Roxy Gordon

Roxy Lee Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was a Choctaw and Assiniboine poet, novelist, musician, multimedia artist, and activist[1]. Described as a "progressive country witness and outlaw poet"[2], Gordon often used spoken vocals accompanied by music that mixed Native American rhythms with country and western themes and musicians working in Texas.

Gordon was raised and lived later in his life in Talpa, Texas[3]. In the late 1960s, he and his wife Judy, lived in Lodge Pole, Montana where he published the Fort Belknap Notes, a newsletter of the Fort Belknap reservation.[2] In the 1970s, he and his wife moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and ran a country music magazine, Picking up the Tempo. Gordon was also involved in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and helped found a local chapter in Dallas.[2] His writing was featured in Rolling Stone and The Village Voice[4] and he ran a small publishing company called Wowapi.[5]

In addition to music and spoken word, Gordon published six books and more than 200 poems, articles, and short fiction; he also coauthored two plays with his wife[6]. Gordon had a following in England[7] as well as the U.S. and his circle included singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt and others who respected poetic narratives.[8]