Annie Bartholomew, KTOO

For this Red Carpet concert, we present Irish-folk duo and 2017 Alaska Folk Festival guest artist the Murphy Beds of Brooklyn.

Guitarist Jefferson Hamer and bouzouki player Eamon O’Leary perform Hamer’s song “Ragged World.” It’s the latest video from our eight-part Red Carpet Concert series filmed at the Alaskan Hotel during this year’s folk festival.

This video was made in collaboration between with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts with The Hannah Yoter Band of Anchorage, The Quaintrelles and Goldwing.

This spring, longtime friends and musicians Tania Lewis and Christopher Behnke released their first album “Live at the Outpost.” During the Alaska Folk Fest, the banjo-guitar duo recorded a Red Carpet Concert at the Alaskan Hotel. Here’s their performance of Lewis’s song “The Swell.”

This video was made in collaboration between with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts with The Hannah Yoter Band of Anchorage, The Quaintrelles and Goldwing.

Rusty Recordings producer Justin Smith discussed the album with the artists. Lewis and Behnke worked as researchers together for six years aboard a boat that Smith captained in Glacier Bay. Here are some highlights from the conversation:

• Tania Lewis says a lot of the songs were inspired by Glacier Bay, Icy Strait and other parts of the region. She says the ocean’s waves scare her, but that she tries to embrace them.
• Christopher Behnke says the recording was one of the first songs he’d played with Lewis after returning to Gustavus from Fairbanks, and that to him, the record is representative of the community.
• Justin Smith says one inspiration for the record was a photo he saw of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings looking at each other across a little table with “beautiful vintage microphones.”

Hear a mix of the interview here:

 

To celebrate KXLL’s Summer Membership Drive, Bridge From Nowhere podcast hosts Andy Kline and Jamie Karnik are taking over KXLL to announce and respond to your message, missed connection or love question.

Tune in at 4:00 p.m. Friday, June 9th to hear your message read aloud.

*Missed Connect may be edited or omitted due to time constraints and language

Leave your message through the portal below:

 

The KXLL Pop-Up Record Shop is back! To celebrate our Summer Membership Drive we’re setting up shop at the JAHC Rock around the Black Party at Pivot Plaza outside Alaska State Library Archives and Museum.

The sale begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday June 9th with records priced at $1, $5, and $10.

Donate your record collection at KTOO Public Media between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Contact annie@ktoo.org for questions.

For our fifth video, we present Anchorage songwriter Emma Hill with Kat Moore performing Hill’s original song “2 Seconds Flat.” Since their recording at The Alaskan Hotel during the 43rd Annual Alaska Folk Festival, Hill has toured Europe with her songwriting partner Bryan Daste and Moore has toured Colorado with her band The Super Saturated Sugar Strings.

This video was made in collaboration between with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts with The Hannah Yoter Band of Anchorage, The Quaintrelles and Goldwing.

For our next Red Carpet Concert from the 2017 Alaska Folk Festival, we present Goldwing. Performing their song “Buffalo Coat,” Juneau songwriter Dan Kirkwood is flanked by Ben Higdon on pedal steel and Dan DeSloover on bass. They usually play with drummer Clae Good, though the band became a trio to fit into the tiny hotel room.

This video was made in collaboration with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts from the 43rd Annual Alaska Folk Festival with The Quaintrelles, The Hannah Yoter Band and  Goldwing’s Alaska Originals performance.