TerryLee WHETSTONe
Award Winning (Tsalagi or Cherokee) Artist TerryLee WHETSTONe, American Indian Flute Performer, Recording Artist, Multi-media Artist, Poet and Teacher, 2002 Grand Heritage Award winner at The Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, OK, 2005 ISMA (Indian Summer Music Awards) Finalist in the Spiritual Class, Finalist in the Eighth (NAMMYS) Native American Music Awards for 2006 & 2008, 2008 Finalist for Artist of the Year & Compilation Album of the Year at the Native American Music Awards. 2006 - 2nd place World Music Awards, Just Plain Folks Music Awards, for Native American Music. Art work chosen for the Cherokee Heritage Calendar for 2006 and 2007.
"I was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As an adult I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in Oklahoma. Once known as Indian Territory, Oklahoma is still home to more American Indians than any other state in the Union. In fact, 39 tribal headquarters and members of at least 67 tribes make their home in the state. It is a place where time honored tradition, cultural experience and artistic expression are components of everyday life. I resided in South East Kansas for awhile, out with the cows and Mr. Coyote and other wild life. I came back into Missouri to be with my mother and father as my mom had stomach cancer. We lost my mom in 2007, Goodnight Mom. I then made a move to the St. Louis area in November of 2008. I lost the ability to walk, the ability to play the flute and to hold a paint brush. I was diagnosed with a B12 deficiency, a condition which disconnects nerve endings in the hands and feet. I knew I was in trouble without my hands, so I started giving away my flutes, seven in all. There were a few of my mentors that heard of me giving away my flutes. They placed calls to me saying the Creator gave me the gift to play and reach out to the hearts and souls of many people. They also told me my gift will be given back and stop giving our flutes away! With this advice I stopped giving my flutes away and started being gifted more flutes; receiving an additional 10 flutes. I went back to my roots through American Indian healing ceremonies and going to the Tree at the Sun Dance. I am playing flute again and walking beyond belief! The flutes have continued to come into me. I started feeling the new woods and listening to what the flutes are saying to me. The SONGS or VOICES are coming though the new flutes and the many flutes I did not give away. I also lost most of the songs I knew."
TerryLee WHETSTONe is a self-taught, talented American Indian Flute Performer and multi-faceted artist. He reflects the history of his native people in his music and art. TerryLee recognizes a deep Spiritual connection and acknowledges these talents as gifts given to him from the Father. His Spiritual connection guides him in all endeavors, painting, poetry, jewelry design, and through the melodies he produces when playing the American Indian Flute. TerryLee proclaims “It is of the Father my hands and eyes are guided by the heart and then the mind. My art is directed Spiritually.”
TerryLee WHETSTONe's original compositions are Spiritually directed from his state of mind and his surroundings. He utilizes the flute as a gateway linking the past to the present. Believing that music is a universal language, he asks “what better way to utilize the flute to tell a story?”
"The American Indian Flute music has no titles or boundaries. Throughout history music has been an integral part of everyone’s life. It is heard in the gentle breezes blowing through the trees, or in the babbling brook as rustling waters flow upon the rocks. Everywhere you go music is with you, all you need to do is listen with your heart and a story will unfold. Come unite with me on a journey through my music and art. Let us not forget that friends become our chosen family. Welcome my friend. May we continue to journey together with music in our hearts united by the one Father and our Mother below our feet.”
TerryLee's programs are arranged around the teachings of the Medicine Wheel. He demonstrates his gift of utilizing energy through participation of the audience and then he composes an original melody using the audience’s energy. Also, he frequently invites children on stage to perform a flute song with him.
"I enjoy working with the youth. I have in the past worked with the Twin Arrow Boy Scouts in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I presently work with Kansas City’s Young Audience Program and have been with them since the fall of 2000, and Mid-Continent Public Libraries in Independence, Missouri providing flute performances and educational programs."
TerryLee has an International audience in the following countries; Austria, Australia, Bosnia, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Russia, South America, Spain, (Transylvania, Romania), and Ukraine, to just name a few places. He did an interview which was aired on a radio program in Russia.
TerryLee WHETSTONe's music and artwork can be found at his website at www.terrywhetstone.com or in Alabama at Moundville Archaeological Park, in Arkansas at The Circle Of Art Gallery, L.L.C. in Mammoth Springs, at Cherokee Mountain Gallery and The Cherokee Store in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; in Oklahoma at National Cherokee Museum in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Pat’s Gallery in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; in Missouri at S & S Western Outfitters in Joplin, Missouri, Three Trails in Independence, Missouri; in Illinois at Cahokia Mounds Interpretative Center at Collinsville, Illinois; and in Kansas at the Haskell Indian Art Market, Lawrence, Kansas, South West and More in Lawrence, Kansas; Cherokee Accents in Corpus Christi, Texas; THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM GIFT SHOP IN Washington DC; Native American Trading Co. in Hannibal, Missouri; and at One Feather in Ft. Walton Beach; Florida.
"I believe that All Life is Precious. It is critical that we, as a people, take care of each other and nature, and in turn all living things. My beliefs are demonstrated intensively in each of my paintings, sculptures, jewelry, and my music."
"A Belief from the Heart - Any player will sound only as good as the spirit of the flute they are playing, and must also have a connected Spirit within. It is all of the Creator, giving me the ability to see and hear things in the spiritual way. It is through Him that all things are possible.” TerryLee
Thoughts………
“Art is to me a part of my Life. No different then taking a breath or getting out of bed. It is not something that is separated from day-to-day Life. It all has to do with my Life and the need to share in a beautiful way. It does not matter if it is painting, composing music, recording music, playing music, and/or talking and sharing with children or elders. Everything I do seems to be so natural and in tune with all of Life. I believe this is because everything to me is art related and is a part of my own Life Walk, and as well as to the lives of all living things, our relatives. For All Life is of the Creator and so is the True Art.”
Osta Nah wah tea (Good Medicine)
TerryLee
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