What a Weekend! Potomac Flute Festival

(Top to Botom) Hawk Henries, Michael Graham Allen, Jimi Morehouse & the Snoducks. Thanks to Stuart Hill for photos.

What a weekend!

Here is a photo of the snowstorm that concluded our three days of playing flutes and sharing great community at the 4^th Annual Potomac Flute Festival. The flutes you see here are all low A, an innovation of flute maker Jim Morehouse. They are made of rigid foam so there is no need to worry about playing them in a cold, damp snowstorm! They also play beautifully to boot and are a good example of the innovation showcased my many makers at this gathering. Pictured (left to right) are Gary, Jim Morehouse, Jim & Dave)

Friday saw 3 of us from the West Virginia Circle and more than a dozen of the new and very active Pennsylvania Flute Circle meet up with more than 100 other attendees from across the region for workshops, concerts, jamming & experiencing 12 different flute makers and hundreds of unique instruments. There are so many great players and musicians represented it is difficult to know where to begin but there was something for everyone – beginner to advanced and the highlights will be the only thing that doesn’t make your eyes glaze over, so I'll try to keep it short.

Playing techniques with Clint & Vera Goss is a huge highlight of the event for many players and this year Clint Goss has further refined his teaching style with three different skills workshops and a new website launch of Native Flute Background tracks. www.NAFTracks.com. Those who like to play with a CD for musical accompaniment will find all sorts of new tools at this up and running website.

Jan Seiden ran a wonderful workshop about Sacred Breath and playing flute. Known for inspiring musical ability and her understanding of healing through the flute and vibration, she is now working with Yoga and flute as well and has exciting insight on both playing with intention as well as increasing your lung capacity and well being with the instrument. Find out more about her performance schedule and Vibrational Healing Circle: Breath, Mudra and Sound at the link to your right.

Working with youth through the flute was a strong series of workshops this year. Bob Willasch had folks making PVC flutes in just over an hour! Bo Harris gave first hand account and testimony about how youth have been positively affected with the instrument as well. A vibe or theme this year among presenters (that resonated with me, anyway) seemed to be the idea that truthfully looking back to the elders and tradition in our cultures will have profound positive affect on the present. Working with youth and flutes is another part of this bridge I think. WV NAF Circle hopes to have Bob Willasch as our guest this spring for a PVC flute workshop. (Details TBD)

We had a big didgeridoo contingent this year including some super talented players like Ash Dargan & Tim Whittemore and Hawk Henries. Friday evening Ash Dargan had the audience spellbound one moment and laughing the next. He also led a very positive workshop on the Didge, its original culture, and how to… on Sunday. The energy was strong and well intentioned and old and new faces were smiling. Makes you want to go back to the practice sessions on circular breathing! Oh and let me tell you that Ash has lungs that play a flute every bit as beautifully as he does the didgeridoo. His website has been added to the list at your right too.

Michael Graham Allen (Coyote Oldman) has over 30 years of experience making, playing, recording and reviving the Native American Style Flute. His presence was clearly felt at the gathering this year. His newest effort has been the return of the Anasazi Flute. He has recreated this instrument from the 1200 year old artifacts including its scale. Hearing this instrument in it’s makers hands on Friday night was extraordinary. As a rim blown flute (in the same family as the Japanese Shakuhatsi) the instrument sounds and plays like an entirely different flute. Familiar and yet hauntingly new, we were all spending time at Michael Graham Allen’s booth trying to learn how to play one! A photo at the top here shows Michael Graham Allen in concert playing this flute. He also led a flute history workshop Saturday that was wonderful. The workshop was invaluable at demystifying some of the early and current history of the instrument as well as showcasing what he called his “petting zoo” of historic flutes and accurate reproductions.

The Ron Warren Band and Jeff Ball Band are mainstays at this event and always pack the house year after year. Ron’s band did play some tracks from the new album Morning Star, Evening Star, reviewed here earlier in 2006 and I think this album is their best. Jeff Ball’s performance featured Hoop and Fancy Dancers as part of the performance which was very high energy performance. Jeff’s newest album is The Shape of Light but I am also excited to view his DVD project Return To Balance: A Climber’s Journey at one of our next circle meetings. Jeff and his ensemble provided all of the music to the hour long documentary, which should be fun to hear.

New to this year’s event was Arvel Bird, who is a champion Scottish and Native American (Paiute) fiddler and flute player. Arvel brought versatility, cultural and historical insight and professionalism to the concert series this year. Playing with Ron and Jeff on stage 2 nights and both teaching and attending workshops in between - it was great to have him at this year’s event. I’ve never seen a musician play his entire set with a nose bleed but this man is unstoppable on stage! To say Arvel is high energy is kind of an understatement…

Hawk Henries has been coming to the Potomac Flute Festival for three years and after so many folks being taken with his playing of flute and didge someone finally asked him to host a concert. I say host because he will tell you that he does not perform or entertain per se. I was at first skeptical of this statement but was soon found nodding in agreement because while his playing is beautiful and skillful, it seems that Hawk is more about sharing his heart and perspective. How he makes his instruments, his culture, his humor, our world and his concerns about it all greatly enhance and color the session in a way that is very different than anything performers did on Friday or Saturday night. Hawk also makes all of his own beautiful instruments with only fire and hand tools at his home in Maine. His site is www.hawkhenries.com
Picture here at the top is Hawk playing one of his flutes in concert

New flutes will be coming to the next circle meeting (Saturday March 10 from 1-3pm at Randolph County Community Arts Center) and some new music as well. We will meet on a number of topics including when we might best accommodate a PVC flute workshop and when to host a flute maker at our meeting, several expressed interest this past weekend. Until next time!

March Flute Concert

March is fast approaching...
We will be meeting at RCCAC again in March; our Saturday is March 10th and we will meet upstairs as the building will be occupied by other members downstairs.

The weekend prior to our meeting there will be a great benefit concert. (this copy credited to RCCAC website, see link on this page)
"A variety of musical artists will join together on Saturday, March 3, 2007, to present a diverse concert of classical music.
The proceeds from the evening concert will support West Virginia’s first ever wooden flute festival set for last week of June 2007.

The First Annual Timber Flute Festival is sponsored by the Randolph County Community Arts Center, The Myles Family Foundation and Marshall University.

Performers will include flutist Wendell Dobbs from Marshall University, flutist Colin St. Martin from Baltimore's Peabody Institute, Brazilian classical guitarist Julio Alves , harpsichordist Jack Crotty from West Virginia University and tenor Robert Psurny from Davis and Elkins College. Dobbs and St. Martin will perform using flutes created by local craftsman John Gallagher."

Additionally the RCCAC website alerts us that the Timber Flute Festival will be this June:

First Annual Timber Flute Festival
June 24th ­ 29th, 2007
Randolph County Community Arts Center

A weeklong series of workshops and evening events for flutists interested in exploring traditions associated with wooden flutes. The first year will be devoted to 18th century Baroque and Classical flute playing and Irish flute playing.

Bear in mind that the Augusta Heritage Festival starts the following week (after the July 4th holiday) and so you could catch a new wood flute event, Augusta's first week, and then the Flute Circle meeting on June 9th!

It only seems like a long way off. Remember that if you drive fast and only look at the end of the car hood, you'll end up like the bugs you find there on a summers eve. You have to plan far ahead to get anywhere...

February News

WVNAF Circle meets at the Randolph County Community Arts Center again this month - home again - and while we are thankful for the Old Brick Playhouse the sound at RCCAC is sooo good...

Well the time is just a few weeks away, Potomac Flute Festival is nearly here.

The dates for the fourth annual Potomac Native American Flute Festival are February 23-25, 2007. The venue is the Montgomery College in Rockville, MD ( the same as for the last 3 years) The length of the festival is extended from Noon Friday through 4:00PM Sunday.

Friday Evening Concert: Flute Maker and Flute Player Michael Graham Allen (of Coyote Oldman), World-Famous Didgeridoo Player Ash Dargan, and the Ron Warren Band.

A Saturday afternoon concert will feature Native American Flute Player and Flute Maker Hawk Henries.

Saturday Evening Concert: Electric Violin Player Extraordinaire Arvel Bird and the Jeff Ball Band.

There will be dual-tracked workshops on Saturday to include beginner and advanced playing workshops. Additional details are provided in the following links - a festival schedule and a printable brochure for the event. Single Day passes are available.

Did I mention a great flute raffle, included lunch, and great times with other flute players? This is a highlight of the winter season and I know you are not playing flute outside these days! Elkins has a high of 8 degrees today!
I will give some highlights here after the fest for those who are unable to attend too - hope to have some pictures by then also. This site looks pretty blah without images to brighten things up.