“Creative thought by artists, craftsmen, and scientists involves the subconscious reception of ideas from the future, which literally create themselves”.- Dr. Jack Sarfatti, physicist.
Holy Cow. It’s been SIXTEEN MONTHS since the last Querencia Woodwinds Occasional Newsletter. I must have been in a coma. What’s worse, I really have nothing much to show for it, except a few flutes. I married off the last of my daughters about a week ago. It was a nice ceremony, if you don’t count the part where my 40 year old, twice used, dress shoes, completely fell apart. Heels fell off, soles chipped away, everything FELL OFF. By the time I walked her down the aisle they looked like ballet slippers…… On another note, I’ve been trying to learn the lap steel guitar, without a lot of success. I own three, one of which is 65 years old. My thinking is if I own a LOT of them, they will become easier to play. My skill level has already skyrocketed up to “irritating”, and with five more, I’m thinking I could sound like Ry Cooder. Neighbors have been enjoying the light melodic flute tuning from my shop for over a decade. They are not so happy with the lap steel and my Fender amp kicked in to “Overdrive”, in accompaniment to Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Tony Joe White. I move on…….Christmas was interesting. Santa brought Tasers for my daughters, and an inflatable unicorn hat for my cat Cisco. I got a pillowcase thing called a napsack, so I could sleep sitting up, like on a bench. Lastly, in an effort to shed a few pounds, I’ve begun combining food groups, blending the healthy with the not so healthy. I present vegetables and hot cakes….stay tuned for the cookbook.
From the Querencia Flute Dept. ……. On a sad note, for any of you who follow this blog, or know this premier flute maker, Leonard Lonecrow McGann lost his battle with cancer. We in the flute making community, donated flutes for auction, cash, and anything of value, in an effort to bring Leonard home to his little farm on Difficult Creek Rd. in Virginia. He came home to throngs of well wishers from all over the nation. After a few days, all the well wishers departed, and Kitty, his wife, told me she was looking forward to a little alone time with him. He passed 7 hours later. Bill Leyden composed and recorded a song for Leonard with one of his flutes. https://soundcloud.com/bill-leyden/goodbye-lone-crow?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook Rest well Leonard.
Bill Leyden is a prolific song writer and instrumentalist, crafting lush compositions wherein the Native American flute sits center stage. I visited him at his home on Corn Squeezing Ln. high above Prescott valley AZ. By the time I got home, he had written and recorded a song for me entitled “Querencia” https://soundcloud.com/bill-leyden/querencia? The boy has some mad skills, and I was truly touched, and honored.
Somewhere buried in a previous post, I mentioned a product called the “Walk a bout”. A small self contained mic and amp system you sling over your shoulder, with about 50 programmable voices, allowing the player to create echo, reverb, and all kinds of effects while, well…walking about. I had Scott August noodle around on the thing and posted it to YouTube, because there was nothing like it available. The unit was a chore to keep happily charged, with three different sources necessary to charge it. Well, that manufacturer is out of business, for a number of complex reasons, and a former product owner, thought…”There must be a better way. He has developed a beautiful product I proudly own. It takes 6 AA batteries that last over a year. Plugging the mic into the unit turns it on, removing the mic turns it off …..That’s it. Multiple voices and contours, you can check it out via the link. If you order, please tell Charles you read about it here. http://www.litek.com/
I’m about to thin the herd of sold flutes on my website, WWW.Querenciawoodwinds.com and add 6-7 new instruments. I’m proud of all of them, but particularly the last of a second series of three, incorporating incredibly old materials in a 50,000 year old Kauri instrument. An interesting read. https://querenciawoodwinds.com/Querencia/FluteDetails.aspx?fid=7
OK then….I’ve posted pictures corresponding to aspects of this rant, but can’t figure out how to sequence them. I’m sure you can figure it out, if you got this far. In the meantime, according to TIME magazine, the one game played by children in every country on the planet…is “Hide and Seek”…………..tag, you’re it. Go outside and play.