Following the Flute Road East

Fall came overnight here in southern New Mexico’s Mesilla Valley along the Rio Grande. Then almost 80 degree days meant lots of yard work for the industrious. Our 14 Pecan trees require lots of love and soon they will freeze the husks and be ready for harvesting. That is a serious task that usually means lot of hot baths and Aleve. A Harvest Full-Moon this week was astonishing and beautiful. I find myself busy as ever managing my career and time. I had a couple of weeks off preceeded by shows in a Cave in Boerne, TX, Austin, Dallas, Arlington and back again. I played this week for the Hospice Candlelight Memorial and it was as moving as ever and the most people they’ve had. For the first time it was in their expanded facility and I’m very proud of them for the work they’ve done and the $6million they raised for the expansion.

Full Moon Rising over the Organ Mountains in southern New Mexico. November 2

Saturday Nov. 7th I’ll return to the Dona Ana Arts Council’s Renaissance ArtFaire. I’m really glad. Wasn’t sure if they were going to include me due to mid-stream staff changes, but I talked them into it. I always enjoy it and the 30,000 people who attend do as well. We are so lucky to have the best November weather. It is always deep blue skies, dry air and in the mid 70’s. They put a dragon in the moat and have giant smoked turkey drumsticks, the best pastrami and kosher dills this side of New Jersey and lots of entertainment. I will be on the Rio Grande stage Saturday at 11:30 and 3:30 playing my Native flutes, Hang drum and singing up a storm. I’ve invited a dancer, Terry Alvarez, and a cellist from la Cella Bella, Allison Reynolds, to sit in with me should be fun. Here is a link to some press about the RenFaire as well call it http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-sunlife/ci_13680330

A Place Called Peace continues to receive great reviews and of course winning the Indian Summer Music Awards in the Flute category is something I am so proud of because it was a blind judging and not a popularity contest. Beating out a Grammy® and several NAMA winners really didn’t mean much other than it validated that if you express yourself from the heart 100% and have faith in your music you will be recognized and heard. A music journalist who is the most sought after critic in the New Age genre said “there is deep feeling here, and that is something you can’t fake” as Bill Binkleman said in a review on NewAgeReporter.com. You can read the full review here: www.randygranger.net/REVIEWS.html I found out this week that I’ve been invited to perform and conduct a flute playing workshop at the 2010 International Native American and World Flute Association’s conference in Eu Claire, Wisconsin and am delighted and happy about it. Learn more about the conference at http://www.worldflutes.org/

Sunday I am on my way to Florida, Melbourne specifically for the 1st Native Rhythms Festival November 13-15. This is a new festival put together by the Indian River Flute Circle, a whole host of passionate volunteers and sponsors. I will be performing solo as well as with Michael Graham Allen, aka Coyote Oldman. Mark Holland and N. Scott Robinson, Jonny Lipford, Jan Sieden, Clint Goss, Doc Green and other musicians will be there along with Native American Flute makers and other crafts people. I will also be one of the judges for the Flute Playing Competition which will be an honor. I am excited also because a few NASA launches are scheduled while I’m there and Cape Canaveral is just miles from Melbourne. I love Florida’s people and food. I will be travelling through San Antonio, New Orleans, Tampa, Savannah, Macon and hopefully Arkansas depending on the weather. Originally the Poet Wayne Crawford would be travelling with me and we scheduled performances from our collaborative CD “Oasis Bound” however, his duties as poetry editor, Arts Council work and more piled up so I’ll be driving alone and may or may not book a gig in your town… Of course, if you have a flute circle or would like a house concert get in touch with me. My Hang drums are always a real hit especially when people hear them for the first time. I always look forward to bringing my unique Native American flute music from a trained musician, healer and native New Mexican perspective. My own ancestry is so rich with peoples who journeyed far, held rituals, were seers and resilient. I’d like to think they all meet in my Heart—and that is where the music is made.

Randy

Here is a video of the Police song Every Breath You Take on Native flute and Hang drum. Enjoy.

Finding the Updraft

Finding the Updraft

Being a working musician is not the same at working a being a musician. You do the gigs, do the time, do the practice, do the social media thing and at the end of the proverbial day you pay your dues and bills with money you’ve made trading your talent and time for money. That is the simplicity of it. The complexity of making that happen takes nerves of titanium and a resolve not even Sisyphus had rolling that rock up the hill. I heard an interview today with Stewart Copleland where he said before he drummed with the Police he would write letters after every show in different handwriting saying how awesome the drummer Steward Copeland was at last night’s show. I can relate.

In the past 30 days my music has taken me to Milwaukee, Dallas, Austin, Boerne, Chicago and points in between. Driving through west Texas I saw the Buzzards, AKA, Turkey Vultures cleaning up the road kill the TDOT never picks up, ever. Driving the 12 hours to Austin or Dallas I see the Buzzards riding the thermals, what I call the updrafts. It is so serene, effortless, and efficient. Craning my neck to admire them with their featherless heads and huge wingspan I think how perfectly their gliding accompanies Native American flute music, or vice versa. Then I remember they are Carrion, feeding on decay and death. Usually around then I think of my enemies hovering around me waiting for the same. I’d rather not think on my enemies but as Sun-Tzu said in “The Art of War” keep them closer than your friends. Recent events have reminded me of the pettiness and viciousness in the music business. Hey, it’s the same in any endeavor where you don’t share the self-imposed limitations and comfort zones of those around you—but this is not about my enemies, it is about me. The thing about ART is it needs a creator and an observer. A performer needs an audience whether it is watching you on YouTube, on their iPod or hearing you live. The exchange and communication is essential otherwise you are creating in a vacuum.

Somewhere along the way I learned the freedom of knowing that everyone and everything in my experience is of my own creation. Not in a narcissistic way but rather in what I need to learn that I missed the previous time it happened. The freedom to not be a victim of anything is liberating but comes with an enormous responsibility that “I” did this. So as I watched events unfold I imagined I was in a theater watching a movie. In this movie the haters were navigating a maze where my success and talent was a dead end so they blamed me and I took the time to indulge their delusion. Nothing is personal as Don Miguel Ruiz reiterates in his book, “The Four Agreements,” absolutely nothing. In Milwaukee my album, A Place Called Peace, won the Indian Summer Music Award in the Flute category. What rocks is that it was a blind judging where the judges had no idea who the artist was therefore judging it on things like musicianship and how the music made them feel. How wonderful is that not to have to beg and deluge your fans, friends and family to “vote for me” in this popularity contest that has nothing to do with music. Something I was reminded of when my name was inadvertently left off a Native American awards ballot recently and the organizers were so hostile to my fans (fans of Native American music I will add) that they have lost credibility. Or how a Facebook friend (let's hope no longer) reported that I was badmouthing a flute maker whose name I never mentioned. Wow, talk about circling Vultures, though vultures don’t deserve to be maligned that way.

See there I go back into being the victim I said I didn’t want to be. Ain’t easy is it? But I know that I and only I brought the bad and the good into my life. How? I was not impeccable with my word, #1 of the Four Agreements. Turns out, as I’ve said before, I’m human and in need of constant readjustment. I’m in the real world playing to audiences who sometimes know nothing about me and are paying $20 a head. I’m on YouTube, where I don’t delete comments, being called everything from God to fag, daily. I read reviews from Switzerland, get emails from Australia to Russia people saying how much they hate or love me. My online sales surprise even me, yet I panic at every new sound my car makes. I don’t take any of it personally, hate or the praise. At an open mic recently a fantastic poet and teacher at NMSU said to me afterwards, “Dang every month I come ready to give it to the man and rip the shit out of everything wrong in this world with my poetry and then you play. All that anger just leaves me and I forget what I was so pissed off about.” How cool is that? I am grateful that I no longer struggle with musical insecurity and questions of self worth. A calm assertiveness (as the Dog Whisperer always says) is in me that radiates. I know that there will never be a shortage of inspiration, confidence, determination, talent and skill. My best work hasn’t even been recorded. I know these things, I don’t have to will them, just make them happen, fearlessly, regardless of circumstance or health. I wish that same contentment to all my fans and friends. Just find the updraft and ride it.

Here is a video from a recent performance in Dallas, Texas of my soon to be recorded song, “Hello Daddy.”

Randy

HELLO DADDY

Indian Summer Music Awards - results

Well friends. I am happy to report that my CD "A Place Called Peace" has earned the 2009 Indian Summer Music Award in the "Native American Flute" Category. I am honored, humbled and in the acceptance speech I mentioned how all of my resilient ancestors meet in my heart, and that is where the music is made. I know that my experiences and life represent so many people who have lived, worked, loved and passed that I may be here today. In other words each of our lives is never a solitary thing just as each accomplishment or award is never earned alone. The Indian Summer Music Festival has been a wonderful experience. The people are warm, funny and prone to jokes about everything. These characteristics are common to so many Native cultures and a side I value.

How fortunate am I to make a living doing what my genes, talents, willpower and sacrifice allows? Very. Working musicians, poets and artists take awards in stride and perspective. We have too. The recognition is sometimes a distraction from the work we do. Even so the recognition always opens more doors, allows us to endure, to eat, the afford a life. But, the true artists are compelled to express, to create and share it with others. It is like a fountain pen, regardless of its Gold or shiny inlay, must always return to the ink bottle for its sustenance--or it couldn't write. Such is music. I guess I'm that fountain pen.....

Thanks
Randy