It’s Saturday morning here in Oakhurst. I am reminiscing about the wonderful day we had yesterday at the event. There’s a wonderful collection of vendors this year, everything from flutes (of course) to drums, to Native art and some great jewelry. I was lucky to find some time yesterday to met almost all of the vendors and survey all of the great art that they’ve brought to the show this year. I plan to get more pictures today of more flutes and flute makers.
Here's Linda Dunlop, setting up the latest creation called "Baby Moyo's".
Here’s this summer’s litter of new drums by David Ferrer. I spent a bit of time in Dave’s booth yesterday “trying out” all of his latest creations. It was hard to leave his tent…
I’ve enjoyed watching David mature in this craft over the last couple years, as he started first by selling his drums at the Loping Wolf winter gathering and now he’s making drums full time and enjoying every moment of it. David lives in the Sacramento area.
The concert was a fun evening. I didn’t get too many pic’s from the concert (other than the previous post of Michael Graham Allen). I did get a few pic’s before the show. Here’s a picture of myself, Kenneth Hooper and Dan Ricketts.
Garth Brooks and Kenneth Hooper took the stage first, in a much anticipated reunion of Elysium Calling. Unfortunately, they had to fight through some problems with the sound system for their first couple songs, but I thought that they handled it professionally, and Garth was able to make light humor of the situation. They entertained with a nice sampling of songs from their albums. I am sure that they made some new fans last night.
Michael Graham Allen, (AKA Coyote Oldman) took the stage next, and provided an incredible sampling of music and sound from a variety of his historical recreations. Michael is now building (and selling) an array of flutes based on his research into all of the different flutes and flute tradition from across North America. Michael has brought these sounds back to life, and it was mesmerizing to hear him play all of these flutes. Like I said in my earlier post, I really think that Michael Graham Allen may be a living “Kokopelli”, spreading the ancient sound of the flute traditions to a new generation. Michael invited Rick Dunlop on stage for a couple of pieces, including one where Rick played him Moyo drum in an Anasazi-tuning. It was one of those magical moments of the evening.
Here's a picture of Michael Graham Allen (l) and Rick Dunlop (r)
Scott August took the stage last, and he entertained us with a selection of many of his best songs. Like Michael Graham Allen, Scott has become one of the most proficient performing artists on the Anasazi flute. When Scott combines the Anasazi with all of the sound textures that Scott is able to coax out of his computer in the studio, it’s an incredible thing.
So now I am off to day 2 of the event. But one memory stands out from yesterday. Geri Littlejohn is in town, and it was fun to see her again. I think that I hardly saw her throughout the day when she wasn’t giving hugs to someone. Geri brought Zebb along for the trip, and I think that at eight, he’s already a great “flute salesman”. He challenged me to a game of “corn hole” (tossing the corn filled bags at a target), and he beat me 11-9. I’ll remember that game for a long time.
PS – Happy Birthday to Rick Dunlop (it was it birthday yesterday). Nothing like throwing yourself a big party, complete with 30+ flute vendors and a huge concert!!
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