About The Maker Native Echo Flutes started when the love of wood working came together with the passion of the sound of a Native American flute. My name is Marty Lisonbee. My first flute experience came by the way of a good friend of mine, Jan. She picked up a flyer from a store in Springdale Utah advertising a beginner class learning to play the Native American flute and thought it might be fun for me. I walked into the class a couple of weeks later with no musical skills or background and no flute. For about $90 I bought my first flute and attended the 2-hour class. It was a cedar flute in the key of A with a slight bend to the right in it. I can look back and say there was desire to play but there was a slight difference in my playing and the R. Carlos Nakai CD I owned. Uhmm. For the next year I played off and on but being honest, I could barely play the scale with competence. Jan began to pick up my flute and showing interest learning to play and it was the blind leading the blind, teaching her what little I knew. Jan wanted to buy her own flute so we went to visit our friend Betina Lindsey in Springdale. Betina had a flute store of sorts at the time and Jan settled on an F sharp flute made of walnut. Playing her flute made me want a nicer flute. I decided to take a journey to see what I could find. I took off on a road trip toward to the four corners area, into Colorado and eastern Utah. There was a pow wow included in my planned stops. I found this on a flute makers website so it looked like a great opportunity to see and play a few flutes. It was a great fun trip even though I came back empty handed. Spending some time alone was great way for inspiration to come in and it came to me on this trip that I should learn to make flutes. When I returned home, I googled Native American flute making and found a group of flute makers on Yahoo. So my flute-making journey began. I made a hand full of flutes that I was quite proud of though I had very little experience to know how they stacked up against any other flute maker's work. Our local college offered a Native American flute playing class so Jan and I both signed up to take lessons. Half way through the class the instructor noticed I had a bag full of flutes and since this was a beginner class and no one that night had a single flute, this caught his attention. He asked to see them and then would I mind if he played one. He was a fan. The sound was better than any of the flutes he had with him. His enthusiasm was a big boost to my confidence. As a flute maker I enjoy making flutes that have a strong clear voice and tuning from unique and exotic woods. I want to make an instrument that collectors and players will have to have in their collection because of their love and appreciation of an extraordinary instrument. My story wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention a phone call I made one day to my friend Betina. I suggested we get a flute circle started, we set a date for our first meeting and then I suggested to Betina that we should also have a flute festival in Springdale, her hometown. She agreed and called me back an hour later with the news that the Town of Springdale also wanted to support our vision of a festival and the date was set. Thus was born the Zion Canyon Art And Flute Festival. Many hands go into putting together the festival and it's promotion and my favorite part has been getting to know so many good people along the way. Thank you to everyone for making this festival a huge success.