Greetings, One & All~

Simply allowing what may be to be? Yikes! That sounds so simple, and yet it may be hard to actually do. I’ll try in this May/June issue of your A 440 Newsletter, crossing the arbitrary boundary between calendar months to bring you all the High Spring news that’s fit to print before the breathtaking stillness of the Sonoran summer arrives with the Solstice. Be well and be in touch!


Single of the Month

Your favorite contemporary instrumental worldbeat fusion trio STC continues to deliver its monthly musical manifestation with the May 1st drop of its new single When They Arrive, available from all the usual streaming and downloading sources, the primary portal to this otherworldly sonic galaxy being our home page at

stcmusic.org




Chris Screven (guitars & indigenous midi instruments + principle composer + internet guru), Joe Townend (bass & flutes + mixing & mastering + cover art) and Will Clipman (drums & pan-global percussion + dumb lucky to play with these guys) have had an extraordinarily productive Winter and Spring, and have new singles recorded and cued up for first-of-the-month release through the end of 2023. Looking ahead, The June 1st release will be If I Could Fly, which of course we believe we can!





Wilde Boys

Meanwhile, on the concert stage, your favorite visionary global native fusion trio R. Carlos Nakai (Native American & world flutes + multilingual chants) William Eaton (self-designed and self-built Fifth World multi-stringed instruments) & Will Clipman (Taos Drums & pan-global percussion + dumb lucky to play with these guys) will continue their intermittent yet never-ending Spiral Rendezvous tour with new dates in Arizona and Colorado (indeed, being on the road with The Wilde Boys across the May/June threshold is in part what necessitates combining your May and June issues!).

On Friday May 5th at 7 PM we’ll appear at the Community Performing Arts Center in Green Valley AZ. This Full Flower Moon show is SOLD OUT (my two favorite words as a performing artist!) but occasionally a few season ticket holders don’t show up, and you can join a waiting list at

ticketing & waiting list link:

https://performingartscenter.thundertix.com/

On Friday May 12th at 7 PM we’ll appear on the magical outdoor Ullman Terrace Amphitheater stage at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix AZ. As far as I know, as of today, some tickets are still available for this show at

ticket link (just select May 12th as your date):

https://ticketing.dbg.org/events/8559694a-4570-8498-3709-26b7b9aa061c


On Wednesday May 31st at 7 PM we’ll appear at the intimate and historic Sherbino Theater in Ridgway CO, in collaboration with Ouray County Performing Arts Guild.


https://sherbino.org/event/the-r-carlos-nakai-william-eaton-will-clipman-trio-presented-in-partnership-with-ocpag/


On Sunday June 4th at 3 PM we’ll appear at the True Life Church Auditorium in Cedaredge CO. Professor LoTech here can’t find a ticket link for this one, but I can assure you The Wilde Boys will be there and the experience will be spiritual rather than religious! You might try the TLC phone line at

(970) 856-3586



photo courtesy Shery Christopher Photography




And just over the not-too-distant horizon, we’ll appear at the fabulous Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe NM on October 12th at 7:30 PM, with community outreach events augmenting the concert. Lisa Minker, Director of Promotions at our forever label Canyon Records, posted this preview of what promises to be an epic Autumn outing!

https://lensic.org/events/nakai-trio/


Unity Duo

On Sunday May 21st and again on Sunday June 18th at 10 AM, I’ll spiral in to Unity in the Valley in Sahuarita AZ for my monthly rendezvous with folk-rock goddess and Unity Music Director Amber Norgaard for two uplifting mornings of musical service. No tickets are required and all are welcome to this openhearted and inclusive gathering!




Sacred Sound

From Thursday May 25th through Sunday May 28th I’ll join crystal bowl healing artist Tryshe Dhevney and Senior Spiritual Wellness Provider Adam Smith for an immersive weekend retreat at Canyon Ranch in Tucson AZ entitled The Power of Sacred Sounds: a rich and varied menu of transformational sonic experiences, grounded in the idyllic natural environment of Canyon Ranch and enhanced by the therapeutic spa offerings of this world-renowned wellness center.

information & registration at

https://www.canyonranch.com/stay/events/tucson-sacred-sounds-healing-retreat-may-2023/



photo courtesy Steven Meckler Photography (from the previous millennium!)



Photos of the Month

I recently presented my Planet of Percussion solo performance and workshop at Wildwood Sounds in Del Norte CO, nestled in the San Luis Valley, the largest alpine valley in the world. At 8000′ above sea level, the Alpine Desert is a rare, fragile and stunningly beautiful ecosystem, which I was privileged to experience extensively and intimately in a late afternoon walkabout guided by Wildwood’s new Marketing Liaison Ruthanne Johnson on her fifty-acre property, situated along the San Francisco Creek at the southern rim of the Valley. In the spirit of simply allowing what may be to be, your May/June Photos of the Month were snapped by yours truly in this uniquely magical place. With gratitude to Ruthanne and Stephen & Konnie Crawford at Wildwood Sounds, enjoy my amateur visual joy in joy!










photos courtesy ICU Imagery



Poem of the Month


What May Be



Of one thing we may be certain:

certainty is the great mind-killer,

obliterating nuance and possibility

and obviating any need to exercise



either free will or rational thought.

Raise your hand if you’ve never

made a mistake or done anything

wrong (be honest with yourself



and with me). See? A sea of hands

not raised. It’s okay. The universe

doesn’t need us all to be perfect; it

just needs each of us to do our best.



Utter this with utmost uncertainty:

everything is something, and not

even nothing is nothing, it being

what it is and therefore something.



If you’d ask me I’d say I’m but

a fingerhole in the master’s flute:

what more need I be? What more

need you ask of me, or I of you?



To be fully present by our absence:

to show up and get out of the way!

To let what may be just be may be

in the highest good of all after all.









© Will Clipman 2023









~May your May be all it may be~








The more one knows, the more one knows what one still needs to know.

~Guillaume Henri



Will Clipman

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

www.willclipman.com
williamclipman@aol.com
facebook.com/willclipman
https://www.youtube.com/@willclipman4187

520.591.0776