KXLL

Almost as soon as they came together, Juneau band Shiver Twins left for Seattle to pursue their music career. Now the boys are back and tonight musicians James Rosalez, Eric Mountcastle, Lance Fohrenkam and Zac Watt will take to the stage for their first show since their 2014 departure.

“Since we played Haines Fair last year that’s kinda when we were like, ‘Okay, I think we have something cool going on.’ We just booked our tickets in October and it’s been about 8 months since we left Juneau,” says James Rosalez, drummer for the band.

All four members of the band grew up in Juneau. They were working odd jobs when the group came together last year.

“I was a dock rep with Coastal Helicopters. Eric was working with Juneau Youth Services. Zach was working at Heritage, and he’s actually there now working for this week. And Lance was at Home Depot. It was just kind of day jobs and then band stuff, and that’s kind of how it is now in Seattle, but there’s just a little more happening for the kind of music,” Rosalez says.

Though they’re getting big gigs in Seattle, there are still some things they need to tour, like a van.

“We get rides from our friends to all our shows,” Rosalez says.

With a few West Coast shows booked, and recordings already on iTunes, could fame be around the corner?

“I don’t know what making it really means,” Rosalez says. “I think ‘making it’ to me two years ago would have maybe meant getting out of Juneau and playing music in Seattle, and now we’re doing that. But there’s always more that we can do.”

For now they’re just trying to figure out what success looks like for a band from Juneau with big dreams. See James Rosalez and the Shiver Twins Friday night at the Rendezvous. Their homecoming show begins at 10:00 p.m.

Full disclosure: The very talented Annie B. will be opening for the Shiver Twins at tonight’s show.

KXLL morning DJ Annie Bartholomew interviews Juneau musician Daniel Kirkwood about his upcoming show with his new band Goldwing. See them peform Wednesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. @360 located at KTOO.

Urban life has long drawn young people out of rural Alaska. Now art is imitating Alaska life in a first-time Juneau playwright’s new play “They Don’t Talk Back.” The debut work has caught the eye of a well-known Native American theater company, and drawn the homegrown playwright to Los Angeles.

Frank Katasse says his writings often explore the sometimes confusing differences between his Tlingit heritage and contemporary society. When inspiration hits he will compose a monologue, a soliloquy or a poem; this is his first full-length play and is composed of several years of these writings that ride on a central theme.

Not expecting much, Katasse submitted his play to a leading Native American theater company Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles. The theater chose Katasse’s play amid numerous submissions as one of three major works to present at this year’s 17th Annual Festival of New Plays.

“He’s an amazing first-time playwright,” says Native Voices Producing Executive Director Jean Bruce Scott. “The fact that this is his first full-length play is telling in terms of his natural talent.”

Scott says the play is unique: “He’s using what we’re currently calling interludes that bracket the individual scenes that are happening in the play. And the interludes, each one of them is different. One may be Tlingit drumming and singing. One may be a poem. He’s using spoken word.”

He’s also using what Scott calls a beatbox-like rhythmic language.

“And then he’s telling a very important story in Indian country, and that is the connection between culture and history, and the present day, and how do Native people hang onto their children.”

Katasse will be in Los Angeles through the end of May for the Playwrights’ Retreat. A full company of nationally recognized directors, dramaturges, producers, designers and Native American actors will read and critique “They Don’t Talk Back.”

Katasse is excited, but says playwriting is different from his usual role as an actor.

“It hasn’t even started yet and I’m nervous, which is very odd,” Katasse says. “I don’t get nervous very often going on stage. But already I’m feeling like it’s something that is out of my control and I just have to trust the ensemble which other playwrights have obviously done with me.”

It’s ironic that Katasse is leaving Juneau himself, but that irony is not lost on him. He plans to bring back all that he learns and share it with aspiring playwrights in Juneau.

Marijuana activists in the capital city are planning a Southeast Alaska Cannabis Celebration this Friday at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

The event will feature eight bands, food carts and local businesses showing off their products and services. But organizers are asking attendees to leave the green stuff at home.

Giono Barrett hopes to start a marijuana farm with his brother in Juneau, but says they won’t have any plants to display at the cannabis celebration. Barrett points to a similar festival canceled recently in Anchorage after city officials told organizers they would not allow possession or use of pot at a municipal facility.

“We really want to just bring the community together and get people out of the woodwork,” Barrett says. “So the idea here is to hit that marijuana demographic, and get them out of their house and get them together and enjoying music together.”

Public consumption of marijuana is illegal, even under the state’s new recreational marijuana law. In addition, the City and Borough of Juneau currently has a moratorium on land use permits for marijuana-related businesses. Barrett opposed the moratorium at first, but now thinks it’s been good for Juneau’s marijuana community.

“I think it was in retrospect a really smart decision, because it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other — the cannabis community and our city,” he says.

The cannabis celebration is being organized by Revelry Events, founded by former KXLL music director and volunteer Jessie Herman-Haywood. She says you won’t have to be a marijuana user to get something out of it.

“Essentially this is just a really cool music festival,” Herman-Haywood says. “It’s a great opportunity for the cannabis community, whether you’re going to be starting a business, or maybe you want to be purchasing some, or maybe you just don’t know anything about cannabis and are really interested in the culture.”

Even though there’s not supposed to be any drugs or alcohol at the festival, Herman-Haywood says it will be a 21 and over gathering because of the material being discussed.

Local greenhouse Get Growing and clothing maker Aurora Projekt will be among the vendors at the event. Attorney Kevin Higgins also will have a booth. He’s a former public defender now in private practice, and a recreational marijuana user. He says he’s interested in watching the legalization process.

“Marijuana’s been a part of my life for over 20 years,” Higgins says. “It’s new and kind of uncharted territory. So it’s just interesting to see how it’s unfolding.”

Higgins says members of Juneau’s cannabis community have made themselves available to public officials at both the city and state level who are making decisions about how marijuana will be regulated.

“Trying to make sure that they’re not only making good decisions, but asking the right questions in arriving at those decisions,” he says. “And kind of still fighting uphill against a bunch of reefer madness.”

But in general Higgins says most politicians are doing a good job of thoughtfully approaching the issue.

Editor’s note: Jessie Herman-Heywood’s former role with KXLL has been clarified.

The Alaska Folk Fest is the crown jewel for late night revelers and music fiends. It’s like Christmas, Fourth of July and New Year’s wrapped into one week for people who like to party, dance and listen to an overload of amazing live music. While I wouldn’t normally consider myself a barfly, I’m no stranger to the downtown Juneau bar scene.

Folk Fest is a marathon week, the inexperienced and ill-prepared often find themselves tuckered out before the weekend has even hit. Serious mental and physical preparation are necessary for those looking to experience Folk Fest to the fullest. Some enthusiasts even plan ahead and schedule time off work to fully embrace all that the Alaska Folk Festival has to offer.

Most people only think about the amazing music at Centennial Hall when they’re thinking about Folk Fest. And that’s with good reason; Folk Fest has been around for 40 plus years and has something for everyone. First-time locals who’ve been practicing all winter for their 15 minutes in the spotlight, seasoned professionals who bring down the house and leave the crowd thirsting for more, and the yearly headliners who travel thousands of miles to grace us with their talent. Don’t forget the raucous dance scene at the JACC starting Thursday night, the amazing musical workshops over the weekend, the famous 24/7 impromptu jams and the infamous Bourbon Brunch.

But when the last band finishes up at Centennial at 11 p.m., the music is already getting started at bars downtown and the crowds are starting to pack in. Here, you’ll find a guide to the Capital City’s nightlife spots and this week’s festivities.

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The Alaskan Hotel and Bar (aka “The AK” or “The Kan”)

The Alaskan is the Queen Dame of the downtown bars, the nucleus of the Folk Fest nightlife scene, and the host of the long running Thursday open mics. This is everyone’s immediate go-to when they think of Folk Fest bars. Consequently, this bar WILL get packed, no question about that. The bartenders also get extremely busy, so don’t be surprised if your wait for a drink is longer than usual. Be sure to experience the famous trampoline dance floor on a busy night!

The Alaskan has a full lineup of live music starting at 9:30 p.m. all week long that you won’t want to miss:

Wednesday: Open Mic with C Scott Fry
Thursday: Open Mic with C Scott Fry
Friday: North Country Cajun Club With Scotty Meyer
Saturday: The Foghorn String Band
Sunday: Overby Family Band

Historically, the rooms upstairs in Alaskan Hotel have been late night jam spots.  But in recent years, the management has restricted entry to folks who are registered as guests.

The Rendezvous (aka “The Vous”)

The Rendezvous has been giving The Alaskan a run for its money in the last few years and looks poised to unseat The Alaskan as Juneau’s live music bar. They always have a knack for booking quality acts and this year’s schedule is no disappointment. Don’t mind the neon signs, this place is a locals’ favorite that always aims to please. The Vous is not as cramped as The Alaskan, but it’s still not easy to get a drink here on busy nights. This place has a rocking sound system and seems to know what the people of Juneau like to boogie to. The dance floor has more space, but can still get quite crowded. It’s not uncommon to see people shuffle between “The AK” and “The Vous” to check out the competing scenes.

The Rendezvous has a full lineup of live music all week long that you won’t want to miss:

Monday: Open Mic with Sammy Burrous
Tuesday: Cousin Curtiss
9 p.m. Wednesday: Deer Brothers
9 p.m. Thursday: Rumblefish
9:30 p.m. Friday: The Foghorn String Band
10 p.m. Saturday: RAISIN’ HOLY HELL

The Red Dog Saloon

The Red Dog always makes an effort every Folk Fest to show Juneau that they’re not just for tourists and this year is no different. They even hold off on putting sawdust on the floor so we don’t mess up our Xtratufs.  You should wander down South Franklin Street to show them it’s worth the effort–you won’t regret it.

The Red Dog has a full lineup of live music this week that you won’t want to miss:

9 p.m. Wednesday: Soft Old Day
9 p.m. Thursday: The Great Alaska Bluegrass Band
9 p.m. Friday: The Anna Lynch Band w/ Eli West and Dusty Rider, The Hannah Yoter Band
9 p.m. Saturday: Collette Costa Ft. Pastor Lunchmeat and The Pimentos

Rockwell

This newly remodeled bar and restaurant is owned by the same folks who own the Rendezvous and brings a little more class to the downtown scene. Amazing happy hour food specials will draw anyone with a penchant for decent and affordable eats. Plus, they’ve got great live music lined up later on in the week:

Wednesday : Devils Club
Thursday: Overby Family Band
Friday: Carolina Rowdies
Sunday: Devils Club

The Triangle

Best people watching in Juneau and best snack mix, too.  Wanna play Buzztime trivia?  This is your place.  Often packed with the legislative crowd this time of year.  Home to great Bloody Marys and a fun Sunday afternoon jam session.

The Imperial

Juneau’s meat market club. The Imperial typically doesn’t participate in the Folk Festivities but is a great place to escape from the fiddles and banjos.  Stop in here if you want to dance the night away to hip-hop and top 40 dance hits. Also, if you’re hungry, grabs some delicious and affordable food at the Front Street Café. Oddly enough, The Imperial hosts a post-Folk-Fest jam session on Monday afternoon that’s really fun if you still haven’t gotten enough.

This year The Imperial  is stepping up its Folk Fest Game with The Foghorn String Band at 9 p.m. Thursday.

The Viking

Juneau’s other meat market club and bar. Feel like shooting some pool?  Feel like singing some karaoke? This is your place. Venture into the back room for a DayGlo overload, or head to the upstairs dance floor to hear DJ Manu spin the best electronic tunes you’ve heard in the Tongass.

This year The Viking is getting into the action with the Deer Brothers at 10 p.m. Saturday.

The Lucky Lady (aka Juneau’s only Irish Pub)

A personal favorite for various reasons and one of Juneau’s most underrated drinking establishments.  Bring a crew of some good friends and you will soon own this bar.  Don’t mind the locals, they’re friendly and harmless.  I’ve heard some decent jam sessions here, not to be overlooked.  Don’t miss the constant Irish Limericks playing in the bathrooms!

James Marcus hosts “The James Radio Hour” on KXLL from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays.

In the film “The Unrideables: Alaska Range” a former Juneau kid makes aggressive ski turns, flips and literally flies off snowy cliffs.

Jon Devore started skiing and skydiving in Juneau. Now, he’s turned his passion into a profession by skydiving, speedriding and performing Hollywood stunts for a living.

Unrideables is a documentary on speedriding, a combination of big mountain skiing and high speed parachute flying.

“I have spent my whole life waiting for this moment – an opportunity to pioneer and ski mountains that were previously thought unrideable,” Devore says in the film.

The 39-year-old grew up in Juneau.

“If you didn’t get outside and do something, you’d go crazy living here,” Devore says. “And as a kid, whether it was scuba diving, skiing, kayaking, climbing – I went out and did everything that this beautiful area offers.”

He started skiing Eaglecrest Ski Area at age 5 and, as a young adult, spent summers river raft guiding. His first time skydiving was in Juneau.

“When I was a senior in high school, a guy rolled through the town offering tandem skydiving and I was his first client,” Devore says.

After that, he was hooked. Devore moved to Arizona in 1995 to pursue skydiving full time. He became part of a group that was perfecting, what was at the time, a new style of skydiving – free flying.

“Most people think skydiving is belly to earth falling flat. Well, we were taking it into three dimensions whether we were standing up vertically and having our feet go first, or going head down towards the earth or everything in the middle,” he says.

Devore worked as a skydive coach and competed in world skydiving meets. After a little while, “the world of Hollywood and the stunt world started calling.”

He coordinates, films and performs aerial stunts.

“We did all the wingsuit scenes in Transformers 3 where we were flying our wingsuits through downtown Chicago through all the buildings having the robots chase us.

In “Furious 7,” part of the “The Fast and the Furious” series, Devore is an aerial cameraman for cars that are dropped out of an airplane. He’s the lead actor’s stunt double in the remake of “Point Break,” due to come out in December. The original movie was what first inspired him to skydive.

Devore is the manager of the Red Bull Air Force Team, which performs in about 60 shows a year doing stunts like skydiving into a Seattle Seahawks game or into a concert. In his 20 year career, Devore only recently experienced his first injury – a torn ACL.

But he says he’s had close calls. During a movie shoot in New Zealand, DeVore was supposed to jump out of a helicopter, land on a big mountain, cut his parachute off and ski down. He had been practicing for weeks, but while filming,

“My parachute didn’t open, my lines came out and they tied around my ski boots and bindings, so I basically tied myself up in the sky and my parachute never inflated. It was just being towed like a piece of garbage. And I took that all the way into the ground and impacted at probably 95-100 miles an hour, almost pure free fall speed,” Devore says.

Devore was positive he was going to die. All he could think about was his wife. His curled up his body and hit the ground on his back.

“Two minutes later, I stood up and didn’t have a broken bone, zero injuries, nothing,” Devore says.

The mountain he landed on was part of the Invincible Snowfields.

Despite the close calls, Devore loves what he does and is sticking with it for as long as he can. He has friends in their late 60s and early 70s still skydiving. He says, he may one day bring the sport back to Juneau and, just maybe, change some kid’s life.