My name is Alan Cleveland and one could say that the Native flute is my life or at least it has been for the best part of the last quarter century. My ancestors have lived in this country we call Turtle Island for thousands of years, and like so many of our people I have not found it easy to adapt to the white man's way of life. I make my living in the Native American community and have been a singer with several different Powwow drums and sell my flutes at these powwow's. It would seem that I owe most of whatever is left of my sanity to the hauntingly beautiful sounds that the wooden flute of my ancestors emits and I play it as it was originally intended, totally from my soul, without a lot of orchestration but tons of emotion. I entitled this CD "At Long Last, Shylo's Song" in honor and memory of my great friend and beloved dog "Shylo" who was always there for me through some very rough times in my life. He had developed a brain tumor which left him with horrible seizures that tore the very heart out of me to see his suffering and one night while I was standing the last watch with him and tuning a flute, I promised him that I would make a CD and name it after him. He crossed over the next day and I miss him every day even though I have always been blessed with wonderful animals in my life. The "at long last" part of the title comes from the length of time it has taken me to get around to get it recorded. The Haudenasaunee (Iroquois) people of my homeland in NY state and Ontario whom I am amongst all the time, and the Lakota, Cheyenne, Ojibwa & Cree whom I am with often, whom I have been promising to have a CD any day now for the last ten years, have been continually asking me if I had a CD done yet, and I can finally say yes!
While this CD speaks very much to my culture, and especially the few chanting songs that my best friend and exceptional singer, Tim Warner of the Lakota, Cherokee and Kickapoo Nations and who is at least as much into his culture as I am, and I might add, is one of the better people on the planet, it is also excellent as a meditation medium, and I have had many teachers of younger students as well as special students who say wonderful things about the CD. It is also a must for mothers of energetic children... Nia:wen (Thank You) for putting up with my ramblings and I hope that you enjoy Shylo's Song should you decide to acquire it...
Sincerely... Al Cleveland
PS... This CD has 17 songs and lasts 72 minutes unlike so many half hour wonders, so I believe it is a very good value!