Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 43 m u sical i n str u m en t m ake rs o f m on tana m u sical i n str u m en t m ake rs o f m on tana SEAN KOCHEL TROY "GO OD MEDICINE " DE ROCHE MICHAEL BENNETT PLAYING FROM THE HEART: A LIFE OF FLUTE MAKER TROY DE ROCHE Troy De Roche has long equated the flute with the patina of positivity. e Blackfeet flautist, 63, was born on the Flathead Indian Reservation on the edge of a Heart Butte cattle ranch. In the spring, his grandfather would use his pocket knife to slice and yank the chips off of the cedar trees. He'd proceed to poke out holes in the bark, carving it like a whistle. "After they were dried out, they would last for a day or so as crude flutes," said De Roche. "at's what got me interested." e flute re-emerged in De Roche's life many years later, this time material- izing as the choice between self-creation or self-destruction. His life was at a dead end. In the late-1980s, De Roche, smarting from the effects of back surgery from a work-related injury and a broken neck sustained in a car crash, grabbed a shaving of western red cedar and carved his nephew a flute. He made himself one, too. Memories of willow bark flutes fashioned by his grandfather's hands abetted his recovery. "I blew out three lower vertebrae working in construction on the Black- feet reservation," said De Roche. "ey were always sideways. By the time I'd take the one hour drive back home from the doctor's office, they'd be back out again. "I don't believe there is anything more healing than going through therapy with a flute or playing the flute. Once I'd had the flute back in my life, I quit drinking and doing drugs, and I am blessed that I got into flute. It has changed my life and changed my attitude on life." De Roche creates flutes inside a garage adjacent to his gallery in Hot Springs, Montana. ere, with a routing tool, adhe- sive, clamps, and the dexterity of his hands, he takes a cudgel of wood and transforms it into the epitome of pure beauty in sound. Before one of his flutes is complete, he will wet-sand it three times with fine sandpiper; its maintenance requires no more than the occasional lathering of beeswax. "Cedar is one of the main woods I use because it's a soft wood and the grain is straight," said De Roche. "I split it and then carve it out and then glue it back together. Western red cedar has a softer, mellow earthy tone. Aromatic cedar, which is in the juniper family, is sweet with a perfume smell, and has a beautiful mellow tone." Give with all your heart and you will receive: De Roche's performances at festi- vals nationwide and five albums of original compositions have secured his reputation as an authentic conduit of Native American people through music. Preserving tradition and the resonance of the flute are impor- tant to De Roche. So, too, is gratitude. "e first professional studio I worked in was in England and to go from a construction worker to a studio where e Beatles recorded was one of those great moments." Ultimately, art has allowed De Roche to find rest in the light, the calm of a lake without ripples, to rise to another plane. Perhaps it's not exaggerated to say that in this case the flute has served as the instrument of divine will. "During the day, I will sometimes see the flute by my chair and I will pick it up and play it," said De Roche. "If I didn't have the flute, I wouldn't be around." BY BRIAN D'AMBROSIO m u sical i n str u m en t m ake rs o f m on tana Tony DeRoche plays "Amazing Grace" on the flute. www.distinctlymontana.com/grace181 DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL

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