Tony “Two Bears” Francis, Flute Maker

Spirit Song

Nov 30

We met Tony “Two Bears” Francis at his home studio in Maine. It was 2018, midsummer, with temperatures climbing into the 100s.

Mr. Francis is an artisan, specializing in the Native Flute. He works out of a small cabin behind his home; 12x16, a one man shop. Few power tools. Most of the work is done by hand, and every flute he makes is custom. He might make several at one time, but each is unique. He describes them as brothers and sisters: not the same, but with a certain character that lets you know they’re from the same maker.

The Native flute is made of wood and has a sound that feels like an ancient memory just beyond grasp, unlike its metal counterpart that has a brighter, chirpy sound that feels almost startling and alien in contrast.

While there are now engineers with computer programs available to craft a Native flute, Mr. Francis uses the techniques of the first creator, grandfather tuning. A knuckle or a hand length creates the standard measure of each instrument, so every flute becomes a sonic fingerprint of its creator.

Mr. Francis wasn’t a musician until one day when, already a grown man, he picked up a Native flute, and just knew. This was a part of him, he had to play it, and he had to know how to make it. He had to know everything about it.

FIELD RECORDING: Tony Francis shares the origin story of the native flute.

For Mr. Francis, the flute is a tool to express the song we each have within. It can connect us across generations and cultures. But the song cannot be forced. I learned this myself, trying to play a 2 Bears Flute created for musician Gareth Laffely while we were recording and filming his album at Skywalker Ranch for Spirit Song. (To say that Gareth Laffely and Tony Francis are mutual admirers of one another is an understatement if ever there was one - the love between these two is strong.) You can’t force this flute. You don’t blow into it, you breathe into it. You get calm. You get into your self. And then it comes as natural as if it were something you always did. That’s a gift Mr. Francis is intent on sharing with the next generation of Native Americans.

Since becoming a master flutemaker, Mr. Francis has worked with Gareth throughout New England and beyond to supply kids of various tribes with these flutes. As one of the first instruments, he has seen how it reconnects them with their story, and brings back pieces of the culture that had been nearly lost by colonization and forced assimilation.