Blackfoot guitarist in Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Rickey Medlocke talks new music, Native American rootsMedlocke has long been an activist for Native American rights. Just minutes before our interview, Medlocke received a text from Lance White, the great-great grand nephew of Crazy Horse, asking if it would be OK if the Crazy Horse family adopted him.

“I’m still stunned by it,” says Medlocke, who was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame in 2008 by White and Geronimo Houston, the great-great grandson of Geronimo. “I wrote him back just before you called me and told him it would be an honor and a privilege.”

Medlocke is currently shopping a documentary reality series called “Homeland Nation” to networks. The series gives people a glimpse into the many Native American nations existing in the United States.

“This is one of my prized projects that I’m involved in right now. It’s a very close thing to my heart,” said Medlocke, who has covered his body in Native American tattoos and has friends tease “They don’t know whether to look at him or read him.”

“Very little is known about Native Americans, and people don’t really realize that not all Native American nations are as fortunate as some others to have the casinos and different things like that,” Medlocke said. “There’s a lot of gang problems, there’s a lot of drug problems, A lot of alcohol problems, a lot of domestic abuse problems, there’s a lot of that stuff that goes on that people don’t even realize because it’s kept too quiet.”Comment:  ICTMN adds: "Medlocke is of Blackfoot heritage, and in fact played in a group called Blackfoot for some 20 years before getting the call to join Skynyrd in 1996."

For more on Native rockers, see Testament's Native Blood Song.

Below:  "Rickey Medlocke on stage with fellow Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington in 2011."