Watch: Meet the Yellowknives Dene Drummers at Folk on the Rocks

Folk on the Rocks, Yellowknife’s annual musical festival, has a perennial opening act and headliner: the Yellowknives Dene Drummers.

Each year, the drummers of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation open the event on Saturday, welcoming people to Chief Drygeese Territory, and close the festival as the last act on-stage on Sunday evening.

Often, as with The Jerry Cans in 2021 and Joel Plaskett in 2022, the drummers end up either sharing the stage with the headline act or actively participating in a collaboration.

Cabin Radio’s Sophie Kuijper Dickson went backstage at Folk on the Rocks 2022 to meet some of the people whose drumming is an icon of Folk on the Rocks and learn more about their performances.

Camera/Editing: Sarah Pruys