The Leesburg Arts Festival provided me the opportunity to do two activities I enjoy — play my flutes for listeners and sell my flutes to people who are drawn to the sound of the flute.
My WrenSong Woods tent was just a few yards from the east stage of the festival. (You can see my tent on the right in the photo above.)
I took the stage at noon to perform, with about a half dozen of my flutes on the table next to the microphone.
I had flutes tuned to the keys of Am, Bm and Dm and a clear singing Chestnut branch flute. All those flutes enabled me to play a range of songs and styles.
I played a variety of songs that show the range of the Native American style flute’s abilities, from improvised Native American style flute music to hymns to a jazz/blues number that had people dancing.
Riverwind Flute Circle friend, Deb, who I’d met several years ago at Flute Haven, joined me for some jamming duets. Tom played electronic drum, during the open mic session at the end of the day. Tom also did a great job of handling the audio for my flute playing.
Throughout the day, I talked with people about the flutes I make — both the Native American style flute and the Japanese shakuhachi flute.
Because the east stage was the location for several flute players, some of those I talked with were familiar with the Native American style flute and already had several flutes. For others, the Native American style flute was an instrument they had never heard before.
It’s always so rewarding as a flute maker to have someone hear one of my Native American style flutes and immediately know that’s the flute they must buy. The flute spoke to them. This happens more often than not these days.
If you are interested to hear what a WrenSong flute sounds like, you can hear some of my original songs played on my WrenSong flutes by clicking on the audio files on the righthand side of my homepage.
Below is a video snippet of Deb and I playing. It looks like it is sideways, but once you click “play” it will right itself.
Judy Robinson Designs & Art 