Annie Bartholomew, KTOO

Christy NaMee Eriksen‘s new video for her poem “How To Say Goodbye” follows a pair of friends over a lifetime. The film is dedicated to Amy Henderson, her friend who passed away from cancer earlier this year. The video arrives on Henderson’s birthday. She would  have been 33 today.

Recorded in the days following Henderson’s death, Eriksen partnered with guitarist Avery Stewart to create the soundtrack. Stewart’s warm electric guitar accompanies Eriksen’s drawn out farewell. Both artists experienced loss in 2017.

“In my family, when we say goodbye on an ordinary day it’s a very long process, almost comically long sometimes,” Eriksen wrote in an email. “After my friend died I felt so angry and sad at having not gotten to experience that final long goodbye with her.”

Her poem is a reminder that saying goodbye is just the ritual to honor and give thanks for friendship, “All the reverence, all the gratitude, everything that happens before the goodbye should matter more than the goodbye itself.”

The film is the third in a series created with videographer Ryan Cortes with support from a Rasmuson Foundation artist award.

The Seattle post-punk band SHIVERTWINS has released their latest song “Watch” before their Juneau homecoming show later this month.

Recorded just over a year ago, songwriter Eric Mountcastle says “Watch” is about their frustrations surrounding America’s current political climate. With issues like global warming, “We’re reduced to spectators forced to watch the world end. … We want to fix it but we physically can’t because we don’t have a seat at the table.”

Bassist James Rosales says the band will always be inspired by their favorite garage rock acts like FIDLAR and The Strokes who they crafted their earlier music around. But their latest, more polished sound, comes from by the mixing of guitarist Lance Fohrenkam’s dream pop influences.

Since moving to Seattle during the summer of 2015, the band’s released an EP titled 19, AGAIN and has recently been selected to play the main stage at Seattle’s Big Ass Boom Box, a free music festival showcasing local artists in January.

On Dec. 23, the band will play an all ages show the Rockwell Ballroom. It will be their first hometown show with the current lineup.

Their full-length debut album is set to arrive spring 2018.

The Canadian electronic dance music group A Tribe Called Red, performs Thursday at Centennial Hall with Woosh.ji.een Dance Group. The indigenous DJ collective combines traditional Pow Wow songs with elements of hip-hop to promote inclusivity and representation of First Nations peoples.

A Tribe Called Red’s DJ Bear Witness, says the electronic dance music group is more than just two guys switching off on turntables.

“There’s a live element to it as well as live visuals going on that speak to the same idea of representation and misrepresentation of indigenous people through the media and kind of showing these images in a different light, a light that you can have fun with or that you can laugh at but that’s also very confronting at the same time,” said Bear Witness.

The group travels with their own dancers, but also involves both street and traditional style dancers from the indigenous communities they visit.

“Again, this idea of representation, how we want to show ourselves, how we want to be seen and seeing that kind of participation at a show for me is always really exciting, you know, to really watch indigenous people own the space,” said Bear Witness.

Thursday they will be joined by Juneau’s own Woosh.ji.een Dance Group.

“The most exciting thing is watching people have that type of shared experience of listening to music, dancing together, you know when you’re talking about issues between indigenous people and settler people within North America, finding that common ground of civil conversation together is really difficult. So in this really kind of unexpected way of people from all backgrounds can come and enjoy our music, enjoy what is essentially an indigenous experience together and start to create a new experience, and you’re a step closer to finding that common ground,” said Bear Witness. 

See a Tribe Called Red presented by Sealaska Heritage, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council with KXLL Juneau Thursday  at 7 at Centennial Hall. Get tickets at the door or online at JAHC.org.

An Alaska music group called Indian Agent has a new album out that uses electronic music to highlight historic atrocities committed against indigenous peoples.  The album “Meditations in the Key of Red” is out now on Homeskillet Records.

Indian Agent’s first single “Life keeps on spinning” opens with lush soundscapes and deep grooves. The lyrics allude to a growing awareness and ideological shift.  

It’s the latest release from Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist Yéil Ya-Tseen, also known as Nicholas Galanin. He’s joined by Zach Wass who also plays guitar in Silver Jackson and Seattle artist OC Notes. Indian Agent’s debut album is called “Meditations in The Key of Red.”

“Red is reference to indigeneity, red is reference to anger, reference is to love,” said Galanin. 

Historically, Indian agents were government officials, who Galanin said carried out colonial agendas in the United States and Canada, banning ceremonial practices. Galanin said the group’s name Indian Agent and the album are an opportunity to educate through their music and art.

“It was also an opportunity to reverse those ideas and roles and resist against it, I suppose, with our song, with our dance, with our strength and our words are empowerment,” he said. 

On their song “Can you hang” there’s a refrain: “We won’t applaud your history.” Galanin said the song is about the curriculum taught in our education system, the national holidays that are celebrated, and the values displayed by our monuments.

“We’re familiar with the history and a lot of it’s not OK,” Galanin said. “A lot of it’s ugly and nasty, a lot of it’s rape and murder and all of these things. You can’t make it look nice with a bronze statue.”

Recent history was also an influence. The song “Dakota” was written in response to last year’s Dakota Access pipeline protests. The track captures the conflict and unrest at Standing Rock, and includes audio samples recorded on the ground by members of his artist collective Winter Count.

To Galanin, the idea that humans can own land is a myth, instead we belong to the land. It’s a theme throughout these recordings.

Yup’ik musician Stephen Qacung Blanchett of the band Pamyua joins the album in “We move lightly on land and on sea.”

“It’s a reference to our care, our respect that we have for place and the ocean and how powerful the land actually is and how powerful the sea is,” Galanin said. “And we have care for that and we understand through subsistence and through hunting and being out there with it. And the opposite side of that spectrum is complete lack of care and disrespect for it.” 

At the end, Blanchett sings in Yup’ik,“My people I come before you, singing our song and dancing.” It comes from a traditional entrance song protocol.

The album ends with a the track “Mother,” featuring a visceral and unsettling performance from the internationally renowned Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq. The release also includes appearances from Tlingit composer Ed Littlefield, and hip-hop producer and Macklemore collaborator Budo, among others.

“Meditations in the Key of Red” is a marriage of electronics, vibrant percussion and acoustic instruments. It’s collaborative and experimental, layers of story and sound, and some of Galanin’s most cohesive work. 

More than 30 artists, children and crafters got together this past weekend for an open studio gathering at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. 

It was the second monthly Artists of All Nations event put together by the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

The Artists of All Nations events are a result of the JAHC’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, which responded to Alaska Native artists’ desire to create art as a collective experience.

“Most of the Native artists that I know, including myself, work in community,” says program facilitator and JAHC and KTOO board member Debra O’Gara. “We’re trying to set up just a community space where people can come in, work on their projects, but also view what other people are doing and get ideas and inspiration for not just for your project, that you’re working on, but also give inspiration and ideas to somebody else.”

Open to all artists and mediums, activity included both Raven’s Tail and Chilkat weaving, beadwork, carving, needle point, painting, coloring and mixed media.

Juneau artist and University of Alaska Southeast professor Abel Ryan worked on a bas relief carved plaque, which is part of a commission with two rings that feature a of formline whale design.

Ryan said the art form is at least 1,000 years old, “It’s a lot of fun to learn how to do and it’s easy to get lost when composing the designs.”

Juneau painter and 2017 JAHC juried art show “Best In Show” winner Pua Mauna worked with water color and pen and ink at her first Artists of All Nations.

“It’s a great space and I love meeting all the artists here and seeing what they’re doing,” Maunu said. “It’s very inspirational.

Juneau artist Alfie Price sewed patches to his “Rock and Roll Battle Vests.” Made from old jean jackets, his designs are adorned with patches from favorite bands, political statements or personal messages that represent the wearer.

Price usually sources his denim on eBay or hunts for them at local thrift stores.

He said the older the better, “If they’re kind of worn in they look a lot cooler, and they’re more comfortable.

The next Artists of All Nations gathering takes place Sunday, Oct. 22 at the JACC.

In front of a red velvet curtain on the Rendezvous stage, Juneau drag king Tyquan lays down some fancy footwork to Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step.”

With a fake wireless mic, Tyquan lip syncs as the R&B singer, flanked by backup dancers in gold parachute pants.

Juneau artist and rising drag king Tahir McInnis addresses themes of gender and race through performance, art and fashion.

McInnis said her drag persona was inspired by Bobby Brown’s portrayal in BET’s biopic miniseries “The New Edition Story.”

“He was awful. He was the worst,” Mcinnis said. “That’s kind of what I based my character of off: this bad boy, womanizing, out all night partying, like that type of persona.” 

Tyquan nails the look with a high-top fade and suit jacket buttoned low with extra-square shoulder padding.

The suit jacket exposes the illusion of pecs and a six pack. It’s a foam costume piece McInnis customized by painting it to match her skin.

“I was kind of shocked that it turned out, like, spot on for a little Halloween costume chest plate because I know people spend thousands on materials for drag, padding, chestplates, stuff like that.”

Since Tyquan’s debut in April, McInnis has appeared as the rapper Coolio and the Disney character Powerline from the “Goofy Movie,” crafting head to toe looks for each routine.

McInnis started sewing when she was just 8.

It’s a trade that runs in her family. She’s been making clothes as long as she can remember, and now creates her own patterns.

After starting at such a young age, she says whipping up a costume like a jumpsuit is no big deal.

“I just roll up to Joann’s and say give me a couple yards of this, give me some yards of that.”

She’s started a line of clothing and home goods called Melanin Auntie, which features images from her paintings including fantastical mermaids with afros and orcas in space. This month she was featured artist for First Friday at Downtown Dames.

“I had a young, black girl come in, she was maybe about 9. She bought one of my T-shirts that she saw online because she’s never seen a mermaid that looks like her,” McInnis said. “I just let her know, ‘You’re beautiful, and you don’t have to change anything about you. Your hair, your skin, anything.’”  

“If I can just make one little brown girl in town make her feel like she’s not outta place, like, how I felt  growing up here, then I’ve done what I’ve set out to do,” she said.

She’s lived in Juneau for more than 20 years. Outside of drag, she said she’s repeatedly mistaken for being transgender.

“Growing up here in Juneau, I’ve had people always ask me if I’m trans, if I’m transgender … I’m not, but I support that community,” she said. “All my trans sisters, just be you.”

“After a while I said, there’s no problem with that, I’m going to embrace it, it’s not going to hinder me in any way, it doesn’t hurt my feelings, and I’m proud of what I’m doing. And if you guys want to see the man, I’ll show you the man.”

This weekend, 10 amateur drag performers took the stage at Femme Fatale, Juneau’s biggest drag event and main fundraiser for the Alaska AIDS Assistance Association’s services in Southeast.

Tyquan competed for the first time in the Locals Night show against four other kings.

Wearing a light-up, white fringed jumpsuit and sporting a large white afro, the drag king danced and handed out roses to a medley of Parliament Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye and Rick James.

He took third place.