Perhaps the hottest young blues-based band on the circuit today is Indigenous.

They're riding high on the success of Circle, their fifth and latest album, which has stayed in the top 10 of the Billboard Top Blues albums chart since its May release.

Indigenous' guitarist, Mato Nanji, who just turned 26, has earned raves and comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Carlos Santana.

But even though Indigenous' future appears bright, the family band — Mato, sister/drummer Wanbdi, brother/bassist Pte and cousin/percussionist Horse — is perfectly satisfied with the present, thank you.

"Just getting a chance to go out and play is good enough for us. We've never really been into trying to make it to top," Mato (pronounced ma-TOW) said recently by phone from his home base in South Dakota.

"We're all trying to make music and make records, playing for music fans and go out touring for as long as we can," he added.

Roots And Styles

Circle was produced by Doyle Bramhall, a singer and drummer who had written songs with Vaughan ("Dirty Pool" appeared on Vaughan's debut album) and had played with Vaughan and brother Jimmie Vaughan in the semi-legendary Texas band the Nightcrawlers. (Bramhall shouldn't be confused with his son, Doyle Bramhall II, a fine performer in his own right, who recently participated in the sessions for B.B. King and Eric Clapton's Riding With the King.)

The album lets Indigenous show off a lot of their styles as they move from the ZZ Top blues-funk of "You Left Me This Mornin' " (RealAudio excerpt), co-written by Bramhall, to the jazzy, Hendrixian jam "Evolution Revolution" (RealAudio excerpt), where Mato is joined by guitarist Bramhall II, to the rolling "You Were the One" (RealAudio excerpt), where Mato gives his lyrics a world-weary feel evocative of Gregg Allman. ("I listened to the Allman Brothers," Mato said. "There were a lot of different bands that inspired us.")

What isn't obvious on Circle is that Indigenous, as their name would suggest, are Native Americans, proud of their heritage and of their success in the White, Black and Blues Man's land.

Some Native Americans "feel proud to have somebody up there, make them feel good," Mato said. "But I wouldn't say I represent everybody. We're just kind of doing our own thing. But everybody has been pretty supportive."

Slow Start

There was a time that Indigenous, who have just embarked on the second leg of their Circle tour, could only dream of "playing for music fans," much less touring or making records. Growing up on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, members of the Nakota Nation, Mato, Wanbdi (wom-bi-dee) and Pte (pa-TAY) had no blues club they could hang at, no touring artists passing through their isolated part of the world.

"It's pretty much all from records," the home-schooled Mato said of the band's musical education. "Before we got the chance to perform live, we'd never seen anyone play live. But our mom and our dad helped us, because my dad played with us when we started out."

Their father, Greg Zephier, was known primarily as an artist and American Indian Movement (AIM) activist, but also had played in a '60s band called the Vanishing Americans.

He provided the impetus for Indigenous with his prodigious record collection, which included the "three Kings" — Albert, Freddie and B.B.) — but also by insisting that his offspring practice at least two years before they ventured outside.

In fact, "We rehearsed, I think, four years or something like that. Then went out and started touring slowly," Mato recalled. "Yeah, it was helpful that he did that, working on the future of the band."

Indigenous made a strong early impression with their 1998 Pachyderm Records album Things We Do, cited by one critic as "what may be the most brilliant blues album of the year. ... The band from the Great Plains has crashed the big time by doing the Ghost Dance with Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan."

When asked about early role models, however, Mato points immediately to Latin-rock guitarist Santana.

Natural Chemistry

Indigenous were knocked out "the first time I heard [Bramhall's] album Bird Nest on the Ground," Mato said of the producer's 1994 debut. "Plus I've seen him. And he wrote a lot of songs with Stevie Ray Vaughan. But I actually heard his record, and it was awesome. He just became my favorite singer and one of my favorite songwriters."

Bramhall was similarly impressed with Indigenous and their range.

"This album is representative of many of their influences — rock, blues, funk, Latin and even jazz and psychedelia. There was no preproduction or rehearsal before we went into the studio, and that helped create the live feel I was looking for," he said.

Indigenous tour dates:

July 8; Toronto, Ontario; Harbourfront

July 9; Ottawa, Ontario; Ottawa Bluesfest

July 10; Syracuse, N.Y.; New York State Rhythm & Blues Festival

July 11; Rochester, N.Y.; Rochester Public Market

July 13; Charlottesville, Va.; Trax

July 14; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Pittsburgh Blues Festival

July 15; Onancock, Va.; Eastern Shore Music Festival

July 16; Norfolk, Va.; The Norva Theatre

July 17; Nashville, Tenn.; Exit/In

July 19; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Pierre's Entertainment Center

July 20; Apple Valley, Minn.; Music in the Zoo

July 21; Omaha, Neb.; Ranch Bowl

July 22; Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City Blues Festival

July 28; Crandon, Wis.; Potowatomi Northern Casino

July 29; Boston, Mass.; Riverfest

Aug. 2; Englewood, Colo.; Gothic Theatre

Aug. 4; Cardwell, Mont.; Rockin' the Rockies

Aug. 5; Pendleton, Ore.; Wildhorse Casino

Aug. 10; Portland, Ore.; Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre

Aug. 17; New York, N.Y.; Robert F. Wagner Theater

Aug. 18; Erie, Pa.; Erie Days Festival

Aug. 19; Saginaw, Mich.; Rock 'n' Blues Festival

Aug. 20; Fargo, N.D.; Blues Festival

Sept. 2; Laytonville, Calif.; Black Oak Ranch

Sept. 3; Seattle, Wash.; Bumbershoot Festival, Bumbrella Stage

Oct. 30; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Sioux Falls Arena