(Ulihelisdi)
(Cherokee for “Welcome”)
Osiyo (Cherokee for “hello”)…
Welcome to the cyber home of Turtle Mound Flutes. Native American style flutes sing a soothing, meditative song that many believe has a healing power. Turtle Mound Flutes shares this belief and promotes the making, playing, and listening to these wonderful instruments.
Let me walk you through what you will find at this site…
Native American Style Flutes
We craft high quality wooden flutes in the Native American style, each themed with images of an animal. In tribute to my Cherokee heritage, I give each flute the Cherokee name for its animal. Check out our most recently made flutes on our Themed Flutes/Flutes 4 Sale page, and examples from earlier flutes on our Themed Flutes/Previous Themes page.
As the popularity of our flutes has grown, so have been the orders for custom flutes. If you can envision a theme for your special flute, let’s talk about making it a reality. See examples of some of our custom work on our Themed Flutes/Custom Flutes page.
Johnny Kee Performer Series Flutes
From our earliest flutes, we have focused on our animal and custom themed flutes, described above. When Johnny Kee emerged and needed flutes in keys he didn’t have for the flute solos and duets on his recordings (see below), we made him our standard flute, but without the carvings and artwork.
It turned out that other flute enthusiasts familiar with our flutes were also interested in a Turtle Mound Flutes quality flute without the artwork for a lower price. The first batch quickly sold. Thus was born the Johnny Kee Performer Series flutes. These are made with the same care and attention to detail as our themed flutes, which are made together in common batches. These are not inferior “student” or “beginner” flutes, but of the quality expected by performers for studio or stage.
Knock-About Flutes
In addition to our wooden flutes, we also make a more rugged version of this style flute that we call our Knock-About Flutes. These use a heavier gauge of PVC than most similar flutes and have the sound mechanism crafted in the same manner as with our wooden flutes. This produces a sound that more closely resembles that of wooden flutes than most other PVC flutes on the market. In a “blind” sound test, many find it challenging to distinguish between the sound of a wooden flute and our Knock-About-Flutes.
In addition to providing a lower cost option for the first-time flute buyer, many of our Knock-About Flutes are bought by experienced players to have an extremely durable flute to keep in their cars, throw in their suitcase for travel, take back-packing, or just knock-about with.
In 2014 we added bigger bore flutes in the lower, more mellow keys of F, E, and E♭ to our long standing A, G, and F# flutes. We can also make the slightly higher pitched B and B♭ flutes with the same bore diameter as the A flutes. Check them all out on our Knock-About Flutes page.
Johnny Kee CDs
Our flute maker’s alter-ego, Johnny Kee, now has 2 CDs available (with work underway on a third). The vocals on each album are accompanied by instruments including guitars, banjo, autoharp, and percussion. Each song on both of these CDs features at least one flute solo or duet. The flutes used on these albums were made by Turtle Mound Flutes.
The first had national and personal history. The album, called Echoes From the Trail, comprises 12 songs from the Cherokee Hymn Book (the first book published in the Cherokee syllabary back in 1829) in memory of the tragic Cherokee Trail of Tears (1838-1839). The vocals on this CD are all sung in Cherokee.
The second takes Johnny Kee back to his folk music roots in the so-called “folk music revival” of the late ’50s and early ’60s. The album is called Johnny Kee, Storyteller, consisting of 12 of Johnny’s favorite old folk and gospel songs that tell a story. Featured on this CD is Johnny’s original song, called The Great Galveston Storm telling of the hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900, killing 8000 people.
Click here to go directly to Johnny Kee’s web page to learn all about these CDs, including 60-second samples and back stories on each of the songs on them. That page also includes information on ordering your copies.
See Who Is Playing Our Flutes
Our Turtle Mound Flutes instruments have found their way into the hands of some outstanding musicians. Below are some of them:
We are most appreciative of the support from Painted Raven, (left to right) Holly Harris, Kimberly Kridler, and Annette Abbondanza, shown here with their personal flutes from Turtle Mound Flutes. Note that these professional performers also have our Knock-About Flutes.
Painted Raven
(Annette Abbondanza, Holly Harris, & Kim Kridler)
Drawing inspiration from Mother Earth, Native culture, nature and wildlife, and combining the ancient Native American flute with today’s modern instruments and musical styles, is what creates the signature sound of Painted Raven, the Native American flute and World Music band featuring Annette Abbondanza, Holly Harris and new member Kimberly Kridler.
Annette, Holly and Kim grace the stage as one of the Native American Flute world’s very few female trios and bring with it a unique warmth, combined with an energy and diversity that truly showcases the amazing musical versatility of the Native American Flute.
Painted Raven, created in 2002, has released twelve albums to date, each one slightly different from the last. All instrumental, featuring the Native American Flute as the lead instrument combined with many other modern and ancient instruments, as well as many diverse musical styles. Their music has received multiple awards and nominations, ISMA- Indian Summer Music Awards, NAMMY- Native American Music Awards, as well as being aired on many local, national, and international radio and web broadcasts
Additional information about Painted Raven is available online at: www.painted-raven.com
Jan with John (the flute maker) at the 2008 Oklahoma Flute Festival
Jan’s soundtrack CD, featuring a song
on her Turtle Mound Flutes flute
Jan Seiden
Immediately captivating, Jan’s soulful eloquence transports listeners to an inner tranquil state, a journey of imagination and healing that endures far beyond the performance itself. Seiden’s evocative artistry on flutes from the ancient Anasazi people and other more contemporary indigenous nations flow with themes of nature and global unity.
Nominated for the 2009 Native American Music Award (NAMA), 2-time nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards, a 2006 recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, and national First place winner of the 2002 Musical Echoes Native American flute players’ competition, Jan has performed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and many other concert stages across the U.S., both as a solo artist and sharing stages with numerous Grammy-winners.
Jan has presented at numerous federal agencies, including the U.S. EPA, USDA, and Dept. of Justice DEA where she was keynote speaker. Her music carries messages of global unity, peace and personal empowerment to international humanitarian conferences and indigenous gatherings throughout the U.S. and Canada.
She has appeared on CNN Headline News / Comcast and on Maryland Public TV for her healing work with the flute as presented at national medical and environmental health conferences and various hospital patient groups at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, among others. Her work with Washington DC inner city youth was funded by a grant in 2005 from the National Endowment for the Arts and Washington DC Arts Initiative.
Jan is Composer, Recording Artist, Engineer and Producer of the soundtrack for the Chickasaw Indian play, Te Ata. Funding for her work was provided by the Ford Foundation in partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and award-winning Chickasaw playwright JudyLee Oliva. Te Ata’s 2012 season includes performances at Oklahoma City University and the Smithsonian’s NMAI.
One of the tracks on the Te Ata soundtrack features the Turtle Mound Flutes red cedar Tsulasgi (“alligator”) flute in the key of E pictured with Jan in the photo to the left.
Billy Whitefox with John (the flute maker) playing the brother Turtle Mound Flutes Uktena flutes at the 2012 Native Rhythms Festival.
Billy Whitefox
Billy Whitefox Stall is a Native American of the Southeastern Muskogee Creeks. As a tribal dancer in men’s traditional dance Billy won many awards. He then began teaching tribal dance to youth and in 1985, was gifted his first flute by a student’s father. It was a cedar flute given to him by Quana Parker, Jr., and of course this changed his life. With his interest now focused on tribal flute music, he sought knowledge from his Uncle Clyde concerning rivercane flutes.
He played his Native American Flute Music and made his Old-Style Rivercane Flutes for the next few years, until in 1998 he released his first professional CD, “Sacred Journey”.
Billy was made Vice-Chief of the Red Heart Clan of Alabama in 2003, a significant event and great honor in his life. In 2009, Billy was asked to join the Southeastern Elders Council and was re-appointed by Governor Crist to his 3rd consecutive term as a Florida State Commissioner on Human Relations.
In 2005 Billy was awarded Flutist of the Year, winning that year’s Native American Music Award or NAMA with the release of his second CD, entitled “When the Wind Sings”.
Billy shares his Creek ancestry through international recordings of Native American flute music and storytelling. He enjoys touring the country sharing his music and stories of his heritage. Billy Whitefox is also a national champion Flute Maker, well known for his old-style techniques in making rivercane flutes.
Here Mark is playing his red cedar Daksi (“turtle”) flute from Turtle Mound Flutes at the 2012 Silverhawk Flute Festival at Withlacoochee River Park, Florida
Mark McGourley
Mark McGourley is a seasoned performer and multi-instrumentalist with over 25 years of professional experience. He started his career performing bass guitar, keyboards and lead vocals in a variety of cover bands throughout the Tampa Bay area. For the past 15 years he has focused more on his acoustic guitar and vocal abilities and has become a solid solo act performing at the top venues along the Suncoast beaches.
More than 20 years ago Mark’s mother gifted him his first Native American flute and he has been playing and composing on it ever since. He has written several hundred tunes largely inspired by nature and many of these peaceful songs are based on melodies created with the NA flute. His original performances feature selections which are sure to soothe the soul from his debut CD titled “Universe Dance” as well as tunes from his second album focusing on NA flute, guitar and percussion.
In 2009, Mark performed as guitarist with world premier NA flutist R. Carlos Nakai and multi-Grammy nominee world percussionist Will Clipman. Over the past several years Mark has performed at several NA flute festivals and events in the U.S. and his performance of “Kokopelli’s Dance” is featured on the “Live from the 2010 Native Rhythms Festival” compilation CD along with many of the world’s top NA flute artists.
He was selected and performed at the 2012 INAFA Convention where he premiered his “Universe Dance Visual Concert” and officially released his debut CD. He also launched his first tour of the midwest to promote this powerful live show. The studio version of his music synchronized to his nature video is available on DVD and his second CD “Celestial Spirits” was released in 2013.
For more more information and audio-visual demos please visit Mark’s website at www.markmcgourley.com.