You can find them in a canyon, in a silo, in a parking garage or in someone’s home. While this sounds a bit like a clue in a clever riddle, these are among the many diverse places the Grand Junction Flute Circle gathers. On any given Tuesday throughout the year, they meet to share music, art, friendship and personal creativity.

There aren’t any rules or auditions. You can be self-taught or a student of world music on a vertically-held flute. Your flute can be made of wood, ceramics or even PVC pipe. You don’t even have to have a flute.

According to Cliff Digby, a long-time group member, the only prerequisite for participating in the flute circle is to “just want to come and listen or want to play and learn more” about this ancient style of music that allows ample room for self-expression.

Digby received his first wooden flute from his father to mark a significant birthday. Digby was intrigued with learning to play the instrument and with creating his own flutes from wood and other diverse materials.

Sue Polan grew up playing what she calls “the silver flute,” known as a transverse flute. She took up the wooden flute after participating in a class on world flute music taught by local architect Greg Dillon, who played publicly and built flutes for many years. Polan recounts that she didn’t even own a flute when she joined the flute circle. “The first time I attended someone handed me a flute and I stood up and played,” she shares.

Polan, together with her friend Debbie Wilson, are now students of Native-style flute, traveling to conferences and participating in seminars with notable musicians including R. Carlos Nakai, who has been described as “the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute.”

In addition to playing with the Grand Junction Flute Circle, Polan leads a weekly group of women who are learning to play their own music on Native-style flutes. Polan shares that the mission of both groups — the Grand Junction Flute Circle and the women’s group — is the same: “we want to put music into the world and have fun.”

Wilson agrees. After a career in music in which her “life was built around concerts,” she finds playing these flutes liberating. “The flute is relaxing, a way to explore and expand music. I enjoy the freedom of the whole thing. The first time I went to the flute circle I walked in, got up, and played.” She considers the flute circle “a nice place to let your inner self out.”

While it sounds almost magical — the ability to pick up an instrument and just play — the appeal of these flutes is that there is no right or wrong. Held vertically like a recorder, the flutes have five or six finger holes and notes are played by lifting fingers and opening the holes. While not every combination sounds great, it’s easy to correct mistakes and learn as you go. As Digby puts it, “There is no need to read music. Why are you playing someone else’s song? Play what comes out of you.”

And for those who question the appropriateness of non-Native people creating diverse music on a Native-style instrument, Polan clarifies that the group is aware that they are borrowing from and building on a valuable Indigenous tradition — which is similar to other flute traditions from across the globe. “We honor that we are not of this tradition and yet we honor the tradition,” she explains. “The music becomes ours as we create it.”

For more information on Grand Junction Flute Circle or the Wednesday women’s group, contact Sue Polan at 970.270.4005 or Cliff Digby at 970.589.7166. All are welcome!

Originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Grand Junction Flute Circle: Honoring Tradition With New Creativity