John De Boer
// Author, Composer & FlautistJOHN DE BOER is an author, composer, flautist, and musician from Sidney, Ohio. His book “The Storytellers Flute” (2003) is available from SkyDancer Designs, and album “Flute Songs For A Blue Moon” (2003) is available from Oyate Music Group Recordings, “In The Spirit” (2003), and “Shadowland” (2003) are both independently released and available from SkyDancer Designs. John De Boer has been a multi-talented composer, entertainer, and professional musician for over twenty years. He has collaborated and fronted many musicians including John Anderson, Chubby Checker, The Crystals, Merle Hagert, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Billy Joe Royal, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Henry Lee Summers, and many more.
Website: www.skydancerdesigns.com
Photo: John De Boer / SkyDancer Designs
Interview:
Ultimately I am a musician because of my experience and belief in the profound effect that music can have on us as individuals and as a society. I allow myself to play from my heart and know that if people listen from their hearts they will almost surely find something of value in my music. Connecting this way is a special opportunity we can all share. To leave behind the comfortable and acceptable and take that leap into the musical unknown can be very intimidating at first – but the rewards are so great I find it impossible, having now taken this path not to continue. I experience my Self and my connection to the Universe unfolding with each new musical exploration. In addition, improvisation plays a large role in my music. The word improvise contains the word improve and to improve something, new thoughts are usually a necessity. I have discovered many new pieces solely based on the combination of instruments or a new rhythmic concept. A particular orchestration will often seem to write the music on its own. Most cultures around the world use music in some spiritual context of course, Kokopelli of Native American tribes; Christian church hymns; Nada Yoga from India, a method to reach spiritual enlightenment through sound; The flute of Hindu god Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, a great god of the universe and shepherd boy beloved by all the shepherd women. Krishna’s flute made them dance with abandon. The music of Krishna’s flute is Eros freed from the bounds of society, its rules, laws, restrictions, and morality. It is the love of the human soul for the universe and the divine in a mystical relationship unsullied by institutions and authorities, and unsullied even by language. Many other examples of the spiritual connection to music are too numerous to mention. I feel as spiritual as I ever feel when I am playing the Mystic Flute. We all have a song inside us it tells us who we are.
Excerpt taken from John De Boer’s book “The Storytellers Flute” (2003) available from SkyDancer Designs © 2003 John De Boer. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
“Ultimately I am a musician because of my experience and belief in the profound effect that music can have on us as individuals and as a society.”
– John De Boer, author of “The Storytellers Flute”
