Coyote Oldman is an exploration into music of the human spirit and the reintroduction of lost flutes. The elusive flowing melodies of flute player / maker Michael Graham Allen combine with the compositionally rich sound scapes of engineer / musician Barry Stramp.

Michael Graham Allen began building and selling ancient North American flute replicas throughout the United States in the mid 1970's and was a very early and prolific force in the reintroduction, refinement and popularization of what was at that time an obscure and almost forgotten instrument.

In 1986 and 1987 M. G. Allen introduced the North American flutes to mainstream and alternative music markets throughout the US, Europe and Asia with the groundbreaking recordings: Tear of the Moon and Night Forest. These recordings were very early introductions of ancient flute to North American, European and Japanese radio programs and gave millions of people their first encounter with this beautiful and little-known instrument. Coyote Oldman recordings are used in film and television programs around the world.

By the mid 1990's the Coyote Oldman recordings had sold over 3/4 million copies. In 1995, Michael Allen introduced this instrument to the young internet with the first website to mention ancient North American flutes: www.coyoteoldman.com.

Mr. Allen learned to make and play flutes without a teacher, turning instead to the actual artifacts in museums and collections around the country.

In 1981 M. G. Allen met fellow flutemaker and author, Dr. Richard Payne and developed a deep friendship and collaboration in flute building and research which spanned 23 years until Dr. Payne's death in 2004. Dr. Payne’s flute teacher in the 1930s was the well-known Kiowa elder, Belo Cozad. Belo’s teacher was Oldman Turkey in the late 1800’s.

The Coyote Oldman flutes and recordings have introduced a number of musical innovations including: tuned pentatonic, multi-keyed and bass Plains style flutes, double flutes, experimental flutes, panflute accompaniment, the first North American style flute recording released on CD (Landscape, 1988), orchestral arrangements and early exploration into intense digital effects and flowing melodic style.

Michael Graham Allen’s current projects include efforts toward the reintroduction of the ancient rim-blown flutes, making the instruments available, teaching the difficult technique of playing the rim-blown flutes. Lectures on the history of North American flutes are given at colleges and music events around the country; if you are interested, please contact us.