"From the start, when it was the instrument of the wood-god Pan, the flute has been associated with pure (some might say impure) energy. Its sound releases something naturally untamed, as if a squirrel were let loose in a church." --Seamus Heaney "Flute music is love...
Well……….ok then. 2007 is about to lose power, and come slamming into the tarmac, blowing open the doors to 2008. You folks --collectors, recording artists, enthusiasts and novices of the flute world, as well as everybody in between -- have again validated my desire to...
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) “The greatest thing you can do is surprise yourself”. Anonymous Both of these quotes resonate with me this month. Life seems to be all about raising the bar, on a daily basis. When I...
Ok then. Back from Oklahoma. Hung out with the relatives for a couple of days before Oklahoma’s first flute festival,…. Held in Keys/Tahlequah. Highlights of the visit included finding out the relatives are all much older than they used to be, while I'm much younger;...
“The real risks for any artist are taken in pushing the work to the limits of what is possible, in the attempt to increase the sum of what it is possible to think.” - Salman Rushdie My flutes, your fingers, and some changes. Your fingers aren’t changing…….but my...
I thought I would take a few moments … and answer a couple of the questions that you folks, over and over … have never asked. For example … “Why did you stop painting altogether, after 30 years, and begin building flutes instead?” Funny you should ask. I suffered...
About 3 weeks ago, I dragged my wife down I-10 into Arizona for 4 days. Specifically, we went to Quartzsite, AZ on a buying safari for gemstones and other oddities of inlay for my flutes. During the months of January and February, that particular eastbound speed bump...
A couple of words to, and about NA flute players, those of you who play in your sleep. You folks take a wooden tube with standard pentatonic tuning,……and turn it completely upside down. This is just what you do. You have taken my flutes, and made noises and notes I...
As 2006 comes careening into the station, I want to wish everyone who stumbled upon my website/blog, a joyous and healthy holiday season. I truly do. Thus far this year, over 5,700 of you folks have visited flutes, totalling over 29,000 pages on my site. I'm glad you...
Happy Holidays...to all of you folks who celebrate stuff that occurs during the next few weeks. Ordinarily, for me, ...it's Christmas. But this year will be somewhat subdued. The festivities are in Oklahoma, and its cold, and windy, and I don't want to walk around two...