| Volume 1, Issue 1 | WebPage: http://home.earthlink.net/~scottfrancis |
January, 2000 |
Welcome to the first issue of Flute Notes, the newsletter of EarthSong Native American Flute Circle. This first issues serves to tell you a little about about EarthSong and its founder, just by way of introduction. Subsequent issues will be more informative and condensed, but will basically follow the format of this issue, and other features will be added as the flute circle grows. I hope you enjoy it.
The Meeting - Saturday, January 22, 2000 Having a list of about twenty-five people, I was certainly expecting more people to show than what did. Most, however, lived out of town, and I am still trying to locate those people. I had expected at least three others that I had notified, and one called to say she could not make it. Nino Reyos would have been here, but he was back east at the time. I am was not disheartened, however. EarthSong, I know, will grow in time, and a large part of that will be when I, myself, have grown enough to handle it. Another part of it is just having regular meetings now, letting people know it is here, and getting people to get in the habit of coming. So it was only myself, and a new woman, Margaret Heed, at this meeting. Margaret teaches making and playing the pan flute at the Community College were in Salt Lake, and I plan on taking her course this fall when she teaches it again. She had one with her, and played it for me. I look forward to making and playing my own when I take her class. She also bought along an "A"-shaped drone flute, and played it for me. It was the first time I had ever seen or heard a drone flute, and I was very intrigued by the sound of it. Marilyn also owns many other flutes, some of South American origin. Her variety and knowledge of these other flutes, as well as her teachings skills will be a welcome addition to EarthSong. |
About The Founder Originally, I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin.
I have lived in Utah since 1972. Racine is situated on the shores of Lake
Michigan. After graduating from high school, I wanted to see the ocean,
and move to California. But my girlfriend at the time had relatives here
in Salt Lake City, and I followed her out here instead. The only thing I
knew about Salt Lake was a Beach Boy song I came upon the Native American flute October 5, 1997. My wife had taken a group down to Sedona, AZ as part of a "sacred places" tour under her second business, "Sierra Earth Works". As we were heading out of town to go back to Salt Lake, we stopped in a crystal shop. I was not into the crystals, as my wife was, so I looked for something different. I browsed around and found these flutes in the store. At the time, I just thought it would be something nice to take with me hiking in the desert, a form of entertainment for myself. I bought the cheapest one I could find, and not feeling like I should play it, I bought not even knowing what it sounded like.
I felt it should have something to do with how this began with me, and I reflected back to the very first day of the Sedona trip. We had gotten up early to greet the sunrise on a hill. That formed the beginning of the song, as I thought about the stillness of the morning, and the sun slowly rising from behind the mountains, and a balloon that was in the sky at that time, far off in the distance. The song came to me in about four different parts, just different things that I was playing around with on my flute at the time. In the fourth part is where I put the intense notes I played, as part of the climax to the song. I ended up playing my flute at a party we had not long after that, and I found myself playing it at other parties, as well, getting better at it all the time. About a year and a half later, in May of 1999, I formed EarthSong. At that same time, I had decided to try playing publicly. I created a little fifteen minute demo tape of my playing, far from being anything professional, and got on the schedule to play at a Border's Bookstore. That first performance was June 19th. These were major changes for me. I was never that kind of person to head up something like EarthSong, much less to be playing in front of people. I was much more of a background guy, who did not care to be in the fore front of things. But here I was, doing these things anyway. It has taken some time for me to get EarthSong moving. There is a lot I would to do with EarthSong, but it will be a matter of time before they will be able to happen. I am very committed to EarthSong, and wanting to promote the Native American flute. If there are any that wish to share in that endeavor, there will always be things to do. Hopefully, it will not seem like work--just part of the fun we have in sharing our flutes with other people. --Wm. Scott Francis |
How It All Began EarthSong came into being in May of 1999. At the time, I only knew of three other people who played the Native American flute. One of them lived in La Verkin, Utah. The other two lived here in the Salt Lake area. In emailing them, I found myself telling them that I was thinking of starting a flute circle, but after typing it, I would pause and ask myself why I was saying such a thing. I certainly was not a person that would do something like that, but here I was, making such a statement. And I made it, not once, but three times, once to each of these people. Well, having opened up my big mouth about it, I started collecting up some information on flute circles. I also started working on a logo that could be used on business cards and such. I had no preconceived idea as to what I wanted. I started by just going to the internet to see what I could find. About all I had in mind was that it be something that reflected about Utah. To me, that meant something about the desert. I did not want the flute circle to just be called "The Utah Flute Circle" I wanted it to say something more, and have a more distinctive sounding name. Out of my past came a name that I was thought to use as the name of maybe a company. It was 'Coyote Moon'. The Coyote Moon Flute Circle. Well, that meant I at least needed a coyote. So I started by looking for a coyote. I looked at pictures and images of coyotes, and found a decent picture of one, but it was walking. I thought he needed to be sitting, baying to the moon. I took the image, and modified it in PhotoShop, and made the coyote the way he is now on the logo. It seemed natural that the coyote should be
in a desert environment, so I started looking at pictures of desert environments.
Here, I came across some pictures that were taken in Monument Valley. I
did not want to just copy these images, though. They would not work the
way they If the coyote was to be baying at the moon, it would have to be dark, so I created a dark bluish twilight. Initially, I played with the idea of placing a Kokopelli constellation in the sky, but that did not look right to me, and I discarded it. It seemed Kokopelli had to be on the design, as well, so I looked for an appropriate image of one, as well. I used a picture of a Kokopelli art piece, flattened it, taking out all the detail, and just making it a light blue to be contrasted in the sky. In asking opinions about the name, it was told to me that the name should tell something more of a story about the organization, and that "Coyote Moon", while nice, just did not fit. In looking for a name, I found it in my wife's second business, "Sierra Earth Works". I borrowed the "Earth", and came up with "EarthSong", which seemed very appropriate for a coyote baying at the moon. I looked at many different font styles, to see what style would seem to work, and settled up the Toque Display font. The last thing that seemed to be missing was a flute. Here, I borrowed again from a couple of photographs, creating my "own" flute, with fringed leather flute wraps at each end. I gave it a yellow color to match the yellow I used in EarthSong. The Kokopellis where flanked to each side of EarthSong. Having finalized the design, I felt it was destiny that EarthSong should be created. The design came to together beautifully, I thought. I wanted something that would get people's attention and interest, and would attract them to the Native American flute. It seemed it would do that very well. EarthSong was born! |
Upcoming Events One of the goals of the EarthSong Flute Circle is to be known, not just in the Salt Lake area, but all around the state. One way this can be accomplished is by holding meetings in other locations. To take advantage, however, of the wonderful opportunities we have in locations in which to play our flutes, such out of town meetings could, and will, be held in or near national and state parks, or other scenic areas located around the state. While anyone from anywhere would be welcome to come to such meetings, on occasion, we may arrange to have a special meeting that could involve another flute circle, such as the Arizona Flute Circle. EarthSong seeks to do all it can to promote the Native American flute, but it also intends to just be a lot of fun for its participants. I am hoping to be able to arrange to have the first of such outings sometime in April, and would be held at Zion's National Park, just over a weekend. This would allow for members here to meet Doug Wilson and his family, who live in La Verkin, and possibly George Mackley, who lives in Ivins. I may even open this up to members of the Montana Flute Circle and FluteSpirits listservs, as well. I would expect that if any people from those listservs come, it would be from the Arizona or Southern California Flute Circles. But you never know who would should up! The Zion's National Park outing would take place in lieu of the April meeting in Salt Lake. If there is sufficient interest in doing this, it would held on the weekend of April 21-23. We could camp within the park's campground, or on BLM land somewhere around Zion's. Everyone would be responsible for their own camp and food. Later on, when we can be more organized about such outings, we could see about arranging group meals. To get more information, please check the EarthSong web page located at:
or call my home phone number listed with my address in the 'Next Meeting' section of this newsletter. I hope you will plan to come! |
Next Meeting The next EarthSong meeting will not be held until Saturday, March 25th. It will be held from 3 until 5 p.m., or later, and will again be held at our home. Here is the information for it:
Fontaine Bleu Dr. is located on Vine St. about midway between Van Winkle Expressway and 13th East. If you are coming down Van Winkle, or up from 20th East, turn onto Vine St. at the Supersonic Car Wash on the southwest corner of where Vine St.-Highland Dr. /Van Winkle-20th East all come together. Turn north onto Fontaine Bleu. It will be level at first, but will eventually make a slight decline. We are at the bottom of the decline in a brown brick split-level home. A cement stairway goes up to the front door located to the right and above the garage door. There is a 5842 Fontaine Bleu Circle located on the culdesac right after our home. If you get on the culdesac, you will be at the wrong address.
In Future Issues In future issues of Flute Notes, I hope to provide more useful information on flutes, techniques, resources, activities, and spotlights on individual members. If you have anything you would like to see, or contribute to Flute Notes, it would certainly be welcomed!
The pictures of the cockatoo shown above are of Gypsy, a cockatoo for whom I played to once. The pictures are of her swaying to my playing the flute! |
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There are two Native American online flute circles, or listservs, that you can join on the internet. Membership is free, and it will connect you with many other people involved with the Native American flute, and other flute circles located around the nation. To learn more about these listservs, and join them, contact:
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about
it, so it gave me the idea that you must be able to surf on the Great Salt
Lake! Racine having been on the shores of Lake Michigan, I also thought
Salt Lake City would be along the shores of the lake here, too. Boy was
I surprised! I found Salt Lake, however, central to everything I wanted
to see out west, and I have been here ever since. 
The flute was by Odell Borg,
his Sparrow Hawk flute, which was advertised as a backpacking flute. It
sounded perfect for my needs. It came with an instruction manual and tape.
After getting home, I listened to the tape, and followed Odell's instructions
in learning to play it. After a couple months of learning practicing, I
started to venture out on playing my own stuff, playing, as he suggested,
to just express my feelings. Well, in the course of that, I had played this
combination of notes that just took my breath away when I played them. They
were so intense that I decided they needed to be expressed within an entire
song. In playing them, I had this feeling that maybe there was more to my
getting this flute than just to have something to play while camping. 
were, and
I felt I did not want any recognizable Utah scene in the logo, although
I could have used any number of famous Utah landmarks, such as Delicate
Arch. What I ended up doing was to combine three photographs together, stylized
it a little, and changed the color to the dark red. 
