Web posted
September 21, 2006
High on mountain music
Medley of folk, bluegrass to close out the summer
By LEO HELMAR
For the Juneau Empire
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| Michael Penn / Juneau empire |
 To the top: Bluegrass 101 will be seeing a more natural surrounding than the Triangle Bar when the band plays the Mountain Music Festival on Sept. 22 at the top of Mount Roberts. The band will be accompanied by Joe Page, who will also join them at 9 p.m. Friday at the Island Pub and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sandbar. |
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While April has the Alaska Folk Festival, alas there is no bookend music festival to mark the death of another brief warm season here in Juneau.
Organizers of the Mountain Music Festival - Paul Zahasky, Elva Bontrager and Mount Roberts Tramway manager George Reifenstein - would like to change that.
They've launched a festival that begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, and should wind down around 9 p.m., at the Chilkat Theater atop Mount Roberts.
"The hope is that it will grow into an annual event and become a music festival," Zahasky said. "I could see it becoming more than one evening."
Admission is $10 including the tram ride to the top of the mountain. The music and panoramic views are free. The theater seats 180 to 200 people, and the restaurant will serve food and drinks during the show.
This is the inaugural edition of an event intended to become a traditional send-off to the season.
"This is kind of a dry run to see how it goes," Zahasky said. "We have limited seating and if it fills up, that'd be an indication that it's something to try again."
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Concert
What: Mountain Music Festival.
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday Sept. 22.
Where: Chilkat Theater, atop Mt. Roberts.
Admission: $10 including the tram ride.
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The musical agenda is varied and eclectic, a buffet of genres from bluegrass to old-timey folk and even some yodeling for good measure.
"It will probably resemble a mini-folk fest in one sense," Zahasky said. "There will be a variety. It's not one genre of music; it's a mix."
The play list for the show includes Bluegrass 101, which plays twice-monthly at the Alaskan Hotel & Bar and occasionally at the Island Pub. Martha and Jim Stey will lay down a set from their collection of old-time dance music. Bill Childers will mix it up with his take on folk rock. Guitarist John Unzicker will give a solo performance.
Singer-songwriter Mike Truax will perform folk tunes. The literally named College Bound, a group of 12- to 16-year-olds that includes the Zahasky children and friends, has garnered some acclaim for its bluegrass stylings after playing the Alaska Folk Festival, Concert in the Park and a fundraiser for the Juneau Charter School. Singing weatherman Don Drew will lead his cowboy music group, The Wild Pioneers.
Rounding out the festivities will be the Zahasky Family, the unification of the Zahasky children with parents, Melissa and Paul. Fiddler Laura is the oldest at 15, followed by bass-playing Quinn, who is 12. The newest addition, 8-year-old Abby, sings.
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