Our Legacy
Chapter 1 Phil Hutton was the founder of Red Kite Flutes. Phil started his working life in the Royal Air Force and for 13 and a half years travelled all over the world, defending our nation. Coming out of the Air Force he spent 6 years in Saudi Arabia where he also took part in Gulf Wars 1 and 2. Most of the time when not at work, he ran the BAE Diving Club racking up a considerable number of dives in the Red Sea, The Gulf and Cyprus.
Leaving Saudi in 1995 for health reasons, he took a job in Bedford with an IT engineering company where he met his beautiful wife Louise. Leaving the IT firm in 2000 he started a business venture renovating properties; however this did not work out as planned leading to Phil finding himself in a difficult lengthy period of being out of work.
Chapter 2
In 2007 Phil was invited by a friend to attend a flute making course with Steve Frost of Nightstar Flutes. Phil and his friend both came away with 2 flutes and with this new-found knowledge, Phil started making flutes for friends and family. Still finding difficultly both emotionally and physically in securing a job it was hinted at that a new career in flute making might be just the ticket. So, late in 2007, Phil made 25 flutes for a show where he shared a stall with his best friend and Steve Frost. The show went rather well and he sold 13 flutes. As a result, in 2008, Phil officially started Red Kite Flutes with the help of his neighbour Gerry and Louise.
With a background in engineering Louise assisted Phil in the refinement process of the flutes and as the years progressed overall quality improved steadily to a point where Phil’s dedicated workmanship was being recognised within the fluting community and held in extremely high regard. Phil prided himself in specialising in English hardwoods although he also used softwoods like Wellingtonia or Lebanese Cedar which have become a popular entry level. Phil also from time to time created signature flutes from carefully selected exotic hardwoods to add new depths of colour and character.
Chapter 3
Phil sadly and suddenly passed away at the beginning of 2017, leaving a big hole in many hearts especially that of his wife Louise. In the immediate wake of his passing Louise received an overwhelming outpour of love and support from family, friends and the fluting community who not only offered their condolences but also expressed an active interest in supporting Louise to keep Red Kite Flutes (and Phil’s memory) alive.
From March 2017 RKF gained a new member in the shape of Sam, a close family friend who had known Phil and Louise for many years and had sought their help in making some personal woodwork projects years before.
Sam, having a keen interest in woodwork, volunteered his days off from work to assist Louise and Jerry in tuning and finishing the flutes which Phil had started, endeavouring to fulfil all the engagements that had already been made, continuing to carry forward his legacy.
In late October of 2017 Sam took the plunge and became a full time member of RKF. Louise took Sam under her wing and began what she described as “The Red Kite Flute Apprenticeship” where she taught Sam all things flute from the ground up. With a keen interest in woodworking and an existing knowledge of tuning Sam has come on leaps and bounds, not only successfully maintaining Phil’s reputation for quality craftsmanship but also establishing a name for himself as a maker of high quality flutes.
Chapter 4
Red Kite Flutes continue to trade with the flutes being made by Sam and Louise. The team consists of Directors Louise, Sam and Mark (Phil’s best friend and Sam’s Dad), as well as Gerry, Steve “Cloudsong” and Faye Bradbury. Steve and Faye both run flute workshops and sound meditations (Steve in the South and South West, Dorset, Wiltshire etc and Faye above Bristol, Wales, Midlands etc). Cloudsong is a multi-instrumentalist also performing with the hang drum, whilst Faye is also highly talented at playing flutes as well as birthing and playing beautiful drums. Both enjoy working with other practitioners such as yoga teachers, sound therapists etc.
In late 2017, Just Flutes (aka Jonathan Myall Music), Europe’s leading distributor of flutes, began to stock and sell Red Kite Flutes. We are very pleased to be in partnership with Jonathan and his wonderful, knowledgeable team and continue to thrive within his store.
Chapter 5
In 2018 we have made huge steps in securing the future of Red Kite Flutes and continuing Phil’s legacy. Not only have we attended multiple shows up and down the United Kingdom (as well as attending our first show abroad in Jersey), we have also built partnerships with 4 hugely talented musicians from all walks of life and 3 different continents: Bevani, Wolfsheart, Andy Findon and Tommy Graven who have joined the RKF family and continue to promote our flutes and the values of Red Kite Flutes.
Red Kite Flutes would like to thank all those who have chosen our flutes and given us support over the years, particularly your loyalty this past year which has been invaluable, and look forward to seeing as many of you again at the various shows around the country and beyond. So far it has been a journey of vastly mixed emotions as you can imagine, however with the love and support from those around us we can unequivocally say that we are doing Phil proud and seek to continue to produce the same high caliber instruments in his honour.
May your path be long and enlightening