In the beginning....... D.J., J.J., and George didn't know their heads from their butts when it came to drumming. But hey they were young, so give 'em a break! Fortunately, these guys were not just young, they also wanted to learn how drum like some of their favorite groups. Enter now their Grandfather Johnson Meninick and the Yakama Singers. He began the teaching of these young men and got them started on their way to an illustrious life on the Pow-wow circuit, so props to him. These future Red Tail Singers also kicked it to the back and learned some more old school funk from Mike Penney and the Nez Perce Nation Singers and from their Uncles Frank and Joe Totus of the Indian Nation Singers, so props to those guys too.

Now D.J., J.J., and George have learned the old stlye of drumming well from their elders well. They decided to turn their attention to the contemporary style of drumming. The drums that they looke up to and admired were John and Algin Scabbyrobe of the Black Lodge Singers and Terry Paskemin and the Blackstone Singers. They took what they learned from these styles of drumming and formed there own crew, hence the Red Tail Singers were born. The original Red Tail Singers consisted of D.J., J.J., and George Meninick, Luke Penney, and Joe Foltz. Although they had their own crew they still had a lot to learn, only now they can learn from each other. With this, they now set out to make the Red Tail name common knowledge  in the Pow-wow world. Now we jump ahead to the duece triple O (year 2000). The Red Tail Singers are kickin it harder than ever. They are a little older, a little wiser, and are all past puberty and have grown hair in weird places. They now have a full crew of singers to call upon. The starting crew consists of Shonto Pete, Sonny Quinto, Justin Stanger, Teddy David, Tony Smith, Raleigh Ellenwood, Dewey Miller, Gary Villa Sohappy, Jon Olney, Justus Cree, and some Lightning Creek Broz (they know who they are!) Sitting on the bench for when they are really desparate for singers is the Pow-wow Poll Guy. The Red Tail Singers are truly an Inter Tribal drum group. Most of the singers are still from Lapwai, ID Nez Perce Rez (where the drum is from), but other singers also come from the Flathead, Yakama, Colville, Warm Springs, and Urban Reservations. They are no brown dummies either, as several of the Red Tail Singers are pursuing their educations. The Singers who aren't in school either work or sit at home all day and eat stale corn nuts and hang in chat rooms. The Red Tail Singer sends props and shouts out to LIGHTNING CREEK, WILD ROSE, YOUNG GREY HORSE, THE BOYZ, YOUNG BIRD, MYSTIC RIVER, INDIAN NATION, WILD HORSE, BLACKSTONE, BLACK LODGE, SOUTHERN CREE, and HIGH NOON. Hatchaw! Keep the killer singing, keep those dancers dancing, and lets keep the people happy.

Also in the year 2000, Red Tail debut album was released by Arbor Records. That is the cover to the right here, so check it out at your local Pow-wow booth. Keep an eye out for future joints by Red Tail from Arbor Records. If you want to check out one of the Red Tail songs, click on the album cover to the right and you can download a song. If you have a media player, you can play it. It will take a few minutes to download so be patient. If you want to get a hold of Red Tail for a Pow-wow, you can write D.J. Meninick at P.O. Box 447 Lapwai, ID 83540, or George Meninick at P.O. Box 467 Toppenish, WA 98948. Home phone is (509)865-3345 or message phone is (509)251-0688