The second annual Burning Pines concert will showcase four rock bands from Southeast Alaska on Saturday in Gustavus at the Towers Stage — in the middle of the woods at the end of Tong Road “where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.”
Tosh Parker is helping to organize what he calls “Alaska’s rock event of the year,” where he will also perform as a rhythm guitarist with Gustavus-based band Cross Sound.
He said in past years the show floated around town in big, open areas, meaning they could only set up temporary facilities. This year, Parker took a 30-acre property he owns and with volunteers’ help turned it into a permanent facility where the event can be held for years to come. The developing campground has wells with hand pumps, outhouses and firepits. Food, nonalcoholic drinks and Starlink will also be provided.
Due to the outdoor location, generators and backup generators are needed to operate equipment. This means Cross Sound will perform last as they run the event leading up to their set. Dozens of volunteers have been working since April around their full-time jobs to build the Burning Pines stage and set up the campsite.
The concert begins at 5 p.m. It’s free to attend or camp, although registration is required in advance.
“It’s a very expensive event to put on,” Parker said. “Just even bringing the bands out here, you know, fly them out here, getting hotels, getting rental cars and stuff. All the equipment, everything, that is all funded by basically local band members in the Gustavus bands.”
He said they do accept donations and the goal would be to eventually break even. But right now, the band members just want to put a good show on for everyone and offer Alaska rock musicians the spotlight they’ve been asking for. The bands did a sound check a couple of weeks ago — with the whole town listening due to the high volume in a small community. Parker said an event like this wouldn’t be possible in a big city.
Last year approximately 200 people attended the event and this year their cutoff is 500. They’ve already had hundreds of people sign up, including rock lovers from Juneau, Hoonah and Gustavus.
This year’s Burning Pines will be the first time the community has announced and advertised it around Alaska. The bands hope in the future it can be a multi-day festival.
Parker said Burning Pines is in the style of an “old school rock concert where you’re up close and personal with the bands” and it offers a chance to explore Gustavus.
“It’s kind of like we’re watching the next generation — you know, that used to follow us around and listen to us play — is kind of forming their own bands and kind of doing their own thing now,” Parker said.
The lead singer of Cross Sound, who Parker grew up playing with, is Sean Patrick. He released a solo album last year. His son, Jacob Patrick, drums for a band formed last spring called the Copenhagen Cowboys. Their band came up with the idea to make Burning Pines, which was previously just word-of-mouth, an annual event and outreach to other Southeast musicians.
The Copenhagen Cowboys are scheduled to open the concert with an all-original set.
“We have some more up-tempo songs, we really bring the energy,” Patrick said. “Some of our songs are a little bit slower and people might be able to dance to them a little bit better.”
He said some nights when they practice, they come up with a new song “right then and there.” He said their guitarists, Jackson Ohlson and Aaron Patrick, can come up with a new riff on the spot. Also in their band is bassist Fisher Kelly. Patrick said they mostly find their inspiration from 1980s and 1990s rock music.
Juneau-based metalheads Bards of Mendenhell will also be performing this Fourth of July weekend. Alex Kotlarsz, lead singer and bassist, said he’s looking forward to playing out of town.
“The opportunity to play at this show, it was too good to pass up,” he said. “Tosh and everybody that’s organized this event were very accommodating and very helpful in regards to getting us up there to play a set. And so we can’t thank him enough.”
Bards of Mendenhell started about two years ago, and includes Juneau musicians Dylan Martin, Nick Story and Avery Stewart. Kotlarsz shared that his favorite part about the band is every member has a big part of writing their songs.
“It’s not just one person leading anything,” he said. “We all four are very committed and focused on making sure that this is something that all four of us are really stoked on — that all four of us are bringing ideas to the table.”
Also playing at Burning Pines will be Juneau-based Garden of Agony.
Rockers can attend the concert by flying over, a ferry on the Fourth of July that will return to Juneau on July 9, or a catamaran sent from Icy Strait Point.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
