Well, we did it. This summer, we hosted a House Concert in front of our house and hosted a musician in our home. This is not anything I’d ever planned on doing and only first heard about House Concerts a few months ago from the lovely and talented Marian Call of Anchorage. But then I received an email from Vanessa Boyd asking for help finding a venue in Tok where she could play on her way out of Alaska.

The first thing I did was turn to Bud Johnson of Acoustic Accents who is the Go To Guy for music in Tok, however, he was too swamped to help. Then I got the wild idea of hosting Vanessa at our place. It sounded like a fun thing to do, and it really was. Lucia of Duct Tape Radio stopped by at my urging to help me think through where the stage should be, and she came up with a great idea of using our covered porch to protect the musical and electronic equipment. My husband did most of the heavy lifting, hanging two large tarps over the driveway to protect the seats from the never-ending rain.

We had a modest turnout but everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Vanessa’s music was so creative and beautiful. I had no idea what to expect, but the layering of electric guitar and her voice through effects was mesmerizing. The whole event was really a positive experience. Our family kicked in some extra money for Vanessa to cover her expenses above and beyond what folks put into her tip jar, and it was well worth it. You can see additional photos from this event on Vanessa’s Facebook Page.

This event should not be an anomaly.

How can we all support Bud Johnson and Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum and others to get more music events to Tok?