From the West to the Atlantic

Having left my town of Las Cruces early on Sunday morning the first order was to get two large coffees and a breakfast burrito at our local Pic Quick. That could fuel me for several hundred miles. Good thing because the 9-1/2 drive to San Antonio is bleak I tells ya, bleak. Save for the wind turbines on the mesas, the prolific road-kill and constant Buzzards you see mostly the trucks in front of you. What I can never grasp is the huge amounts of dead animals on Texas and Oklahoma roads. In New Mexico we just don’t have that. The NMDOT is good about that. I do notice that none of the Deer have their heads in Texas. I understand the whole cut off the head take the antlers thing but if they are Does? It becomes unsettling after a while. I’m wondering if it isn’t the state meat of Texas.

I made my way into San Antonio. My brother is a Pediatrician and Capitan in the military and was based in SA for a while, but recently moved to Japan otherwise it would have been nice to visit. It was wet and raining but I went to the river walk and had dinner at Casa Rio which is the restaurant who takes credit for starting the idea of bringing diners on boats. It was nice to hear so many languages walking by and see the boats. Only thing it is really dark in so many of the cities I visit and after a rain especially so. I went and took some shots of downtown and had a conversation with a homeless guy with no legs. He went on and on about Texans. Turns out he is from Nebraska. I gave him a buck for his story and turned in. I have had trouble sleeping since I was a boy and still do. Sometimes I sleep and sometimes not when I’m on the road. When I was a boy I would hear loud music before the heater started. It was a combo of tambourine, drums and guitar. On top of that I saw creatures coming in and out of the walls and the occasional shadow walking the hallways. I was tortured by nightmares where I was being held down on a metal table as creatures around me cut pieces of flesh from me. You can imagine what my reaction was when I saw The Sixth Sense.

The next day I made it to New Orleans. Hurricane Ida was just ahead of me and made land that night. It was raining and windy but not much more. I walked to the Mississippi river front area near Café Du Monde. It was really dead because of Ida the bartender said. When I’m traveling alone I often eat at the bar and probe the staff for places to see or hear music etc. There was a great Jazz guitarist playing in the corner not looking very happy. I thought of how many “out of this world musicians” there are in NO all doing this kind of gig for tips. Meeting hotel and B&B owners they eventually ask about my music and instruments. So I take the time to explain about the Native Flute and Hang and have practice answering really uninformed but sincere questions about Native peoples. I see it as real opportunities to maybe inform and open dialogue, and of course talk them into buying my CD’s! I made my way over to the Mississippi and played my version of “Hallelujah” on the banks. It is a Leonard Cohen song but Jeff Buckley probably has the best know version. He drowned in the river while on tour sadly.

I stopped in Palm City Beach to break up the 10-1/2 hour drive to Tampa where my cousin lives. This was a great stop. The waves were really high and cresting white right outside my balcony. I’ve learned that states visitors center’s have free maps and books of coupons for hotels, restaurants and more so I found a place called Flamingos for a good price. It wasn’t pink however, yellow. Across the street was a place called Shuckem’s, bar-type place with local beer and lots of fried things. How can you go wrong? It is a place I had seen on the Food Network, but forgot until I saw the thousands of $1 bills covering every inch of the walls and ceilings. The story goes that he was about to go out of business and the people at the hotel across the road staples one’s and said when he needs rent money to take the bills down. My British waitress explained it all to me. I drew on the bill and stapled it to the ceiling next to the surfboard. If you go there take a pic for me please.

My cousin lives near Tampa with her partner. They are both in the TV news business and I hadn’t seen her in about 8 years. They invited me to stay with them before I went on to the festival in Melbourne. They took me down to Ybor City a cool area of Tampa. Kind of retro-hip/bohemian with a touch of Cuba. It was great and we ate at a Spanish placed called The Columbia. I wasn’t sure if that meant the Drug Cartel or the Coffee. Neither as it turned out. The tapas and salad were delicious and we laughed often. Their dog, Godiva, is a real sweetie and reminded me how much I miss my dogs. It was interesting for both of us I think, catching up and remembering what we never knew. We come from some pretty disastrous homes yet we both are pursuing happiness as well we can and don’t dwell on the past or blame anyone for our current state. It helps being wry and open about things and we are. I told her stories about our ancestors she hadn’t heard and about all the ghost stories which she was suitably skeptical about being a producer and all… I’ve included my uncle, her dad, in a song or two that I’m recording soon. He was a help when I was younger and very lost. I gave her a jar of salsa I made and carried across six states and three time-zones…

The skies have been gray and low with lots of moisture but overall not too bad. It is surprisingly cold here with a promise of blue skies and mild temps. I’m playing in the evening mostly so I hope it keeps warm for the audience. I will be playing solo and with the flutist Coyote Oldman, aka Michael Graham Allen. That alone is always worth the drive. He is a musician and flute maker I have so much respect for and happy to also call him a friend. In 2003 when I was first thinking about playing the Native American Flute I wrote Stephen Hill, Hearts of Space founder, and asked about spacey Native Flute Music and he turned me on to Coyote Oldman. Late 2004 I got my first flute from him and was moved to tears at the beauty and craftsmanship of his flutes and the sound was cooing. Five years later to be sharing the stage with him is humbling and deeply meaningful. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091113/LIFE/911130309/Rhythms+festival+honors+native+pride

Here are some things I’ve learned a few things driving so much:
• Car commercials are the same everywhere with people yelling at you.
• If you want someone to get off your bumper, turn on your blinker
• Be careful at rest stops. People are in a hurry to get to the restroom.
• The “non gourmet” coffee has way more caffeine
• Resist at all costs the leathery hot dogs in the rollers.
• A real smile can diffuse any situation you find yourself in.
• Audiobooks are the Only way to pass 12-hours drives.

Randy

Casa Grande Ruins Festival Recap

The inaugural Casa Grande Ruins American Indian Music Festival was one of those welcome, but rare, overwhelmingly positive music events that I look forward to being part of for many years to come. What makes everything good is usually one of two things: The absence of people or the quality of the people there. When you go hiking or camping and encounter no one you say, “Oh man it was great did see another person all day.” Likewise it is when you are with people whom you respect and enjoy and they you. The latter was my experience.

I had to drive six hours to Casa Grande, AZ to check into my room, and then zip back to Tucson, an hour back up the road, then back to rehearse in Casa Grande. It was tough. I was taping an interview at KXCI in Tucson for a Saturday morning program called “Brainwaves.” Thankfully Buddha Todd, the host let me tape it instead of coming up at 5:30AM, yes AM, on Saturday. Todd was gracious and the station is a converted house in Old Tucson with Orange trees in their courtyard. KXCI have been great supporters of my music and I enjoyed meeting Todd a really down-to-earth and cool guy. He showed me the mountains of CD’s the station receives of month—we’re talking hundreds and hundreds. It was humbling.

I was a little early to my interview so found a community center and park because I really had to use their facilities—one of the side effects of drinking so much coffee to stay awake… I saw a guy who had been loading drums into a truck and thought hey a musician. So I followed him, probably scaring him, and introduced myself. After we determined we were both musicians (which you can usually tell by our scraggly, stylish look) I showed him my Hang drums. He said he plays every Thursday afternoon at something called “El Tiradito” Shrine near where we were downtown. It is a fascinating story. Click El Tiradito to read more. I showed up after I was done with my HAPI drum. His name is Martin Klabunde and among many things, he leads drumming classes for high school students, leads drumming circles, plays a wide assortment of African instruments and is one of the most brilliant Djembe drummers I’ve ever met. Three of us met at El Tiradito and began to drum for the spirits. We drummed changing beats and rhythms as crowds from the Gallery and Mexican restaurant gathered. I didn’t have much time but felt a real kinship with Martin, Todd and Tucson in general. I’ll be returning. Check out Martin’s MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/portalopening We traded CD’s and I’m glad we did.

Most of the festival performers and vendors stayed in Casa Grande although the Ruins are in Coolidge a good 20 miles away. The hotels in Coolidge have comments like “stay away this place is the Bates Motel!” or “People where turning tricks in the shrubs” then a little later “They’ve really cleaned this place up the shrubs are gone.” So with my irreplaceable Hang drums and others with really costly flute inventory Casa Grande was a nicer choice. The park rangers who organized this event, especially Alan Stanz were generous hosts and we all felt really well taken care of. The Arizona mornings were brisk and the temps never really made it above 60 so it was a little chilly amidst the Hohokam ruins and giant Saguaros who look like they are waving at you… I set up a table selling my CD’s, Aromatherapy Massage oils, hand-made Jewelry and Pecans from my trees. Initially I had a note telling people to sample my open bottles of oil until a few people took them thinking them “free” samples. I added “tester” and that helped. My booth was between Coyote Oldman and Woodsounds flutes. Yikes! These are flute makers I respect immensely for the gorgeous flutes and integrity. I just drooled and didn’t buy. Whew.

I believe we experience what we attract first in our mind, thoughts, words and meditations (unconsciously or consciously). This festival was that for me. Martin, the drummer, KXCI, several people who heard the interview and actually made the one-hour drive from Tucson for my sets, performing with amazing musicians and a rugged-renaissance guy named Kevin Hoagland who does so many things well you just have to check out for yourself at http://khoagland.blogspot.com. He likes my music for some reason and was in the Phoenix area doing a Gold Show so made the trek up to Casa Grande Ruins, took the shuttle etc. to bring me a Didgeridoo he made out of an Agave stalk which was beautiful, golden and studded with inlay Turquoise. He stayed for the concert too. Now I have a new friend. We are working on producing some film of my songs since he is also has done video production for the Travel Channel among other things. See what I mean about that attraction thing? Saggio, a musician friend from Apache Junction stopped by and hung out in my booth. I always like his company. I hung out with Travis Terry, Gabe Ayala, Vince Chaffin, Lynne Nicholson, Scott August many other really cool musicians and people. Rick Dunlap and his family were there with their Moya Drums. Oh man my face still hurts from hanging out with Rick. We tease each other mercilessly laughing so hard. Rick played my Buffalo drum with me on stage during my set and his wife Linda gave me a beautiful hand-sewn drum bag after seeing I didn’t have one. Son Ricky filmed some of the sets with my camera I didn’t know how to use and took my iPod through configs I didn’t know it had…whiz.

The concerts were set up next to the Big House or “Casa Grande” which was lit up at night with an eerie glow; though as soon as the sun went down it took some serious dedication to stay as it was really cold with a brisk wind. I performed during the day a few times then with Michael Graham Allen (a.k.a. Coyote Oldman) for all of his sets. He brought some experimental rim-blown flutes with complimentary tunings to my Hang drums. That was a highlight for me to say the least. It was breezy so how he managed to make those rim blowns sing like he did is a testament to his musicianship. I had come up with a new song there at the festival on Hang, Vocals and Michael’s flutes so asked the audience to offer name suggestions. I got some pretty cool answers. R. Carlos Nakai did a beautiful set as did Travis Terry, Michael Allen, Gabe Ayala, unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear more of the other performers. Here is a video of Michael Allen and I battling the wind a bit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fxX1KGfbh0&feature=channel_page

On the final day the festival ended at 5 so after my set we were finally able to do an all performer’s Jam. Me, Gabe Ayala, Loren Russell and Park Ranger Alan Stanz tore up that stage trading solos, rhythms and had the audience moving. What a treat and close to a great festival! What was different about this festival experience from other NA flute events I’ve been to was 1) It was geared toward the broader general population 2) only about 25% of the vendors were flute makers leading to a wide variety 3) the stage set up was professional and integrated with many chairs for the audience and for me it was free of the politicking, lobbying and egoistic atmosphere that I feel has hurt some of our gatherings. Speaking for myself it seemed that I was taken seriously as a professional and was allowed to do what I do best—this wasn’t the ‘audition’ this was “Hey you are here for a reason and the audience is too, so go make some magic.” I hope I did. I know I’m going back next year. See you there.
Randy