Jon Sherman  

Dedicating heart and breath in celebration and defense of California's endangered natural community and vanishing wilderness, eco-musician Jon Sherman expresses an intent toward balance and communion with the web of life.  Seeing our environmental crisis being healed at the level of Spirit, Jon's music is an expression of that Spirit through a gentle, earth friendly style led by the song of his own handcrafted branch flutes.

Jon's flute journey began in the early ‘70s, sitting up in the tree branches at local parks, improvising on a tenor recorder and exploring, before he’d ever heard the Native American flute, the primal charm of the pentatonic scale.  In the late 80’s his love for performing in nature inspired him to design and build an outdoor, stone-encircled wooden stage under the oaks at Descanso Gardens, a beautiful oak woodland botanical garden in southern California.  Here he started composing more structured songs, with lyrics concerning our relationship with the natural world.  These songs, including his original spoken word poetry are available on his CD Butterfly Blue.  Inspired by the endangered Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly it is dedicated to all creatures, in this era of environmental imbalance, struggling for their existence. 

In 1988 Jon started using solar to power his sound system, as a way to walk his environmental talk and as a clean, quiet power source for his natural area concerts.  Realizing that environmental health depends on sustainable human culture, Jon has used photovoltaics to power his live music ever since.  Experimenting with and developing his solar powered sound system over the years, Jon has offered its use for many outdoor events including The Los Angeles Environmental Education Fair, Earth Day Topanga, First People's Earth Day at Panhe and The Annual Pilgrimage of the Gabrielino/Tongva and Juaneno/Acjachemen People.  

As performing arts chairman at Descanso Gardens, Jon organized, in the summer of 1994, one of the first flute circles in California.  Open to flutes of all cultures, it was here he was gifted his first native style flute, tuned to the pentatonic scale.  He felt like he’d been playing it for years.  Jon has since published two flute CDs, Under The Oaks and On The Marsh, every song inspired by a particular bird, with its authentic vocalization woven throughout, serving as a motif for his flute improvisations.  Performing frequently at many outdoor events, nature centers, art shows and environmental gatherings around southern California, it is Jon's hope that his music might contribute to an increasing awareness and connection with all of the natural world.   

For over three years now, Jon has been making his own flutes, from trimmed or wind-felled tree branches.  He feels branch flutes to be an extension of the spirit of the tree, inspiring both the making and playing.  Now, as maker of Dryad Flutes, Jon looks to the tree branches again where his flute playing began over 30 years ago.  He is currently in full residency as a flute maker at the Nottingham Center for the Arts, where he lives with his wife Lindy.