Gentle Thunder, born Lisa Carpenter, is a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 flautist

Flautist

A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...

 of Cree

Cree

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

 heritage with three solo albums to date. From Kirkland, Washington

Kirkland, Washington

Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...

, Gentle Thunder also plays the hammered dulcimer

Hammered dulcimer

The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...

 and percussion instruments. In 2006 she released Beyond Words with Will Clipman and Amochip Dabney, two regular musicians that back R. Carlos Nakai

R. Carlos Nakai

Raymond Carlos “R.” Nakai is a Native American flautist of Navajo/Ute heritage.-Biography:Born Ray Carlos Nakai, in Flagstaff, Arizona, he released his first album, Changes, in 1983...

. The album was a 2006 Grammy nominee for Best New Age Album

Grammy Award for Best New Age Album

The Grammy Award for Best New Age Album is presented to recording artists for quality albums in the New Age music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...

. She has recently collaborated with singer-songwriter Mariee Sioux

Mariee Sioux

Mariee Sioux is an American folk singer-songwriter. Her father Gary Sobonya is a mandolin player of Polish and Hungarian descent, and her mother Felicia is of Spanish, Paiute, and Indigenous Mexican descent.-Biography:...

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