Native American Flute Player - Brother Antonio - Crow Speaks

Antonio Aversano
Crow Speaks

Antonio was born as a Divine conduit with music quickly becoming a natural outlet for
expression. He has been blessed with recognizing his love for music and gift for playing music
at an early age. Some of Antonio’s earliest memories were of playing the family organ while
listening to Christmas carols on the radio.

Antonio stayed active in playing and listening to a variety of music while growing up in Troy,
NY being heavily influenced by his Grandfathers unique jazz and big band collection. He was
recognized for his abilities on the keyboard and his very creative skills in experimental electronic
music during his teenage years and 1985 and 1986, while still in high school, he was the
recipient of two music scholarships for a college level media arts summer program that
ultimately changed Antonio’s life.

Entering into college as music major, Antonio rebelled against the strict discipline of the music
program and eventually changed majors while still being very active in the music community
at Fredonia State. It was during his years in college, and the life opening experiences during
that time, that Antonio discovered his true natural musical abilities.

Recognizing Antonio’s natural rhythm, a friend gifted Antonio a Latin Percussion Conga one
day. Instantly he was playing his new conga like he had been playing it all his life and that week
was gigging with a local college band.

From then on Antonio was recognized throughout the campus as the “guy who was always
playing the drum” and inspired many spontaneous spirit music circles and open jams on
campus and beyond.

After college Antonio moved to Las Vegas, NV and attended graduate school. Finding work in
the entertainment industry as an audio engineer, Antonio also found himself again opening his
musical abilities in the Las Vegas music scene. While in Las Vegas Antonio became the house
percussionist at Club Utopia (a weekly dance rave) as well as participating in bands such as
Majik Alex (started by 3rd Eye Blinds Tony Fredinelli) and the Moanin’ Blacksnakes (a long time
Las Vegas blues band). He was also the house percussionist and co-organizer of the long
running Acoustic Asylum open mic in Las Vegas which continues to this day.

In 1996 one of a few once in a lifetime musical opportunities came while in Las Vegas as Majik
Alex was asked to open for Ziggy Marley and Melody Makers at the newly opened Hard Rock
Hotel. Being very influenced by Bob Marley this was an honor and blessing to share the stage
with the soulful sounds of Ziggy.

While living in the Southwest, besides stumbling upon musical opportunities such as opening
for Ziggy Marley, a spiritual quality that was brewing in the background for Antonio finally
found itself in the foreground. Many spiritual journeys and experiences in the desert regions
began to awaken Antonio’s Spirit and he found himself being brought closer to the ways of the
Native American culture including experiencing his first sweat lodge ceremony with the Paiute
tribe on sacred desert land outside of Las Vegas. The spiritual path that was now opening took
Antonio into a different direction with his music and his life.

As Spirit guided Antonio’s journey he used venues like a local drum circle he co-organized to
begin sharing and using his instruments to work with people in a healing way. His new clarity
and vision also clearly pointed towards a move to Northern California where he would be able
to step into his life in a new way. Antonio was now on a spiritual path and all he was doing with
music was part of that journey.

Arriving in Northern California Antonio found himself drawn to the roots of music including
studying traditional West African djembe as well as taking his first steps in being proficient at
the Aboriginal didgeridoo. He began to more deeply explore the use of musical instruments as
a tool for awakening human beings including the use of the aboriginal didgeridoo, voice, tribal
rhythms, and Tibetan singing bowls as his tools of choice.

While simultaneously continuing in his mainstream music playing, Antonio fulfilled a life long
dream of playing music with Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead while living in Northern California
by finding himself becoming part of David Gans’ Broken Angels.

Antonio continued to attend many spirit music circles while in Northern California as well as
performing on percussion and the didgeridoo in various venues. At this time Antonio also
began teaching some basic courses in learning the didgeridoo and using sound as a healing
tool including his participation in the World School of Massage in San Francisco offering a class
on the Didgeridoo and assisting some of the school's curriculum with healing sounds.

Inspired by his calling to bring the healing properties of sound to the world, Antonio’s 1st CD
was recorded in 1999 entitled, Ascoltare’ Vita, which in the family roots language of Italian
means, “Listening to Life”.

After the murder of his father on Sept 11th, 2001, Antonio moved back to Troy, NY in 2002.
Feeling that, now more than ever, bringing the healing and spirit lifting properties of music was
part of his life’s calling, Antonio started a business that he called Being In Harmony with the
inspiration to offer Native Australian didgeridoos and its healing potential to the people of the
Northeast US.

Antonio first came in contact with the Native American Flute in 2002 as a recognition of its
potential musical compliment to the didgeridoo. When he first picked up the flute, an instant
remembering occurred like finding an old friend. It was pure bliss and an awakening to a path
that seemed was always there for him. In a short time Antonio was very adept at playing the
flute and was recognized for his playing abilities during his event tours.

Antonio also expanded his offerings of workshops and instruction for the didgeridoo and
Native American flute at incorporating simple instructions on the instruments with spiritual
awareness and life healing guidance.

In early 2005 after a few years of traveling and working with his business Being In Harmony,
Antonio sold the business and stepped more fully into is path as a Healer. Soon after this
transition, a life changing vision was given to Antonio. During a profound healing session in the
Berkshire Mountains, Antonio received a divine experience that included receiving a massive
download of energy through the sounds of a crow.

It was after this experience that Antonio more fully recognized his calling to use the sounds of
flute as an energy healing tool – similar to the effect that the sounds of the Crow had on him
during that session. In late 2005, Antonio started planting the seeds of the recording project
that is now called Crow Speaks.

He continues today offering his sounds as a healing tool and is proud to share his musical
creation Crow Speaks which honors the natural healing properties of mother nature and her
acoustic vibrations and brings those sounds together with the dance of the Native American
style flute.