Anchorage Folk Festival

The winter can be pretty long in Alaska. To combat the cabin fever and remind everyone that there are more than just bear and moose outside residents organize festivals from January through March.

The 22nd Annual Anchorage Folk Festival was from January 20-30, 2011. We went for the final Saturday night show on the 29th. The night started out with a new age meditation piece that put our friends' kids to sleep before the music even started. It was a worrying start but the rest of the show kept us entertained past our bedtime.

The festival encourages family based bands and two were on display for us. The Wright Stripes playing cover songs from the White Stripes with the entire family in on the act. Then later the Hooper Family Band playing together to "stay together."

The Wright Stripes

The Hooper Family Band

The group Relative-ly Famous from Homer were claiming or reaching for family ties with Jewel's aunt and a relation to someone on Lord of the Rings as members of the band.

Relative-ly Famous

Our favorite bands were The Asteroids with their "swingy jazz grass", the Twangabilies and their "timeless toe-tapping tunes from some grizzled old pros", and The Grass-Fed String Band's "organic blend of feel-good roots music with 'new grass' feel." It helped that I actually knew a few of the songs but they all put a lot of energy into their performance and made it a lot of fun. The Grass-Fed String Band also had a hilarious song about not throwing out the water after boiling your vegetables because it has good nutrients, calling it veggie gin or something like that.

The Asteroids

The Twangabilies

The Grass-Fed String Band

Alaskans are very proud of their eccentricity. Not everyone can enjoy living where it stays frozen for months out of the year. They also like to brag about famous artists that have been inspired by their time in Alaska. Here are a couple songs that were mentioned during the show that I thought some of you would enjoy.

Johnny Cash: When It's Springtime In Alaska (It's Forty Below)




John Denver: Alaska And Me



We'll have an update on the biggest festival of the winter, the Fur Rendezvous or Fur Rondy, soon.