'Reservation Dogs' soundtrack showcases Oklahoma and Native American musicians

When Lil Mike and Funny Bone consider their entertainment career, it's easier for the Oklahoma City sibling duo to list where they haven't performed, rather than try to reel off a full list of where they have played.

"We haven't done a bar mitzvah. ... Or is it bat mitzvah?" Lil Mike told The Oklahoman. "We ain't done one of those."

"But we're booking all the time. We do it all. We've done churches, schools, nightclubs, the world's largest strip club in Vegas, daycare centers, funerals," Funny Bone added. "We shorties, and we did go on tour with the Extreme Midget Wrestling."

Collectively known as Mike Bone, the Native American brothers, who both stand about 4 feet, 8 inches tall, have performed together as rappers, songwriters, motivational speakers, comedians, dancers, "America's Got Talent" standouts and, lately, as television actors.

Lil Mike and Funny Bone, who are Pawnee and Choctaw, play fan-favorite recurring characters Mose and Mekko on the hit streaming series "Reservation Dogs," including an appearance on the Season 2 finale debuting Wednesday on Hulu.

"It's been a blessing," Funny Bone said from the Warr Acres studio where they often record. "It was cool to just kind of be us and play ourselves. ... Then, the fact that they using our music is a plus, because we are rappers, which is what a lot of 'Rez Dogs' fans don't know, is we actually do make music."

Made in Oklahoma, 'Reservation Dogs' showcases a wide array of music

Filmed primarily in Okmulgee and set in the fictional community of Okern, "Reservation Dogs" has blazed trails since it debuted last year: It not only emerged as the first mainstream TV show on which every writer, director and series regular performer is Indigenous but also became the first full-time, scripted network television series to film entirely in Oklahoma.

The streaming series - co-created and executive produced by Oscar-winning New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi ("Thor: Love and Thunder," "Jojo Rabbit"), who is of Maori ancestry, and Tulsa-based showrunner and moviemaker Sterlin Harjo ("Barking Water," "Love and Fury"), who is Seminole and Muscogee - earned a Peabody Award, two Independent Spirit Awards and a Gotham Award in its first season. The show has gained momentum in Season 2 and last week was renewed for a third season to be released in 2023.

Along with acclaim for its Native representation and authentic storytelling, the coming-of-age comedy has garnered praise for showcasing a wide variety of music, from The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and Sturgill Simpson's “Turtles All The Way Down” to Wu-Tang Clan's "Protect Ya Neck" and Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Cherubical Hymn."

As with the series' other aspects, Harjo and his team have showcased an array of Native American musical talents - Redbone, Blackbelt Eagle Scout and Link Wray, among others - as well as a myriad of Oklahoma musicians, including Wanda Jackson, John Fullbright, JD McPherson, Jacob Tovar, Turnpike Troubadours, The Call and more.

"It's some of my favorite musicians, so it's an easy thing for me to just grab some songs and throw 'em in there. It's a lot of my friends. ... So, you get your friends paid, but also they're great musicians. And to include them, I think it helps set the tone for the show," Harjo told The Oklahoman in a 2021 interview.

Several musical acts featured on "Reservation Dogs" are both Oklahomans and Native Americans, including Mike Bone, Penny Pitchlynn, Samantha Crain, the late Lee Hazlewood and Sten Joddi, who played "Greasy Frybread" rapper and deadbeat dad Punkin Lusty in Season 1.

"It's made for anybody to enjoy, but there's all of these weird cultural inside jokes that I think make it even doubly more entertaining for Native people to watch, because we've just never seen it ... on a television screen," said Crain, who is Choctaw.  

"People from Oklahoma, even if you weren't involved in the show at all, everyone sort of has this ownership of it. It's like, 'This is our show.'"

Here's what three Oklahoma-based Indigenous music acts had to say about having their songs on the show:

'Reservation Dogs' supplies 'life-saving opportunity' for Mike Bone

In one of many moments of life imitating art on "Reservation Dogs," Lil Mike and Funny Bone's Mose and Mekko show up to a vigil for a dying grandma with a few of their CDs for sale, just in case.

"We kept getting booked for funerals because the person deceased was a fan, and their family wanted to remember them in a positive light. ... We got booked so many times for different funerals that we wrote a song on our 'Beat of the Drum' album called 'After Party'; it says, 'we will meet again at the after party.' You can dance to it," Funny Bone said.

"Being independent, you gotta hustle everywhere. You got to do your own hustling, and this show picking up the music has been a monumental push. It's dope," Lil Mike added.

Along with playing the characters who are the proverbial eyes and ears of the neighborhood, the faith-based rappers' songs like “Welcome 2 Oklahoma," "Frybread Snackin" and "Pop Pop" have been showcased on the series and in its advertising.

"It was a life-saving opportunity for us when COVID hit. We were quarantined, and our tour dates just crashed on us — and we had some major paying tour dates," Funny Bone said.

"For a whole year, we were trying to figure out how to sell our merch and music online ... and it wasn't really making us enough money to survive," Lil Mike added. "Our manager was like, 'They're auditioning for something in Tulsa. I don't know if it's anything. I just know it's a paying gig. Do you want it?' And I was like, 'Heck, yeah.'"

The script originally had Mose and Mekko written as 11-year-old twins. Although they bear some resemblance, Lil Mike, 41, and Funny Bone, 36, are neither kids nor twins.

"We're the same size as 11-year-olds," Funny Bone said with a chuckle. "We auditioned, and they loved it. So, they picked us up, and it just took off from there. ... It's such an amazing experience."

'Reservation Dogs’ showcases songs from two of Penny Pitchlynn's bands

Along with playing bass for Tulsa-based indie rockers BRONCHO, Oklahoma City musician Penny Pitchlynn, who is Choctaw, performs with her solo project LABRYS. Songs from both bands have been featured on "Reservation Dogs," including a LABRYS track on this week's sophomore season finale.

"Sterlin had told me I might have another song or two in upcoming episodes, and he just was telling me that he thought my vibe fit the show. It's almost funny because it's like, 'Well, of course it does.' I'm from Oklahoma, I'm Native, and it's just cool that there's this outlet," she told The Oklahoman. "We're Native, Oklahoman artists, so our styles and our voices match what they're doing."

Although she didn't grow up on a reservation like the show's characters, Pitchlynn said having music on the show has helped her connect to her Native community.

"Growing up in Norman and Oklahoma City — not on the reservation — I was not really super connected to many other Indigenous artists until becoming good friends with Sterlin Harjo and Samantha Crain. I hadn't really felt like I fit in that world … with Native artists because I wasn't raised traditionally," she said. "So, feeling linked into my community … and the amount of support from both other Native artists and Native people has all been really cool."

Samantha Crain lends distinctive voice to show's emotional moments

A Norman-based singer, songwriter and activist, Crain has heard her songs featured on TV shows like "Resident Alien," "90210" and "Hung," in the feature film "The Dark Divide" and in the short documentary "Unreserved: The Work of Louie Gong."

"I feel really happy when I see a song that I've made be able to help tell a visual story," Crain told The Oklahoman.

But "Reservation Dogs" has provided a special showcase for Crain, especially since she and Harjo have been friends and collaborators for the better part of two decades.

"Sterlin has helped me in so many ways through the years. ... I just feel really grateful to be able to help in any way (for) Sterlin and his writers to tell this story," she said. "If something that I've made can help that along ... I just see this as another form of collaboration in our relationship."

The Shawnee native has lent her distinctive voice to some of the show's most emotional moments, from her haunting song "Joey" in the pilot episode to her powerful cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "Time After Time" in last week's penultimate episode of Season 2.

"I definitely know that I’ve found new fans from having my songs on the show. ... But I've seen how much the show affects people — and it affects me. I cry every episode because it's just so amazing to see a part of me represented in a way that it's not been represented before," she said. "That's definitely the thing that's most, I think, close to my heart in this."

'Reservation Dogs' season finale

The Season 2 finale of "Reservation Dogs" debuts Wednesday exclusively on Hulu. The show has been renewed for a third season, which is expected to stream in 2023.

"Reservation Dogs" films primarily in Okmulgee, the headquarters of the Muscogee Nation, and additional filming has taken place in Tulsa, Sand Springs, Beggs, Inola and Terlton. The coming-of-age comedy centers on four Native American teenagers living in the fictional small Oklahoma town of Okern.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Reservation Dogs' highlights Oklahoma and Native American musicians