wow music on compact disc, paving the way for their co-receiving the first-ever Native American Grammy Award. Along the way Douglas has fashioned a unique modern ethnic sound with his recently released VOICES on Higher Octave Music and Nino Reyos’ new CD Warrior of Time which was recorded 100% in SONAR.

Douglas has recorded 13 previous albums under his own name and 8 of those albums have achieved status on Billboard charts. He was named “Debut Jazz Artist of the Year” in 1996, and his Closer to Far Away recording was the #5 Jazz release of the same year. He collaborated with Kevin Costner on the production of 500 Nations, and Robbie Robertson on the score for The Native Americans. He has also scored or has been a featured in the scores of popular film/TV productions such as The Truman Show, Thunderheart, Millennium, The Scarlet Letter, The X-Files, City Slickers, The Way West, and Johnny Quest.

Douglas is actively involved in film and new media production. He most recently produced Toubat, a new historical documentary on the Native American Flute that features Richard W. Payne, MD, Mary Youngblood, Tom Bee, R. Carlos Nakai, Elmer Running, Jeff Calavan, Douglas Spotted Eagle himself, hundreds of flutes, and rare, never seen before video footage dating back as far as 1892. This entire documentary was scored using SONAR.

Douglas’ work in digital media has led him to be chosen as the Visionary keynote speaker for last year’s AVID World and DV Professional’s conventions. He will also be speaking at Streaming Media East. All of his talks will heavily feature SONAR as both a tool for developing streaming media and for audio content creation.

Douglas' music also drew the attention of the Olympic Committee, and he provided the theme music for the torch running through Tooele County, Utah during the recent Olympic games. Tooele County is where Douglas calls home, and it is also an area rich in Native American history.

One of Douglas’ favorite things to do is help other people. He has been a spokesperson for both the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Straighttalkers USA, a national organization combating drug and alcohol dependency among youth. He even hosts a highly successful SONAR forum on the Internet at Creative Cow. Log on to his forum and get answers to your SONAR questions from a pro.

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