U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith is making a stop in Juneau on Wednesday. It’s part of a national tour that’s bringing her to rural communities in Alaska, South Dakota, Maine and Louisiana.
She’s excited to take poetry to parts of the country where literary festivals don’t always go.
Smith won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry called “Life on Mars.” Here she is reading from her poem “The Weather in Space.”
Lead vocalist Alejandro Chavarria of the band Revilla performs at the KXLL Showcase during the 2018 Alaska Folk Festival at the Hangar Ballroom. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Alex Nelson of Juneau performs with Amish Robots, now known as Revilla, at the KXLL Showcase during the 2018 Alaska Folk Festival at the Hangar Ballroom. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Drummer Clae Good plays drums for a Juneau set with the Amish Robots, now known as Revilla at the KXLL Showcase during the 2018 Alaska Folk Festival. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Guitarist and songwriter Patrick Troll headlines the 2018 KXLL Showcase with the Amish Robots during the Alaska Folk Festival. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Amish Robots is a band with Southeast Alaska roots.
After their breakout set at this year’s Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau, they headlined a KXLL Showcase concert filling the Hangar Ballroom to capacity.
Now the band’s got a new EP and name change inspired by its members’ hometown of Ketchikan.
Hear guitarist and songwriter Patrick Troll talk about the band’s formation and latest release as Revilla:
Seattle’s Amish Robots began as Ketchikan teenagers Patrick Troll and Alejandro Chavarria’s musical duo.
The pair played under the names Baby Shower and Really Cool Guys before settling on Amish Robots.
After moving to Seattle and welcoming Juneau musician Alex Nelson into the fold, Troll said the group outgrew the Amish Robots sound.
“I’m kind of the sensitive one about the name change because I was the one who came up with Amish Robots,” Troll said. “Of course, once we changed it, it came out of the woodwork that people didn’t like the name Amish Robots — or not that they didn’t like it, they just thought it was too much of a gimmick.”
Their new name “Revilla” is inspired by Revillagigedo Island where Ketchikan is located on the Alexander Archipelago.
Their four-track EP is an homage to the trio’s first Alaska Folk Festival performance together in 2007, when they performed together as The North Sea.
Though based in Seattle, Revilla hasn’t forgotten their Southeast Alaska roots, calling on visual artist Matt Hamilton to create the group’s album artwork.
Listen to the North Sea EP and hear Patrick Troll Friday nights on KXLL as DJALTERNATIVE on his electronic music program Burger Church.
Patrick Troll of the Amish Robots performs Friday at The KXLL Showcase happening at the Hangar Ballroom at 8:00. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Sergei Morosan plays Friday night at the Alaskan with the North Country Cajun Club. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
(Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Caleb and Reeb of the Foghorn String Band perform Thursday at the Rendezvous during the 2018 Alaska Folk Festival. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
It’s not hard to find something to do during the Alaska Folk Festival. Once again, your friends at KTOO tried to make it easy and list the downtown evening venue schedules all in one place. As these things go, we’ll be updating the schedule daily with changes, new events and start times as we learn more.
Taylor Vidic is hosting the “Hump Day Listening Room” at the Gold Town Nickelodeon Wednesday night of Folk Fest. Cameron Brockett and Taylor Vidic of The Quaintrelles perform their song “Rolling Stone” live at the Alaskan Hotel during the 2017 Alaska Folk Folk Festival. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Wednesday
Alaskan Hotel and Bar – Open Mic sign up at 9:00 p.m.
The Bowties perform Thursday night at the Red Dog Saloon at 9:30. Billy Moore and Yoseff Tucker perform a Red Carpet Concert at the Alaskan Hotel during the 2016 Alaska Folk Festival. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Thursday
Alaskan Hotel and Bar – Open Mic sign up at 9:00 p.m.
Red Dog Saloon – Alaska Bluegrass and The Bow Ties at 9:30 p.m.
Back in Juneau after moving to Wisconsin, guitarist Dara Rilatos performs at the Rendezvous Wednesday night and hosts Bad Babes and Bandanas at Rockwell Friday night. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
Friday –The KXLL Showcase featuring: Amish Robots EP Release, Indian Agent, Avery Stewart, Christy NaMee Eriksen, QUEENS, Taylor Vidic & Cody Russell at 8:00 p.m.
Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers perform at 7 pm. Thursday, Feb. 1, @360 and at 7 Friday, Feb. 2, at the JACC for the American Salmon Forest fundraiser. (Photo courtesy of the artist)
Ketchikan’s Ray Troll is known for his visual art seen on T-shirts like “Spawn Till You Die” and “Fish Worship.” But this week he plays two shows with his band The Ratfish Wranglers that have been together for more than 35 years.
Troll said the group started when we was a substitute art teacher at Ketchikan High School during the mid-1980s.
“I had a couple of snarky kids in this one class, Russell (Wodehouse) and Shauna (Lee), and they were giving me a lot of guff. But they also had a radio show and they were in their band and I really liked their music.”
Their band was called The Squawking Fish, and even though Troll was 12 years their senior, it marked the beginning of their sub-aquatic, fish-inspired rock ‘n’ roll.
Troll views his music as extension of his visual art, adapting the themes of his popular T-shirts to music form like in “Fish Worship” and the iconic “Spawn Till You Die.”
But his music also aims to teach. Subject matter includes plate tectonics, ammonites, trilobites, and of course, ratfish.
One of their most popular songs is a Beastie Boys-inspired track called “Rockfish Barotrauma” with a music video that demonstrates how to save a rockfish when you’re out fishing.
“When you catch a rockfish it’s suffered from barotrauma, their eyes pop out of their head,” Troll said. “These fish are 100 years old and you’re only supposed to catch one a day. What do you do with that fish? How do you save that fish? So that song actually teaches you how to save that fish.”
The band will be joined by Juneau’s own Bob Banghart, who has has played on their studio albums and will feature visualizations of Troll’s works.
Though known for their fishy costumes, Troll said they will save the outfits for their Friday night gig, and let the music speak for itself during their television broadcast show Thursday night on “Alaska Originals.”
See Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers play a free show at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, @360 in the KTOO building. The group performs a fundraiser show at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, at the JACC, benefitting American Salmon Forest with support from Trout Unlimited and the Alaskan Brewing Company.
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.
Juneau painter and 2017 Juneau Arts and Humanities Council Juried Art Show Winner Pua Maunu uses watercolors and pen and ink to paint at Artists of All Nations, a communal art space at the JACC on Sunday, Sep. 24, 2017. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
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 works on a carving at Artist of All Nations, a open studio and community art space happening once-a-month at the JACC. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
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.”
More than 20 artists gathered at the JACC for Artists of All Nations, a monthly creative space open to all artists and mediums. Juneau artists Crystal Cudworth and Pua Maunu of the Plein Rain Painters works on projects Sep. 24, 2017. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
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.
Alfie Price of Juneau sews patches and to a denim vest at Artists of All Nations on Sunday, Sep. 24, 2017. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)
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.
