Mr. Nash........thank you so much for your music. I recently became acquainted with it, and just wanted to thank you.
There are so many CD's out there of Native American flute music. But after buying them, and listening to them, it leaves one disappointed.
God has given you a special gift and it really touches down deep.
Thank you,
Dann Marshall
San Fran Bay
We recently bought a cd from you through ebay. I
wanted you to know how much we enjoy it. My six year
old daughter especially likes to listen to it while
we're driving. I think it's calming to her.
Thank you
Hello,
I puchased this item from you a while ago. I have taken this time to listen to the cd properly before i contacted you. It is absolutely brilliant!!! Personally i am a very busy person who is always on the go. I have listened to various relaxation/meditation cds before but nothing has encapsulated me quite like your cd. The music is fantastic. It does more than relax, it echoes right through your bones and deep into your soul. Well done and keep up the good work. Please could you let me know when you release a new cd or if you already have previous ones of your flute music because i would be very interested in buying those too. Thank you very much for helping me start my spiritual journey properly.
Best Regards
Ian
Leaving positive feedback was just not enough...this CD is wonderful...truly God centered spiritual music...just what I was looking for....you have found your purpose!!! How lucky and blessed you are, and how blessed I have been because of your talent
Thank you....
Tamara
I wish you the best of concerts in Utah! I had a wonderful experience listening to your music this afternoon after grandchildren overnight ended. How I needed the relaxation and pain therapy(ages 3,6,9)! I am a paraplegic(T-12) and husband was Brown-sequard syndrome from car accident in 1985. It is definitely God's direction that led me to your music. I wrote two comments on jukebox and sunshine, before I read your WHOLE story. God must have put those words in my mouth, how else would I have been led to your improvisational style(like Carlos', my former favorite!) and felt like I was in a prayer experience. I'm ecumenical and open in my spirituality, but music cuts through all doctinal issues(studied with LDS faith these last years, but am further progressing...) A blessing upon your hearts and souls...God's creative spirit, endurance, authenticity are reflected in your mission. Thank God, too, for visualization techniques! My mission hasn't been to walk again, but to share and encourage.
I just wanted to say your Cd is as good as any NAF artist out there. I am new to this type of music and have been sampling a lot of NAF artists online. So far my favorite artist is Jan Michael "Looking Wolf" Reibach. Until I discovered Thunderheart I couldn't find anyone else besides Looking Wolf that really made an impact on me. There's a quality in the songwriting, tone, and emotion that's unmistakable from the both of you. Its something you hear almost immediately. I don't know, maybe you are both inspired by the same spiritual gratitude after recovering from serious health issues. Its something I noticed in both your personal bios and makes me think that is the reason the music is so good. It coming from a powerful place ...and like I said before its unmistakable. Let me know if you are making another CD. I'm sure you know Looking Wolf's music. If you could recommend any artists that inspire you I'd like to know who they are. I am going to begin playing the flute shortly and I want to start gathering material to draw from. Billy
I just purchased this CD from you. I listened to clips of your CD on the website, and from what I heard, you have a FANTASTIC CD on your hands. I have about 100-150 Native American music CDs in my collection, and I truly believe that Thunderheart will become one of my very favorites! I have in my collection John Huling, Golana, R. Carlos Nakai, Scott August, Anhinga, among many,many others, and you do not have to take a back seat to any of them as far as I am concerned, and this is based solely on the 30 second clips on the website. Dennis W.
The Angels danced in my living room when I played this cd for the first time. Since then I have had a lot of VERY happy Angels around! There is so much MAGIC in Jay's music! Madeleine
This CD adds tranquility and harmony to our household. We play it as part of our homecoming ritual and it helps us transition from being at work/school into being home. We actually speak quietly and civilly to one another because you just can’t yell when this peaceful music is floating throughout the house! Kelley
Incredibly relaxing melodies will cause you to listen over and over. Jay has captured the heart of Native American Flute music. This CD is incredibly relaxing with beautiful melodies. Unlike other CD's that you get boared with after a few listens ... you will play this over and over. Great job! Great CD!
The melodies dip and soar. Sinuous tones evoke the spirit of the Sotol and echo the suffering of the soul. If prayer were an instrument, it would be the Native American flute.
It is hard to believe these haunting notes speak from an instrument made and played by a man who only five years ago was paralyzed from the neck down.
But as Jay Nash lay flat on his back, immobilized from a job injury and surgery that for a year left him with no feeling or movement below his chest, the ancient instrument became his lifeline to normalcy.
It had been only a short while before that his friend John Dumas had introduced Nash to the Native American flute during a visit to Sedona, Arizona.
"It literally captivated my soul," Nash recalled. "I told John I would be back in one year and be as good as he was. He laughed, but I worked a year, came back and played with him just as if I'd played it all my life."
Dumas was so impressed that he spent a week teaching Nash the art of making flutes.
Then Nash's world changed. The day before his second surgery, Nash was playing the flute when he had a premonition.
"I told my wife that I had a bad feeling," he admitted. "I said, 'I don't think I'll be playing this flute again.'"
He awakened in the recovery room to the bitter realization he was paralyzed. It was his wife, Lauren, who placed the flute in his hand. Nash cradled the instrument, then looked at his doctor and announced, "This is what is going to make me better."
And it did. As he lay there unable to move, Nash listened to flute music.
"I would close my eyes and remember how to play it," he explained. Nash's "remembering" turned out to be the key to finding his way back.
"Everything in life is controlled by past experience, by how we remember," he said. "That's how I taught myself to walk again. I remembered how to walk. It is as if you turn off the lights at night and try to walk around. You can do it."
Nash used this same "memory" to play the flute again. While Nash can now walk and function normally, he requires constant medication to combat excruciating pain. Incredibly, Nash's fingers are still numb. He literally cannot feel the holes of the flute.
"But I can remember where they are in my mind, how they feel, and where they are," he said.
It is no exaggeration to say the flute saved his life.
"The flute kept me active and my mind going," Nash said, who now builds flutes in his workshop south of Fredericksburg. "This helps take my mind off the pain. It sends me to a place of tranquility."
Nash uses sotol, yucca, bamboo, walnut, cedar, and redwood to create beautiful looking and sounding instruments.
"Flutes possess their own spirit," he said. "Some are made of bamboo that has lived its life cycle. Making a flute is taking a thing that is dead, and giving it life again. Some people drive by a stand of bamboo and see a plant. I drive by and see music."
Nash does offer his flutes for sale, but admits it is an emotional business.
"I have a hard time letting go of any flute I make," he said. "I fall in love with every one."
When he is convinced to part with one, the price ranges from $55 to more than $500, depending on the wood, time involved, and intricacy of the carving. He can turn out several bamboo flutes a day, or spend four days creating a bird head flute.
"It depends on how I feel," he said, noting that he sometimes stops to play a flute just so he can escape the pain of working on it.
Nash captured the healing spirit of the instrument in his first CD "Thunder Heart."
"Nothing was written - everything I play is from the heart,' he said. "Everything you hear on the CD happened right there. It is so amazing. To me that's the ultimate way to make music - all from the heart."
Ultimately, it's the metaphysical rather than physical aspect of the instrument that inspires Nash to go on living, making flutes, and playing music.
"To me it's a miracle - a gift from God," he said. "This has given me a way to express what I experienced. I want to share my story, to give encouragement. God has given me a gift to share. With the flute I can introduce people to different ways of praying."
Native American Flute Just a Small
Part of LH Man’s Inspirational Story
By MERLE ROUILLARD
Independent Writer
When Liberty Hill resident Jay Nash went on a vacation to Sedona, Arizona in 2001, no one could possibly imagine that something there would reach out and capture his heart and soul, and later have such a profound impact on his life! While in Arizona, Jay met a man by the name of John Dumas who introduced him to the Native American flute.
At the time, Jay did not consider himself much of a musician. He had played the trombone in junior high and he had played the guitar off and on, but not much had ever developed. However, there was something special about the Native American flute: the tones, the notes, the melody, and the songs coming from this ancient instrument captivated Jay so deeply and made him declare to his friend that he would be back in one year to share his love of the instrument with others.
A year later in October of 2002, Jay returned to Sedona and played the Native American flute with John just as if he had played it his whole life! Later, John even shared with Jay the art of making these beautiful instruments. These events would mark some of the most special times in Jay’s life.
During this time it should be noted that Jay had sustained a serious neck injury in the course of his job with UPS. He underwent his first neck surgery in January of ’02, but when the pain would not subside, a second surgery was necessary in November. What was supposed to be a ‘one-day surgery and then go home’, turned into a life changing event. During the second surgery Jay sustained a trauma to his spinal cord that resulted in the loss of feeling and movement from the chest down. As Jay woke up in the recovery room and discovered that he could not control his hands, it was the love of his beloved Native American flute that caused him to vow to his doctor and to his wife, Lauren that he was not going to give up trying to retrain his hands to play the flute again. It was a heart wrenching and humbling experience to have to depend on everyone for all of his basic needs. With no control over his movements, Jay had to learn to let go of control and it completely changed the direction of his life.
While in the hospital confined to a wheelchair, Jay sank into a depression, but listening to CD’s of Native American flute music gave him a degree of peace and calmness. It also gave him focus and something to live for, convincing him that things would work out. With closed eyes, he would ‘remember’ how to play the flute, which turned out to be the key to finding his way back. The physical side of life started all over for Jay right down to tying his shoes and his youngest son helping him to learn to write again.
There have been no answers to what happened to Jay during the operation that changed his life. But strangely enough for Jay, he has felt it has all been a blessing from God that has had an incredible effect on the direction of his life. Going from Katy, Texas where the motto was ‘bigger is better and the one with the most toys wins’ to sharing his experiences and his music have been an incredible journey. The earthy sound, the tones, the music of the Native American flute gave Jay something to work towards and has had a very healing experience on his life. The calming and relaxing music brings healing and comfort to the soul. The flute is an instrument of prayer that has helped heal Jay both physically and mentally. It has literally saved his life!
Currently Jay has no sensory perception in his hands or fingers and he can’t feel the holes in his flutes when he plays, but he has retrained himself by remembering how he did it! And although he requires constant medication to combat the pain and nerve damage, Jay can now get around and has returned to normal activities even though he is considered permanently disabled.
Today, Jay has been able to return to playing the Native American flute and is eager to share this spiritual music with anyone who is open to appreciate it. Released in May of ’06, Jay’s first CD titled Thunder Heart, is available for purchase on eBay, cdbaby.com, or itunes.com. A second CD is currently in the making. Everything Jay plays is straight from his heart, which is the ultimate way to make music for him.
What inspires Jay the most to go on living, making flutes, and playing music is the metaphysical rather than the physical aspect of the Native American flute. For him it’s a miracle, a gift from God! And he wants to share that gift with others through his music by expressing what he experienced and giving encouragement. Through the flute, he can introduce people to different ways of praying and thereby bring encouragement, inspiration, and healing energies to those that hear his music.
Jay is also available to perform for schools, churches, retreats, and most any kind of group. If you’re not doing anything special on June 8th through the 10th, you can go on over to Zion National Park in Utah and hear Jay perform! He was selected as a rising star to perform at the Zion Canyon Art and Flute Festival there. If you can’t make the trip, you can still enjoy listening to Jay’s flute music either by purchasing his CD or hiring him to perform by contacting him at 778-9970. You can learn more about Jay Nash at www.sunshineflutes.com