We promised we wouldn't tell anyone about Seldovia, the tiny, remote Alaskan village accessible only by boat or plane, across from the Kenai peninsula. I promised not to write about the deep blue waters and the river otters that carelessly float by, noisily eating shellfish, or the bald eagles that soar overhead with the frequency and brazenness of city pigeons, or the wholesome, warm hospitality offered up by the locals, or the warm golden-bronze sunsets that last for hours around solstice weekend. I said I wouldn't write about these things, and the little village whose motto is "Alaska's Best Kept Secret", but apparently I lied. The Seldovia Arts Council brought in Tumbledown House to headline the 20th Annual Seldovia Solstice Music Festival, along with The Sahnas Brothers, Emily Anderson, wonderful Western duo Noah Proctor and Kelly Baber, good friend and illustrious Alaska-based songstress Kat Moore, and local dudes Daryl and the Scribs. Oftentimes, we don't really get a chance to hear the other acts at music festivals (much less interact, share stories, and stir the communal cauldron of inspiration), but the pace of this festival was quite different - as soon as people started jamming on the ferry across the water, I had the feeling there would be plenty of music all weekend. As previously mentioned, Seldovia is really small: the term 'village' might even be generous and misleading. The town boasts 255 year-round residents from a variety of backgrounds, and has a really interesting history as most of the town was destroyed in the famous 1964 earthquake. The entire landmass dropped six feet (which seems absolutely insane to me) and the entire boardwalk and most of the homes and businesses were destroyed. We were put up in a gorgeous BnB on the new boardwalk, which overlooked a beautiful tidal slough. Our hosts, Suzie and Jerry couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating - we highly recommend checking out their website and staying in this house if you ever visit Seldovia. The festival consisted of performances throughout the day at local businesses (inside of coffee shops or filling a patio that sits within the two blocks or so constituting the Main St.), along with more produced nightly performances at the local K-12 school. Several artists led workshops (we facilitated a songwriting workshop where we deconstructed one of our songs and discussed techniques for arranging, instrumentation, and composition) and there were ample opportunities to meet and connect with lots of members of the community, as well as music appreciators that traveled to Seldovia and camped or stayed in their boats. Again, the opportunity to have such a level of engagement with the audience is unfortunately pretty rare: standard procedure involves getting to the gig, sound checking, having dinner, playing the gig, and going on your merry way. During this weekend, we chatted with locals in the coffee shops during the day and ended up drinking whisky over at Jerry's place at night. We met some precocious kids that came to our workshop, one of whom got a private clarinet lesson from Thatcher. After the show on Saturday, we ended up with a lot of the other artists on the beach, still jamming around a bonfire at 3am, swimming and singing, as the sun put on its longest show of the year. All in all, the weekend was pretty damn special. We're no strangers to the charms of Alaska, but there is something uniquely alluring about Seldovia. We met some interesting folks, had a wonderful time performing our music for a new crowd, and ate more salmon than a Denali brown bear, but there is something more going on there. I'm increasingly convinced that the smaller music festivals are where it's at, where the power of music to bring together communities of people, oftentimes with different political or ideological beliefs, is in full display. I think that's what was really special about Seldovia: a lot of people came together that weekend and shared a really enriching experience that was centered solely around music. I said that I'd keep my mouth shut about it, but anyone that knows me probably isn't surprised that I simply couldn't. For more pics and vids, check the Tumbledown Insta.
At the 11th Hour...
Alaska Tour 2019
Next month we'll be returning to Alaska for a short little tour, making this our 11th trip to that incredibly unique, beautiful, and rugged landscape. I took this photo at about 5 am in Homer. I was making my way back to the hotel and was so inspired by the morning light that I trudged down into a bog and stood in mud up to my knees to get this shot. We've heard great things about the festival in Seldovia and are so excited to see friends old and new and play music in unbelievably gorgeous settings. Hope to see you out there.
We've Added Our Entire Discography to Spotify!
Ok, internet. You win. In celebration of Tumbledown House's 10th birthday, we have released all three of our albums on Spotify. Please help us get the word out and share with the Modern Speakeasy aficionados in your life! Enjoy!
Happy End of 2018, Friends!
It's the time of year when reflection is nigh and hopefully regrets are few. Although there is always room for growth of all varieties, we had a wonderful year here at Tumbledown Headquarters and 2019 already looks to have UPPER LEVEL SHENANIGANS in store (and you're invited!). But first some reflection:
As has been our custom, January has been a great month for downtime and cheap travel for us, a great combo that invigorates our creative juices, and 2018 was no different. Tyler traipsed all around India and Gillian, newly married, honeymooned in China and Indonesia. This coming January has Tyler swooping off to Morocco and beyond, and Gillian is grateful to have free time to see some girlfriends and accompany her folks in Denver for her dad's upcoming surgery. Perhaps a quick jaunt somewhere is in store afterwards. February found us in Arizona for two fabulous shows: The Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale and The Elks Theater in our old stomping grounds, Prescott. How good it was to be back among the amazing friends we found there! It's such a magical place full of wonderful people and we hope to return again and again. By March, we were on the road with friends and bandmates, John Brothers Piano Company for a tour through northern Cali and up to Eugene, Oregon and Portland. We then jumped on a plane and played some Montana shows! The Ellen Theatre in Bozeman is a special time with our original supporters (we love you!) and of course we couldn't play Great Falls, Montana without a trip to see the mermaids. April, May, and June were a blur of local events including a very intimate, special wedding show for friends, another quick trip to Montana for a private soiree, and tons of planning and work on our other local artistic endeavors, including a live music stage Tyler and Gillian help run at a local music festival. July found us playing for fantastic audiences in Vegas and Reno (we love how seriously Reno is taking THE ARTS. If you thought you knew Reno and didn't like it, try it again; there is VERY cool stuff happening there these days), And then on to Alaska for our TENTH TOUR up there (Salmonfest!) complete with a full Bay Area band. It was a riot. It had been a few years since our last tour up there and it was SO good to see our wonderful friends again. Man, the people we have met through music...we are beyond blessed.
When autumn hit, it was our intense music conference season, and we found ourselves lanyard-clad and performing for music industry people from all over the globe, showcasing and attending Western Arts Alliance (LV, NV), South Arts Exchange (Orlando, FL), Arts Northwest (Eugene, OR), and Folk Alliance FAR-WEST (LA). This is always both exhausting and inspiring, but ultimately it's great confirmation that we are members of a beautiful community. Conferences can open doors we didn't know existed, and it's also great talking shop with other musicians and seeing the varied talent out there. That pulled us into the winter and much communication over the events of 2019! We have surprises in store that need finalizing but we can go ahead and encourage you to take a Valentine's Day trip to the Yucatán, 'cuz Tumbledown House is playing the Full Moon Jazz Festival in Merida, Mexico, baby! We are so excited to party it up on February 16th and hope all of you consider making a little trip south of the border to party down in the beautiful Yucatán. Stay tuned for more exciting tidbits as we roll into a new year. In the meantime, we hope you are all safe, healthy, happy, and finding much inspiration and satisfaction from the world of music around you.
Happy holidays, friends.
-Tumbledown House
"If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week." --Charles Darwin