In 1990s, I was walking by a booth at the Mill Ave Arts Fair in Tempe, Arizona. A man in an art booth called out to me with a cedar flute held out in his hands saying, “You HAVE to learn how to play this flute! I am gifting this flute to you!” That moment began my almost 3 decades long love of playing cedar flutes.
I became friends with Stephen DeRuby and hand-painted a large ‘Love Flutes’ banner for him to use on his booths while selling flutes at art fairs.
When I first met Stephen, I was not a singer or musician. The Woodland flute in the key of ‘A’ that he gifted me led to drumming, drumming led to singing (and buying 2 more of his love flutes) and singing led me to playing guitar and other stringed instruments, and all of this led me into becoming a professional musician.
I wonder if Stephen could sense my musical future that inspired him to gift me with my first ‘A’ flute? … or was he planting the seed? . . . or both?
Thank you Stephen for your great inspiration and cosmic vision!
Happy Graduation Stephen! May you walk in beauty wherever you be!
December 26, 1948 – February 22, 2016
Stephen DeRuby’s NativeLoveFlutes.com website archived on the Wayback Machine on March 28, 2002.
Stephen DeRuby’s DeRuby.com website archived on the Wayback Machine on October 21, 2016.
