BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

Inspired by his book of the same title, “Of Mist and Stone” is the 29th album for Native flutist John Two-Hawks — and marks his return from a Covid-induced pause.

“After a four-year hiatus from creating new music, and a global pandemic that caused so many of us to stop, be still, and rethink things, I feel the time for this new music could not be more aligned,” says the Eureka Springs musician. “This new ‘Of Mist and Stone’ album is the musical expression of what the words in the book [‘Of Mist and Stone: A Journey into the Mysterious Oneness of Two Ancient Worlds’] allude to: that the ancients had access to a great, energetic power, and that the secret passageway into reconnecting with it is sacred music, song and sound.

“The song titles are each a line from a 3,500-year-old poem by the powerful Celtic druid Amhairghin,” he adds. “There are 13 lines, thus 13 songs, just as there are 13 lunar cycles in a year. I marvel at the thought that the words from a poem recited by a druid so long ago are circling back again to speak their power into music in another age, music which itself circles back to the ancient time from which the words of the poem were first uttered.”

Two-Hawks answered four questions for What’s Up!

Q. It’s not unusual for you to bring Indigenous and Celtic music together. Why do the two work in such harmony?

A. On this album, you will hear Native drums and flutes played with Celtic styling. You will hear the enchanting way Irish and Native flutes dance together with each other. You will hear the seemingly impossible blending of the gentle Native flute with the powerful voice of Scottish bagpipes. And you will hear the magical sound of the ancient symbol of Irish resistance — the harp — delicately blended together with Native flutes. I feel the reason Indigenous and Celtic music emote so harmoniously with one another goes back to those ancient threads of synchronicity the two share. There is an inherent mysticism and earth-based energy in both musical expressions. Both the Celts and Native people use the drum, the flute and the voice in ways that speak to the primal part of our being and call us back to the sacred circle where wisdom, honor and knowledge await our return.

Q. What other instruments are played on the CD? And what musicians collaborated on those instruments?

A. Brother Seamus Byrne of Wicklow, Ireland, who collaborated with me on our “Traditions” album in 2002, returns once again to offer the stirring sounds of his Celtic boxwood flute and the energetic rhythms of his Irish bodhran. My right-hand man and longtime musical comrade and collaborator, Van Adams, contributes his moving guitar compositions to several songs on the album. And I am so pleased to have the powerful Gaelic voice of the Scottish Highland bagpipes, played by Andy Reid, and the mystical, enchanting music of the Irish harp, played by Rebecca Hazlitt, each included on two tracks on the album.

Q. Share your hopes about how this CD might impact listeners in this time and place we live in?

A. My hope is that this new music, which expresses the power of ancient alignments and synchronicity, will speak to listeners of the truth of our commonality. We share far more in common with one another than we differ. In this time, we are too often made to believe that we cannot reconcile our perceived differences. The ancient, cosmic alignments this music is born of teach us that oneness is the way of wisdom. We truly are one. We just need to return to the sacred circle and find ourselves again.

Q. What did you learn about yourself and your music during the covid hiatus?

A. When I found myself at home with nowhere to go and nothing to do, I thought maybe that would be a time for the creation of new music. It wasn’t. Despite several attempts in my studio, nothing was coming. It turns out that the time at home during a raging global pandemic was not about working, it was about resting. And now that I am venturing back out with new music to share, I do so with a renewed sense of purpose.

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FAQ

‘Of Mist and Stone’

Album Release Gala

WHEN — 7 p.m. Sept. 29

WHERE — Crescent Hotel Conservatory in Eureka Springs

COST — $30-$80

INFO — johntwohawks.com

FYI — The CD is also available for $12 on the website.