By Tyrone Sitting Eagle
Armond Duck Chief is a dedicated professional and accomplished recording artist who has worn many hats throughout his career. He has worked as a youth mentorship counsellor and earned his bachelor’s degree through his studies at Lethbridge College and Athabasca University. He has also proudly served as a Councilor for Siksika Nation.
While highly skilled in many areas, Armond has consistently and tirelessly pursued his passion for music. His debut album, Country Groove, surpassed 1 million plays across all streaming platforms, marking a strong entrance into the music industry. Since then, he has released three albums and four singles, continuing to build his presence and audience. His most streamed song, Broken Down Cowboy, has reached an impressive 944,000 plays on its own.
In 2016, Armond was nominated for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards, further recognizing his impact and contribution to music.
Recently, Armond released his new album, This Ain’t Your First Rodeo on January 30th of this year, marking his first album in four years. Since then, he has released a couple of singles, with his most recent being “Ride With You” in 2025. In an interview with Siksika Media, he mentioned that the album had been in the works for quite some time and that he wasn’t planning anything major for the immediate future.
While recording his singles and working on another feature song, “Indian Cowboy,” for APTN’s Amplify, Armond began developing the idea for an EP. At the time, “Indian Cowboy” had not yet been released, but it quickly became one of the songs that motivated him to start another album. The track ultimately made it onto the album’s final release.
“During that time, I had released three singles, with the Amplify song ‘Indian Cowboy’ not yet released. That’s when I started to get the idea of an EP,” Armond said in an interview with Siksika Media.
He also mentioned that once the idea was set in his plans, he went straight to the studio and began recording. “I started going into the idea of an EP, so that’s what I did. I went to the studio, started recording last summer, and began to pick away at it,” Armond added.
With that, he began pulling the songs together and producing the album alongside John Thiel of Horizon Music, who also serves as the album’s guitarist. Armond said Thiel was instrumental in shaping the project and capturing the exact sound he was looking for. “Oh yeah, he understood the assignment. He captured the sound and does all the guitar work in there. He also produces the album. It was an ongoing thing I had going on over the past few years, but we really buttoned down on it last year,” Armond explained.
When it comes to writing his songs, Armond has stuck to the same methods he’s used since he first started—just him and his guitar, playing chords and writing lyrics whenever he has free time. When he’s writing, he’ll lay an idea down, and if he begins to like what he’s creating, he continues moving forward in that direction.
As for the song This Ain’t Your First Rodeo, it became the main track during the writing process and helped define the overall sound of the album. It introduced a heavier and somewhat different style, which was exactly what Armond was aiming for, as he wanted to bring a newer sound into this project.
Looking ahead to future projects, Armond isn’t planning to release any new music in the near future. Now that the album is out, he wants to enjoy watching it to gain attention while focusing on booking shows and promoting it. Over the past few years, he and his band have been extremely active, performing close to 75 shows a year and traveling extensively on the road.
In conclusion, he has been a strong role model in the community, especially within the Indigenous community. As Armond continues to gain recognition across the globe, he has helped put Siksika on the map. You can find his music on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Be sure to stay up to date through his Facebook page, Armond Duck Chief Music, where he is most active and regularly shares information about upcoming performances.
