Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Alaska in Pop Music with Peter Moore

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Jay Flaming • Episode 153

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 Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska.


Hey everyone, before we jump into this interview with Peter Moore, I just wanted to tell you that after this week and next week where we have a couple of lighthearted, episodes for the holidays. , We are going to have a week long series of episodes the last week of 2025, and those are all gonna be around planning for next year.

So make sure if you like the podcast, you probably already subscribe, but if not, make sure you do it now because you don't wanna miss these cool episodes that are gonna really focus on your 2026 trip. And I also have some new, uh, discount partners for you to, um, talk about it. I'm gonna review some of the previous ones and we'll talk about all kinds of different topics in a series of episodes starting on December 26th.

So that is coming soon. Alright, in. Enjoy the show.

My guest today is Peter Moore, and if you have been listening to the podcast for a while, you may remember Peter from February 20, 24, episode 52. He came on and talked about being a reluctant cruise traveler, and that was actually one of the very first Traveler stories episodes that we did, and maybe it was the very first one.

Actually, so Peter, it's great to see you again. Thanks for coming back. I'm not sure I even remember that interview, but I'm glad you do, Jennie, articulate that. Thank you. Well, you are someone, I don't wanna go back on another boat to Alaska. Thank you very much. Yes. I'll gonna do it a different way next time.

Yes. You are someone who does a lot of interviews, so I can believe that you don't remember all the details. So, um, yeah, so I should probably say how I met you. So listeners, I met Peter because he reached out to me. For an article that he was writing about the Alaska ferry. And so we talked about the Alaska ferry, and then after our conversation, I was like, because part of what you wrote about Peter was like, this is how I would've liked to do it.

But instead I took a cruise and I was like, okay, I need to have you come on and. Tell everybody your reluctant cruising story. So that was pretty great. So listeners, you should go back and listen to that one. Um, anyway, but today we're talking about music. So Peter, can you kind of reintroduce yourself to everybody?

Like tell us just kind of who you are and what you do, and then we'll talk about music. So I worked for years in the magazine industry. I was the articles editor of Playboy. I was the one who had that joke job editing the articles of Playboy, and everyone reads Playboy for the articles. I've been told, actually it doesn't even exist anymore, which is the story of my career.

I was also, after I left Playboy, I worked for Men's Health for 20 years. Finished up his editor there and then they kicked me out the door 'cause. The magazine industry was dying. So, uh, now I work as a writer and cartoonist. I live in Colorado. Um, and, um, I've actually done some posts on my time in Alaska.

Mm-hmm. So if anybody wants to go to Peter moore.substack.com, they can find that stuff too. But, you know, mostly I'm just, uh, entertaining and amusing myself, uh, by drawing and writing and talking to smart people like you about fun places like Alaska. Yeah. And listeners. Um, I, I would really recommend Peter's substack.

It's awesome. It's like all cartoons about all kinds of things from like your life to what's going on in world events, and it's really, it's really pretty fantastic. So highly recommend it. Okay, so today Peter, we're talking about music and we are talking about pop music and Alaska. So why are we talking about that today?

Well, you know, it was a, it was a formative moment in my life I can remember. So I was, um, four years old when Johnny Horton's classic tune North to Alaska came out. And I can still remember we had Johnny Horton's greatest hits kicking around in my house, you know, on an lp. And the number one song, the first song on that album was North to Alaska, where, you know, he's really, uh, invoking the, uh, 1890s, uh, gold rush.

Um, you know, with a, with a man who goes up there to realize his goal of, uh, redirecting his life and he's gonna do it through gold and find enough ring to, uh, find enough gold to fashion a ring out of, to give to his sweetheart. And it was all, you know, the dream of Alaska, which, um. I had a friend, uh, in elementary school, uh, named Jeff Crowfoot.

He was the, uh, his father was, uh, half Cherokee or something. That's where he got that cool name. And Jeff and I used to talk about how in our later lives get this, we were both gonna move to Alaska and we were gonna become not Bush pilots, but for some reason we thought we were gonna be helicopter pilots in Alaska.

And all of this was based on. Uh, playing Johnny Horton's north to Alaska over and over again. And by the way, we were living in southern Connecticut and, you know, yes. Yeah. We were, we had as much chance of moving to Alaska and becoming helicopter pilots, as you know, we did, uh, of, uh, starring in the NBA. It just didn't happen.

But, you know, for, for two eight year olds, just the dream of Alaska expressed through the Gold Rush and the Jack London stories that we were reading that time in elementary school, you know, it was like this whole. It's like a faux Alaska that's built up through, uh, cultural references. Yeah. Other than it's an awesome Alaska and Alaska that on some level in my heart, I still love and still cherish, even though I know that, you know, uh, Fairbanks isn't that great a town.

Um, even though people, I don't know, I think it's pretty great personally. Yeah. Let's not fight about Fairbanks. We. You know, well, my vivid memory of Fairbanks was taking a bus to a, um, there's a natural area outside of downtown Fairbanks. And my wife got off, my wife and I got off, and we thought, we're gonna have a nice hike here.

So we go into the, uh, you know, into the office for this wildlife sanctuary, and we see that there are 17 different bottles of insect repellent there. And you know, they said, the person at the desk says, you know, you might wanna put some of this on. So we thought, oh, that's. How nice of you to do that. And we get out on this little boardwalk and we learn literally running through the woods, being chased by giant mosquitoes.

Yeah. Which a surprise to anyone to listen to this podcast, but you know, just, I've been reconciling. My Johnny Horton, uh, memories as a kid and my dream of Alaska with, you know, the reality of what it's like when you get there still great, but there's some reality to deal with too. Yeah. And you know, I think Johnny Horton did not talk about mosquitoes in his song as I recall.

Um, yeah. So that is one of those things that's, you know, that you know his, you know, his other big Alaska hit, maybe you don't, uh, it's called, I may Not. When it's springtime in Alaska Perens, it's 40 below. And the key lyric in that song is when it's springtime in Alaska, I'll be six feet under. And it's a story of how, um, Johnny Horton is at a dance and dances with, um, you know, this hot girl not realizing that she's attending with her boyfriend, who then shoots him after he's done flirting and dancing with.

Yeah. So, uh, and you know, the other, it's a beautiful love story. Oh, it's just great. Um, and the other subtext here is that about at the time, um, north to Alaska came out, number one hit, Johnny Horton died in a car crash in, uh, coming back from a gig in Texas. So, um, so his greatest hits, uh, north to Alaska was his number one hit at that time.

Mm-hmm. Uh, and he was already dead at that moment. So, you know, the whole, uh, springtime in Alaska, I'll be six feet under, uh, was pretty much true for Johnny Horton. Yeah. Very, very prophetic. Yeah. You know, it's funny because I told you this before, but listeners might find this kind of funny. That song is kind of, um, everywhere, especially if you work in the cruise industry.

And I, um, when I started working as a tour director for the company that I currently work for, that I've worked for like since the pandemic, um. When I did my first tour. So of course many things have changed since when I did it before, right? Mm. Um, and so I was like, oh, now, 'cause before I, you, you would like play music and stuff, but now with Spotify you can like crowdsource the playlist, right?

So I would have the guests, I still do this by the way. I would have the guests contribute to it. And of course, the very first thing. People put on there is Johnny Horton's north to Alaska. And I was like, I just got this out of my head from 10 years ago and now it's back. And usually, so you know, we're recording this like towards the end of November.

This episode's gonna be up in December and this is usually just about the time I start getting it out of my head after the tour season. So thank you Peter for. It is a major earworm. It's do it and it's like, uh, him yelping not to Alaska. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And he was also, yes, I saw go north. Yeah. The rush is on.

I saw a, um, a photo of him with his arm around Elvis at the time, and you could totally tell that Elvis was taking over the world at that moment, and Johnny Horton was thinking. Oh man, my career is about to be over 'cause this swivel hip guy is gonna, uh, is gonna push me off the stage. And in fact, the car crash did that.

But he was, uh, he was definitely, um, putting some Elvis style embellishments in that song, which, you know, if you listen to it carefully, you can hear. Uh, the vocal gymnastics are very Elvis like. Yeah. And that, that was the way they were singing that time. At that time. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, do you wanna guess, Peter, what the number two song is that people request on the playlist?

Uh, could it be Alaska by Maggie Rogers? It's not. What are they crazy? It's not. No. Is it, is it the John Denver one? What's that called? Um. Let's see. It's not so Alaska and Me. No, not that one either. It's not. I will give you a hint. It is not a song about Alaska, but it is a song about road trips. Oh, oh. Um, yeah.

Is isn't there one about the, um, uh, there's the, there's one called Alaska Highway that I've heard of. No. Yes. It's not that one though. Okay. Willie Nelson. Oh, of course. Yeah. Why wouldn't it be Willie? Yes. So he was, um, as far as I know, Willie Nelson has not been to Alaska, but perhaps he has. And I just dunno.

Yeah, I, I, so I read about that one too. It was Lionel Hampton, Johnny Mercer, who wrote that song, and then Willie covered it. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah, it's called, uh, midnight Sun. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty great. So now I start the Spotify playlist with the songs that. People always bring up and then I just add to it, and then sometimes I just let Spotify play.

So anyway, and by the way, while we're talking about that kind of thing, um. There are a couple of Spotify playlists that I would really recommend for. I'm just gonna look to remember, um, the name of them here. Just one second. So if you, um, if you're interested in like, music by Alaskans and about Alaska, there is.

A Spotify playlist called Alaska Native Voices, and it's all music by Alaska native bands and musicians and it's amazing. So I would highly recommend that. And then there's a couple others we'll talk about a little later, but anyway, you think about, you think about musicians hanging around in their cabin in the dark for eight months.

Yeah. What, what have they got to do aside from put together lyrics and write songs? Yeah. There's probably amazing jams going on the whole long winter season there are in Alaska. Uh, as long as people have those fingerless gloves and keep their hands warm. That's right. They can play music from the end of September to the beginning of May.

Yeah. And actually anytime of year. There's a lot of music in Alaska. Um. Lots of live music. Even very small communities, have lots of live music all year long. So if you like music at all, um, I'll give you a few more resources about that towards the end, you're gonna be pretty happy in Alaska. Okay, so Peter, moving ahead in time, leaving Jimmy Horton back in mid century times.

Johnny Horton, not Jimmy, sorry, Johnny. Come on. I You, thank you. He rest in peace. Johnny Horton? Yes. Johnny Horton. Yes. All right. So who else are we gonna talk about? Well, you know, I think the whole reason why I got in touch with you to even talk about pop music and Alaska was that I seen Maggie Rogers in concert at Red Rocks.

Yeah. In, uh, in Col in outside of Denver, uh, one of my favorite music venues and. You know that, I'm not sure the degree to which your listeners are aware of the whole history of Maggie's song Alaska, but it's really kind of a mindblower, um, and I'm gonna assume people are not. So tell us about it. Yeah. So, uh, I, first of all to introduce Maggie Rogers.

She's one of my favorite, uh, singers, songwriters, she's. Kind of brilliant, um, in so many ways. And one of the things that's amazing about her is that she, each of her albums is crafted to, um, to reflect what's going on in her life at that time. Mm-hmm. So, so, you know, if we go back 10, 11 years ago, uh, Maggie Rogers is grown up in North Carolina.

Um, she thinks she has an interest in music, but she's not sure that she's going to, you know, devote her whole career to that. So. Thinking about, well, I'm stuck creatively, what am I gonna do? Oh, I know. I will head north to Alaska to take a, um, to learn how to be a trail guide. She could have been your competition, Jennie.

Yeah. So, so she's up there getting over, um, you know, um, a bad boyfriend relationship and. She catches another creative spark while she's in, in Alaska, and in fact starts recording like simple, uh, rhythms and stuff. Like just by like tapping on her jeans. She's got like music percu percolating within her.

Yeah. And. It starts to work her way out when she's on a hike, walking like through an icy stream. She's in the middle of Alaska. She's kind of, uh, cleared herself, create her mind creatively by spending time in Alaska, which is very cool. So then she matriculates at NYU and she's, um, studying music production or something like that, and she's got this one track.

Called Alaska with her own, you know, homemade percussions on it. She drafts a couple of friends to sing some back on, back up on it. It's not a song like, um, you know, like Johnny Horton would write. It's more of like a meditation with rhythm. Yeah. Naturally. 'cause she's at n NYU U Pharrell Williams is like hanging around in the dorm, like talking to talented young students.

And anyway, he goes into her music production class, um, to discuss with the students what kind, you know, what, what have you, what have you been working on? And I'm Pharrell Williams, so I'm gonna tell you how to fix your song. So there's Maggie. She looks like this is a, uh, you know, it's a music vi, it's a, uh.

It's a YouTube video that's been viewed 27 million times, so it'll be very easy for you to find. If you look up Maggie Rogers, Pharrell Williams. Anyway, so Maggie is looking like she's about 15 years old. No makeup. No, she, she's not a glam, you know, pop star like she is now. She's an undergraduate who showed up for class that that day.

When I've read quotes from her, that's what she says is like, oh, I've got class. Yeah, it's a little exciting for Will Williams is gonna be there. I'll go. So. There's this two shot, there's two shot of Maggie and Pharrell, and you know, she presses play on her song Alaska. And you can see like Pharrell Williams is sitting there like, uh, how much longer is this class gonna go?

And then he like, he kinda sits up, he's like, and then you, like, you could almost see tears in his eyes as he's listening to this amazing song called Alaska by Maggie Rogers. And the song ends like Maggie's looking back and forth like. Him. Like, dude, do you hate this? You know, why are you so upset right now?

And Pharrell takes a deep breath and says, I have no notes for you on this song. What? Because clearly it's coming straight from your heart. And personally, I've never heard music like this before in my life. And this is Pharrell Williams. So this, like somebody from the class is videotaping, maybe it was a professor, I don't know who videotaped it.

Um. Oh, sounds kind of a cool reaction. I'll put it up on YouTube a couple weeks later. Uh, Maggie, uh, a couple weeks later it goes viral. And then Maggie is on the Tonight Show talking about what it was like to be in that class. And then the e EP comes out. It's a million seller, uh, a, a long playing version of the, of the whole album comes out.

Her first and Maggie goes from, you know, kind of a. Awkward undergraduate at NYU in music production to being this giant superstar based on stuff that she was feeling while being immersed in the Alaska wilderness. So it's like, it clearly had had such a deep resonant, uh, impact on her and it, uh, and it cleared her creative block and it prepared a way for her to have.

A pretty amazing, um, music career and to be, you know, I was very close to Maggie. I was in row 75 and she was on the stage. Yeah, you were right there. I was bonding with her and in fact, of course I did email her before I was gonna come on this and say, yes, Maggie. The three of us can talk about your song and Jennie flaming and it's gonna be great.

And she didn't, she didn't write back. I know. Maggie, if you do listen to the podcast, please call Peter.

Or she can aunt, come on and tell us your story. Yeah, she can call you. I think you're more important in this realm than I am. So, I don't know. I think fans speak the loudest. That's what I think. Yeah. Well, it'd be fun for the three of us to talk, but it would be super fun. So Maggie, call us, or if you know Maggie, tell her to call us.

Yeah. I mean, you never know where she's gonna show up. She's, she writes this, um, she writes a great, um, email. Um. Just about what she's feeling, what she's working on. I'm sure it goes out to 7 million people, but every time I read it, I feel like it's very personal to me. Mm-hmm. So I'll come in from my office where I'm sitting now, and I'll say, uh, tell my wife, you know, Maggie Rogers emailed me again today.

It was a very personal note. Yeah. And uh, and you know, Claire's like. You stop, you stop emailing with that. Maggie Rogers, when I saw, when I saw, when we saw her at Red Rocks, it looked like Marilyn Monroe, like soldered onto the stage complete glamor puss as opposed to what you looked like in the NYU video.

Yeah. And yeah, I think that, you know, my days of being able to impress Maggie Rogers are pretty much over. Um, well, but that's all, I dunno, your cartoons are pretty great and creative and it just say. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Any, any other songs that we really wanna call out here? You, you know, I guess, um, I'm, maybe some of the people who are listening to this, um, are much more like versed in Alaska music than I am.

I wouldn't say that I am, but you know, I, I think I, um. I, I told you that I just read the book, the Two Old Women, um, yeah. Which, you know, tells the story of, um, two elderly women who are cut off by, uh, you know, by the people in their, in their group, um, and, you know, left, essentially left to die in the winter and fight their way through it.

And I really, um. I guess, but Alaska interests me, you know, in addition to just being an awesome place to travel. Yeah. But it also interests me as, as a kind of muse for people with, um, yeah. You know, a part of the world that's. Still feels like it's over the bend. I mean, one of the amazing things I learned when, when we were traveling in Alaska was about all those communities that have no roads in or out.

Yeah. The only way you can get there is by, by, uh, by seaplane or, um, by walking a long way. Um, yeah. By sled dog. You know, it's like that, that essential remoteness, I think is what Maggie Rogers was er was referring to in her, yeah. In her song Alaska, that. It allowed her to push aside everything else that, uh, maybe was crowding into her life that wasn't working, uh, brought her back to some very elemental, um, feelings about who she was and what kind of relationship she wanted to be in, in including her relationship with the natural world.

Mm-hmm. So, you know, I think, um, what interests me about, uh, these Alaska playlists is how many people are. Kind of lured into the idea of Alaska and Yeah. Wanna see some kind of Alaska for themselves. Yeah. Like realize something within them. And you know, that's why, you know, I read this, uh, uh, the two old women in, in one sitting, um, because it was such a great tale of.

Adversity and a, a couple of women who use their skills to survive a long, dark winter Yeah. And really help their tribe, um, recover from a really tough time. Yeah. So death is omnipresent, but also, uh, that human spirit and the will to, um Yeah. Find your way. Yep. So I think that's something that all these Alaska, you know, Alaska songs, Alaska short stories, Alaska novels, they're all tapping into.

Some kind of, uh, um, primitive expression that we all wish that we could have more of as our lives become, you know, hyper and, uh, yeah. And, uh, overly technologized, you know, how far can you get with, uh, with a hook and a strip of, uh, uh, you know, reindeer leather. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The two old women showed us they can get pretty far.

Yeah. And it was willing to read it. Yeah. I, I, I will just say. Listen, two Old Women is a fantastic book and a very quick read, like you said, Peter, it's written by an Alaskan native author. It's a fantastic book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It, it was actually, it was given to me in a, um, you know, one of those, uh, uh, joke swaps of gifts where you try and stick someone with, uh, something that's been kicking around your house and you don't want it there anymore.

So there was kind of a, a laugh that went around the room when, you know, I, I pulled out this book, told old women. But I thought, you know, I'm kind of intrigued by this idea. Yeah. And once, once I had read two pages, I was like, oh yeah, I'm all about this. And um, you know, I was hearkening back to 7-year-old me, um, you know, thinking about flying a helicopter around in Alaska and uh, you know, being a bush pilot of some kind.

I didn't get to do that. But you know, when you have a dream like that when you're seven, it kind of doesn't go away. Yeah. Absolutely. And you know, I think that's one of the things that is such a strong, um, such a strong part of music in general is it brings out this part of us that, you know, other things don't.

And I think, you know, I'm thinking about like live music in Alaska and, and that sort of thing. And I think it's true that it's part of a expression of community and place and. Having that opportunity while you're visiting is just really wonderful. So, so do you, um, are there, um. Music venues that you particularly love up there?

Anything that you could cite or, 'cause you know, at some point I'm gonna head back for Alaska and I'm gonna have to last time. Yes. Well, I, I am not an expert in music as I think everyone knows. I like music. That's it. Um, so there were a couple things I was gonna share with everybody. For people who love music like you Peter, and are like, Ooh, when I go to Alaska, like.

You know, what kinda experiences do I wanna have? I would say it's not so much a venue that comes to mind for me because Alaska doesn't really have like these sort of storied venues, like Red Rocks. Right. Um, or like Madison Square Garden or something. Something like that. I think, um, a couple things. This one might make you laugh, uh, might make everyone laugh, but probably the first place that comes to mind is the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer.

Um, probably the biggest musical acts as far as concerts that come to Alaska, come to the state Fair. Which is basically at the end of August, very beginning of September. Um, so if you are a music lover especially, um, like big acts, definitely, like that's a very unique place to see a show. Um, so that's definitely one I think.

Um.

You know, there are other places that have concerts, but it's gonna be kind of hit and miss whether that's happening when you happen to be there. Um, most, I'm trying to think if I, if I wanna say all, I guess I can't say all for sure, but there are lots of opportunities to see and hear Alaska native music and dancing all over the state.

Um, and again, it just kind of depends on where you're going, you know, where you can have that experience, but that is very cool. Um, another one I think would be. Music festivals. So, uh, in addition, I. The state fair is not really a festival, but things like the TNA Bluegrass Festival and Chicken Stock are definitely, have you ever heard of Chicken Stock?

I haven't, but it, I, I'm, I'm ready to go now. Chicken stock? Yeah. Chicken stock is pretty great. It is. Um, so it's a music festival. It happens in the. Tiny Hamlet of Chicken Alaska, which is yes, of course, a couple hours drive away from Toque, Alaska, which is like four hours from Fairbanks and eight hours from Anchorage and like 10 hours from Whitehorse.

So to is also kind of out there. But chicken stock, it's just a long-term tradition. People come from all over Alaska and the Yukon, you know, this is a town that has 13 residents. So when chicken stock is going on, you know, it's not, there's not infrastructure really that supports it. You know, you have to bring your own stuff and there's no like flushing toilets or things like that, but it's like a big deal.

The Taina Bluegrass Festival is a little more, um. A little more visitor friendly, but it's still, you know, TNA is a pretty small town, so those are things that you have to really plan ahead for, but they're pretty fun for music lovers. Um, I also was gonna give everybody a, a resource this, there's a nonprofit organization called Music Alaska, and they are all about promoting.

Music by Alaskans. So some of what we talked about was music about Alaska, which is a whole, you know, that's kind of two different categories. But, um, they have, on their website, they have a venue and festival guide. So it'll tell you all the different music events happening around the state. And that is music ak.org.

And then they also have, um. Uh, ak. So that's the abbreviation for Alaska ak playlist project.com, which is just a resource of Alaska made music, um, of all different types of artists. So that's a good one too. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm such a big, I'm a very big folk music guy. Uh, we have great folk, uh, festivals in, in Colorado and yeah, I just got back from the Moab Folk Fest, uh, that I went to a couple weekends ago.

And the thing that always. Of the things that appeals to me so much about folk music is that it's a very narrative form. Um. Even those Johnny Horton songs that we were talking about, you know, it's kind of amusing to listen to them now because they're, they're very much an artifact of the late fifties, early sixties, but both of them hinge on storytelling on.

That woman who did me wrong, my dreams of wealth and happiness based on, um, going up to the gold rush. And, you know, we all know that the gold rush didn't end well for many of the people who went, who went up there. It went well for the guys who are selling and reselling pickaxes, but not so good for those who are looking for gold nuggets.

Yeah. But those, but those stories that come out of. Um, of, you know, genuine experience. I mean, Maggie Rogers is not an Alaskan, but Alaska helped her process something personally. Yeah. And she got a great song out of it. Yeah. And so it, it feels like the folk festivals that, uh, you mentioned including Chicken Fest, you know, bring your own tent Yeah.

And, and crap in the woods. Um, tho, you know, those kind of things are gonna bring people outta the woodwork. Um, who are processing some real, some real things in their lives. Yeah. And we're having experiences and they're going to tell those stories in song. And then, you know, you were mentioning, you know, the earworm that North to Alaska is for you.

Yeah. I think that there's a deeper level that you can get to with the very best of folk music, which is, uh, in the same way that Jack London told elemental stories of. Alaska, that there are people who have, you know, things that are very deep for them in their hearts that Alaska Yeah. Does for them and does to them.

That music is one of the great ways to put it out there. And it's also music is a way of processing memory. Yeah. And in, in, in a very deep way. So, you know, those folk festivals you mentioned sound like that would be the place to go where you, where you see the people who are really, uh, feeling Alaska and remembering Alaska in a way that, you know, maybe the, the glossy tourist brochure wouldn't tell you, but is, is perhaps a more authentic way of experiencing Alaska then?

Yeah. You know, then Johnny, then even Johnny Horton, uh, sitting in the studio in Nashville, uh, would be able to call up. Yeah, I totally agree. Agree with that. And while you were talking, I thought of a couple of other places too. Um, one is Jazz Bistro in Fairbanks. It has, it also has amazing food. Um. And they have live jazz music.

You really need a reservation. 'cause it's like tiny. They have like eight tables, but it's awesome. Um, the Fairview Inn in TNA has lots of live music, I think almost every night. Um, the Alaskan Hotel and Bar in Juneau is another one. I, I think those are just the ones that like came to my mind while you were talking, Peter.

So. Every town in Alaska has tons of amazing music venues, so my suggestion would be to ask, um. Unless, unless you're gonna plan your trip around one of these festivals or the fair, then you'd already know. But if you like live music everywhere you go, just ask at either the front desk of the hotel you're staying at or ask your tour guide if you're taking a tour or your Airbnb host, if you're, you know, somebody like that.

Like, Hey, where, um, where do you recommend to go for live music? And they will, they will have. Even in a very tiny community that will have great suggestions. You know, I mean, what do people who are thrown onto their own devices as far as making a life for themselves? Yeah. Where do, where do, where do they go to do that?

Alaska is, you know, obviously is a place where for a large part of the year, uh, those cruise ships are not gonna be arriving, uh, right in the harbor, right? So, how are we gonna entertain ourselves, you know, through this? Through this long winter. Yeah. And you know, it's like, it feels to me like that's where great carvings come from with indigenous people.

That's where great music comes from that uh, you know, we've got this amazing, so my wife's aunt traveled the world, collect a lot, lot of artwork, and we have a, um, a painting of this sort of, um, disgruntled looking, uh, um. Fishermen sitting amidst a, uh, a field of walruses and, um, and polar bears and just the, uh, the relation between what, what this hunter was doing and the animals that he makes his livelihood after were very clearly.

Um, registered by this indigenous artist Yeah. Who had, you know, maybe not that much to do in between September and, and May, except for to dig deep with his memories and, and, and make these, uh, these paintings, which, yeah. You know, there's a reason why we have it where we do because there's so much going on in there and it is such deep subtext that you get when you're an artist who, uh, you know.

That's one of your major outlets in life. I feel like Alaska is one of those places where there'll be so many people who fit into that category and you, it's just incumbent on you to find them. Yeah, and it's easy. You know, one of the things that's great about Alaska, people are friendly. People wanna share their home with you, and so you ask, they'll tell you.

They'll also tell you their favorite restaurants and other stuff to do. So just ask. Yeah. Okay. Well, I, I won't be on the new Amsterdam, uh, uh, ship with 3,500 people the next time I go, so I'll make sure that, um, that I'm, I'm there for those one-on-one conversations rather than one on 3,500 conversations.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, actually one other thing I did wanna mention related to this, um, about cruising. And that reminds me 'cause you brought it up, Peter, is um. You know, of course there's lots of pretty great music, live music on board the ship. Um, but also like when you're in port, even if it's the middle of the day, there's a good chance that there will be local folks playing music somewhere.

And the, um, the folks on the ship are good people to ask. Like, Hey, where should I go to hear some music while we're in port? They'll totally tell, again, restaurants too, like the folks who work in the dining room on the ship, ask them where they like to go and eat, um, import. 'cause typically people in those jobs are more likely to have a little bit of time off in port, um, than some other, you know, they're obviously.

Very busy in the evening when the ship is at sea. Um, so yeah, good people to ask for, for port ideas. It, it was pretty clear to me when, you know, when I would, you know, get off the ship, you know that 3,500 people were going in that direction. A good tip would be to go in the opposite direction that they're going.

Yeah. 'cause what, what you're going to manage there, whether you're on a hike. Whether you find your way into these music venues that you're talking about is, you know, tapping into something that, uh, isn't Alaska for the, for the 3,500, it's, it's something that's more personal. Yeah. Um, and more unique to you.

Yeah. And I feel like the more that you can tap into that, how Alaskans talk is going to talk to you personally rather than as part of a group, is very important And, and, and asking the right people for. Directions for advice, for what they love about where they live. You know, those all seem like amazing, uh, strategies to me.

Yeah, they really are. Well, Peter, is there anything else we wanna talk about related to music today? Well, uh, I don't know, um, about music, but I guess. What I'm thinking of is that, so my trip to Alaska was three years ago, and clearly I need Yeah, you, you can't see all of it in 11 days like I tried to. No, that's true.

But, you know, I felt like I, what I did was I read the syllabus for a much better visit that I could do to Alaska and, and what I wanna do is to tap into the remoteness of it the next time I go. Yeah. It'll probably involve a Bush plane. It'll probably involve, um. A cabin or a tent trip, um, so that, you know, like Maggie Rogers, I can walk through one of those icy streams and get a creative inspiration.

Yeah. So, so that's, uh, I'm gonna try for Alaskan solitude next time because I really enjoyed Alaska in a mob, but now I've done that and I'm ready for the next one. Well, and you know me now, so I'll help you get your like, dream trip planned when you're ready. I, I'll be your, um, I'll be your staff cartoonist when it comes for, uh, when, when you're ready to arrange, uh, another trip up there.

Love it. That'll be amazing. I would love to have you as my staff cartoonist. Be honest. Well, um, listeners, I am gonna put Peter Substack, which is really wonderful in the show notes along with these, um, different resources I mentioned for music Alaska. Um, Peter, thank you so much for coming back and talking about this with me today.

 📍 I You're welcome, and my apologies for putting North to Alaska back in your ear. It'll take, well, I will forgive you by January or maybe February. Yeah, good to be with you. You too.

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

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Jay Flaming

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