Ron Warren: Blog

It’s been a ride the last few weeks of summer, with powwows, runouts and local gigs, all topped off with a visit to Seattle for Flute Quest 2007. We should have some good photos up soon, so come back and check the gallery pages.

Have a little down time now to check out some sound gear and maybe write some new songs.

Got the word that Jeff Ball’s “The Shape of Light” has received an “Indian Summer Music Awards” nomination. Congrats to Jeff and his crew. I’m proud to be a part of the project, playing keyboard on the track “Getting There”, a bliss out jam track with Jeff and his drummer, Ted Natale. Other guest artists on the project included Arvel Bird, Peter Phippen and Dawn Avery. Good friends and colleagues all. Guess all that good energy comes across to people. Find out more about the CD at Jeff’s web site, www.jeffball.net .

It's time to restock the well a little bit, so I will be away for a week or two. Hope you are getting some down time this summer, too.

good journeys. be back soon

Ron

Last Saturday, we were hanging with friends and playing a bit at the WINS powwow at Ameriacn University in D.C.

WINS is Washington Internships for Native Students. It's a great program that connects Native American Indian students with internship opportunities in federal agencies here in Washington. It's exciting to see our young people, leaders of tomorrow, getting great experience and making good contacts.

Educational opportunities are critical for the young folks in our native communties. Please support any efforts in your neck of the woods (or desert or whatever) to help them out.

It was especially good to see our friend, Jack Soto, who directs the WINS program at AU. White Oak Singers was Host Drum. It's always great to hear Will and the guys do their things. They are one of the best. Northern Boys were also there, a young, high energy drum. Exciting sound. American Indian Society was also well represented.

Ron

A whirlwind week or two, highlighted by our Echota Cherokee powwow in Alabama. Great southern drums, good people, good times.

If you are ever on Route 72 in northeastern Alabama, check out Aunt B's BBQ. Excellent ribs and potato salad. We even met Aunt B herself!

Since getting back very late Monday night, I've been finishing up a project for my talented colleague, Dawn Avery - cellist/singer/composer/etc. It's a music writing commission funded by the First Nations Composers Initiative (wado, Georgia Wettlins-Larsen). I think the official "premier" will be at the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. in the fall.

I enjoy imagining what our music might be like now if it had been allowed to develop on its own - even coming into contact with other cultures' music - without being trampled and pushed aside by European music. Our musical culture was (and is) rich, sophisticated and complex. So when I get a commission for a project like this, a so-called "classical" project, I try to approach it on our terms, using our musical traditions as models, rather than trying to imitate the European or Euro-American "classical" styles. I kind of like the way it turned out and hope other folks do, too. It certainly uses all of Dawn's considerable talents. At one point in the piece, she is to play cello, shaker and sing all at the same time - ha ha!

Heading out for Echota powwow in Alabama. This is my tribal powwow, so we are especially excited about it. We'll be hangin' with the People, sharing some music and dancing, eating some fry bread and generally having a good time.

Colyn Petersen just sent me two itty bitty flutes - one is a hi D and the other is a hi F. I usually don't like extremely high pitched N.A. flutes. They always sound like a bad cross between a penny whistle and a piccolo.

Somehow, Colyn has managed to voice his so that they actually sound like Native American flutes. It's amazing. Check them out. You can get to Colyn's web site from our links page. He's at the top.

I've been updating the links page with notes about flutemakers and good info for your flute journey. Check it out!

Many of you know Janice Torres' wonderful singing voice from her great work on "Dancing the Full Moon" and from our performances. But Janice has other passions besides music.

This past weekend, she participated as a walker in the Avon Breast Cancer Walkathon here in D.C. It was a two day event, covering a grand total of 40 miles and Janice finished the WHOLE THING!

You can still make a donation to breast cancer research in support of Janice's great effort. Just go to www.walk.avonfoundation.org and follow the links for the Washington, D.C. walk on May 5-6. Put Janice Torres into the name finder for the walk and make a donation. It would mean a lot to her and to the cause.

I don't get a chance to play my flutes with an orchestra every day. So when we were contacted by Pat Edmiston, conductor of the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra in Manassas, VA, about playing with them, I jumped at the chance. Pat had heard "White Oak Canyon" from the Heartbeats of the Forest World CD and wondered if I could arrange it for string orchestra and then come down and play it with them on their April 28 concert.

Pat and the orchestra players were very gracious and gave the piece a lovely reading. My Colyn Petersen F# had all the warmth to meld with the strings and a big enough voice to be heard without being amplified.

Photos should be up in the gallery soon.

Next up - Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, May 12, then the whole band goes to Jamestown for the so-called "400th Anniversary of America" weekend, complete with Queens and Presidents and so on. We play on Sunday the 12th on the Heritage Stage at @2:00. I expect it to be a very weird time...

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places on the planet. In fact, some of the music on "Heartbeats of the Forest World" and "Dancing the Full Moon" was inspired by the place.

So, I was especially honored when the Friends of Blackwater invited me to provide music for their Eagle Festival a few years back. It has become an annual event for us and one that I always look forward to.

This year was special because the Refuge, with the help of the Friends of Blackwater, opened a lovely new Visitors' Center, complete with observation decks, spotting scopes and web casts of Eagle chicks in the nest.

I spent the day playing in the new center (Janice would occasionally join in on drum or shakers), visiting with friends on the staff and with friends visiting from the Carry Murray Nature Center.

It's always a special delight to share the flute with young people and there were a lot of them around. Many of them had never heard Native flute before. Their big smiles were a nice reward. We noticed later in the afternoon that some people were bringing their infants by to be "calmed" by the flute. Apparently it was working. One of them went to sleep right before our eyes.

There will be photos in the gallery soon, so check back...

February 23-25 was our Fourth Potomac Native American Flute Festival here near Washington, D.C. It's produced by our local flute circle - www.potomacflutecircle.net - and was hosted by Montgomery College, Rockville as part of their World Arts Festival. Many thanks to the Montgomery College Arts Institute and Dawn Avery for the support.

It's always a great time seeing old friends, sharing new ideas and instruments and meeting new flute enthusiasts.

I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Michael Graham Allen (Coyote Oldman), Ash Dargan, Arvel Bird, Jeff Ball and Dawn Avery along with my entire band. Don't get to do things with the whole band very often, so it was a real treat.

Flute and drum maker Dana Ross (Chickasaw) gifted me with a beautiful seven sided elk hide drum with sassafras stain decorations. Beautiful, powerful sound.

I was especially happy to spend some time with Colyn Petersen, maker of my signature flute series, his wife, Kitty and their precocious son, Sam. You can see Colyn and Kitty's amazing work at www.woodlandvoices.com.

There should be some photos from the festival up in the gallery sometime soon, so keep checking back.

A couple days after the festival, I was fortunate enough to spend a day in the recording studio with two of my favorite musicians, but more about that later...

If you've never been to a Native American flute festival, treat yourself and go sometime. Good people and good times. There are getting to be quite a few around the country. Most of them are listed at the INAFA web site - www.worldflutes.org - and at The Flute Portal - www.fluteportal.com

All of us fluties here the D.C. region are busy prepping for the fourth annual Potomac Flute Festival coming up Feb 23-25. My band is getting a couple new charts ready and we've been planning some jams with other featured artists. Coyote Oldman, Jeff Ball, Hawk Henries, Arvel Bird on fiddle and Ash Dargan on didge. Plus workshops and great flute makers. This is a weekend not to be missed. If you can, come and join us. Full details and registration forms are at www.potomacflutecircle.net

Yesterday, Janice and I had a performance in Alexandria, VA at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. This congregation was established in the mid-1700's by Scottish immigrants. The English colonial authorities distrusted them so much that they were forced to hold services year round with the windows wide open so government spies could hear what was going on.

On a day like yesterday, that would have been uncomfortable. It was cold and snowy. Normally, it takes less than an hour to get from my place to Alexandria. Yesterday, it took almost two hours to get there and three to get back after the concert. While loading out gear, we also got stuck in the church elevator for about half an hour. The Alexandria fire department came to the rescue - complete with sirens and flashing lights. It was all very exciting.

Anyway, the congregation produces the "Concerts for a Cause" series, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for good things over the years. This year, the focus has been on Katrina relief. It gave me a chance to talk a bit about some of our native peoples in the region who have suffered greatly. Our program included traditional songs and stories, songs from "Dancing the Full Moon" and "Morning Star, Evening Star" and my song for flute and voice based on a poem by Muskogee writer/musician Joy Harjo. The congregation provided a very nice reception afterwards where we were able to chat with some of the folks who had braved the weather to hear us.

We were honored to be a part of this series and grateful that, in spite the snow storm, more than fifty people turned out, including a couple from Minsk, Russia (well, what's a little snow if you're from Minsk...). On the way down, we were trying to guess how many people would show up. Our over-under was about 8, so we were impressed.

A big wado (thanks) to Wayne Earnest, the organist of the congregation and director of the series, who invited us to be a part of a good thing. And also to the Alexandria Fire Department for getting us out of the elevator...

donada

Ron

osiyo. This is the new journal feature. Check in here regularly. I will using it as my flute journey diary. You can think of it as your online back stage pass.

donada

Ron

Welcome to our new home!! There are many new and exciting things available on this new & improved site, so feel free to browse around. Pick up a cd or two (or three) while you're here. And please drop us a line if you like what you see or if there is something you'd want to see. Come on in and Join the Dance!!!