Greetings, One & All~

I can’t explain how we got to this moment so suddenly; but indeed it is the first day of the tenth month of the current year, and so it’s high time for me to deliver your October 2022 A 440 Newsletter. As always, it is my intention to entertain, uplift, inspire, share a smile. . . and above all to connect with YOU in a spirit of gratitude and generosity. Be well, be in touch, and most of all BE!


Spiral Rendezvous

The fifth and finest Canyon Records studio album by R. Carlos Nakai, William Eaton & Will Clipman is now available for streaming and downloading as well as on physical CD:


https://www.amazon.com/Spiral-Rendezvous-R-Carlos-Nakai/dp/B0B7B4NKF1




Nakai, Eaton & Clipman

The Wilde Boys will continue the autumn leg of their 2022-23 Spiral Rendezvous Tour with appearances at three landmark Southwest venues:

on Friday & Saturday October 21st & 22nd we’ll make a two-night stand at central Arizona’s premier concert spot Old Town Center for the Arts in Cottonwood AZ;

info & tickets for the Friday 10/21 show at:

https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/66374

info & tickets for the Saturday 10/22 show at:

https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/66375


on Friday October 28th we’ll play that world-renowned temple of sound the Musical Instrument Museum Theater in Phoenix AZ for one night only;

MIM info & tickets at

https://www.mim.org/events/r-carlos-nakai-william-eaton-and-will-clipman/?utm_source=mimmusictheater&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=r-carlos-nakai-william-eaton-and-will-clipman


and on Saturday November 19th we’ll play the extraordinarily high-energy Sea of Glass Center for the Performing Arts in Tucson AZ for one night only!

SoG info & tickets at

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/r-carlos-nakai-william-eaton-will-clipman-tickets-411421060467




Indigo Social Club

Pete Swan Productions will present An Evening with Indigo Social Club on Thursday October 27th at The Century Room: A Borderlands Jazz Club & Mezcal Lounge in the heart of downtown Tucson AZ: we’ll play an early set from 6-7 PM and a later set from 7:30-8:30 PM. Admission is free with a one-drink minimum (I recommend La Luna Bruto mezcal with the Sea of Cortez shrimp cocktail: sip and nip slowly! Exotic Sonoran Desert-sourced non-alcohol concoctions are available as well for those of a more temperate nature). Join guitarist Marshall Jones, bassist & violinist Rob Paulus, percussionist Will Clipman and vocalist Cantrell Maryott for an evening of Old Pueblo musical magic!





Moccasin Tracks

Could you do with a bit of joyful creativity, spirited conversation, artistic insight and plain ol’ good-natured humanity right about now? Me, too! Join yours truly and co-hosts Deb Reger & Rick Hunt for an eloquently uplifting Zoom interview recorded on Moccasin Tracks: THE radio show dedicated to indigenous world music, broadcasting out of Bethlehem, NH at WZNC-FM 99.9. You WILL get a mile o’ smile out of this one!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHW1Pk7X0u0


Unity Duo

My monthly re-unification with singer/songwriter, soul sister and Unity in the Valley Musical Director Amber Norgaard is on for Sunday October 30th at 10 AM in Sahuarita AZ. All are welcome to this progressive and unpretentious hour of spiritual power. Come a little early, as I do, and walk the desert labyrinth out back in the morning sun!




Nakai & Clipman

The dynamic duo’s never-ending Awakening the Fire tour will travel southeast from their recent appearance at Sea Ranch Lodge on the NoCal edge of Turtle Island to make landfall in the desert environs of Henderson NV on Saturday November 12th for an outdoor performance at Water Street Plaza as part of the annual American Indian Heritage Celebration. Watch this space for an info & ticket link in your November A 440!










Cultural Crossroads

Heartfelt thanks to Gold Coast Chamber Players Artistic Director and viola virtuoso Pamela Freund-Striplen, the astonishingly accomplished Alexander String Quartet, sublime featured vocalist Michelle Kennedy, and of course the inimitable master of the Native American flute R. Carlos Nakai for an unforgettable concert experience at Gualala Arts in Gualala CA; to Susan Martin for hosting our one-and-only rehearsal and post-rehearsal dinner at her lovely home and studio in Sea Ranch; and to Gualala Arts Executive Director David Susalla and his entire crew for their impeccable presentation and hospitality. This was (literally) a breath-taking adventure into sonic terra incognita for yours truly, and the supportive comradery with which I was welcomed into this high-powered company made my contribution possible.








Photos of the Month

One of the rewards of touring is refreshing one’s image pool. In a departure from sharing the latest array of natural wonders here at Rancho Improvisoso (though I do have a bunch of those archived for your future perusal) I thought I’d venture further afield this month with a selection of snapshots from my recent NoCal sojourn. Enjoy!


























Poem of the Month

And of course no A 440 Newsletter would be complete without your Poem of the Month: my October offering is the new Mythic Persona Poem that resulted from my Passion, Purpose & Personal Power retreat at Canyon Ranch Woodside, the inaugural event on my NoCal tour and a most re-invigorating return to the redwood rhizome. Explore!


Inside Out



To those who hear the unspoken meanings

beneath the surface of language

I am known as Nampilc Yrneh Mailliw Vi:

the venerable vector of revealed vulnerability.



I have existed for so long that, for me,

everything that has ever happened

or ever will happen

is happening right now; and yet

that very same phenomenon

keeps me perpetually young.



My origin is shrouded in mist;

stories are told about the mystery of my making—

and others that foretell my unmaking—

but the elders who remember them

have begun to die out,

and the children who might one day

revive and retell them

are not yet mature enough

to be interested in such things; so

my purpose is to find ways

to keep the essence of vulnerability alive

until such time as its source can once again

be comprehended and valued.



Appearances are deceptive, aren’t they?

My manifestations are multifarious, but always

they display a rough exterior

like the weathered bark of a thousand-year-old sequoia,

while the living interior is as tender

as the heartwood of a newly sprouted shoot.



My voice is the polyphonic pan-global pulse

of exotic indigenous percussion: the sounds of nature

processed through the human imagination

and organically composed into a harmoniously improvisational vibration

that is at once soothing and exhilarating.



I make my home in the boot of a saguaro cactus

in the Sonoran Desert: the tough fibrous scar tissue

that forms around the hollowed-out flesh

where a Gila woodpecker has nested.

I am safe there, protected from predators

like uncertainty, self-doubt, anger, judgement and fear

by the saguaro’s halo of thorns.



I venture out from time to time

to explore the world and satisfy my curiosity,

but always I return to my sacred space

when my work is done and my journey complete.



My thirst is quenched only by rainwater

that gathers in the tiny cupped leaves of creosote bushes

during the summer monsoon, and that moisture

must sustain me throughout the year; my hunger

is assuaged only by the luscious purple fruit

of the prickly pear, from which I mindfully remove

their clusters of tiny thorns before I eat them.

This spartan diet reminds me of the fragility of all life

and empowers me to transform vulnerability

into strength, courage and wisdom.



And therein lies my supernatural power:

I have the uncanny ability to resolve paradox

and solve conundrum, bringing the wisdom of the ancient texts

to light in the way of the lotus blossom

rising to the surface from the muddy bottom of a turbid pond

as the stirred-up silt settles

and the water returns to calmness and clarity.



My tribe is all creation, from a single grain of sand

to an entire galaxy: each thing, however great or small,

possesses a soul and is worthy of tenderness and respect;

every creature no matter how mighty or diminutive

embodies all the oppositional energies that drive the universal engine.



My future is uncertain: after all, none of us

are guaranteed our next heartbeat!

But I take solace in knowing that if

I make every step a dance and every breath a song

my path will unfold as it should,

and I will become one with all in good time.





© Will Clipman 2022









~Walk with a cool body in golden autumn light~









That which we learn is accumulated as knowledge;
that which our experience proves to be true
is disseminated as wisdom.

~Guillaume Henri



Will Clipman

poet ~ percussionist ~ maskmaker ~ storyteller ~ performing artist ~ educator

www.willclipman.com
williamclipman@aol.com
facebook.com/willclipman

520.591.0776