"Music has always been political," said Peoples' Crew percussionist Hunter RedDay, with posters of reggae and country artists on the wall behind him.

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FLAGSTAFF — Late on a cold October night, two dozen young American Indians, mostly dressed in punk-rock garb, black "Misfits" T-shirts and khaki fatigues, stood at the back of The 111 Club, an 18-and-older, no-alcohol music venue.

They listened intently and respectfully to Jacobo and the Peoples' Crew play their own special blend of reggae and world cumbia, a form of music from Columbia that has started to infuse current reggae, hip-hop and jazz styles.

At the front door, Iris Price of the American Indian production company Peaks Productions checked IDs and counted the crowd. She is also the manager of Coalition, an American Indian group that plays blues, punk acoustic and other musical styles.

Although the turnout was small, the enthusiasm was high, an expression of a growing interest in indigenous music performed by groups originating out of the American Indian reservations of Northern Arizona.

"I think it's a reaction to popular culture," Price said. "I think young people are trying to express themselves, with more programs being cut in the schools. A lot of these musicians make up their own lyrics and music, create their own poetry."

Production companies like Peaks Productions, started by Price and Mike Nez as Blue Korn Boy Productions, have stepped forward to help young American Indian musicians get started.

"If it wasn't for producers like us, they wouldn't have as many opportunities to practice," she said. "I don't think anyone would hear them. We've carved out a niche. It's growing. I started in 2001 and at some shows there was only a smattering of people. Now, some shows, the fire marshal has to come in. Flagstaff in general is really good about supporting local music."

From 1999 to 2002 Alex Begay, 28, operated The Shack, a rundown building in Tuba City where bands from all over the country, and even the world, played for reservation audiences. When neighbors complained about the noise, The Shack was shut down.

"There were a lot of kids coming out," the Navajo resident said. "National bands touring, that was once their stop. Now, you have to pay to get facilities. Before then, there was just The Shack. All the money went to the traveling bands."

Begay also plays in his own band, Downplay. The group has been playing concerts for about seven years, but it started as a garage band. They played recent gigs in Santa Fe, Tucson, Durango, Colo., and Cedar City, Utah.

"It's been our hobby since high school," Begay said. "It's not always activism. It's from boredom, basically. You can't get it out on the rez, so why not make it ourselves?"

Since the demise of The Shack, Begay said there are no affordable public music venues. Many tribal musicians play small shows in private homes. Sometimes groups have impromptu concerts outside on reservation lands.

"We also do outback shows in the boonies with a generator and lights and our own little stage," said Donovan Whiterock, 21, another musician who lives near Begay. "We need something out there."

Reggae, punk-rock, hip-hop, rockabilly and country are really big on the reservation, Begay said.

"I think people from the reservation, they want to put some demos out," said Begay, who has a mobile studio with state-of-the-art equipment and records local groups under his 320 Records label. "I help them out, out of friendship. It's seems to be growing. More and more people are starting bands — political bands, or personal bands, we'll still help them out."

Hunter RedDay, who is half-Navajo and half-Dakota, a percussionist in Peoples' Crew, said most youths don't see the bigger impact the music makes.

"All of us try to get together as much as we can," RedDay said. "Music has always been political. A lot of kids doing this don't really see the whole picture of how significant that is — playing music and coming together and expressing themselves. It's kind of the practice of the ceremony still, but set in the modern times."

He said country-Western has always been popular on the Navajo Nation.

"They played in the honky-tonk bars; those are the ones who actually make a living out on the rez," he said. "The first radio stations on the rez were from Oklahoma City — Willy Nelson, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash."

Punk has been a big influence on the reservation, and Begay's Downplay group has a huge following, RedDay added.

"That's the one thing that keeps the kids out of trouble — the music, the underground scene," he said.