Coffeehouse serves a good cup o’ talent

LYNDA LYBECK-ROBINSON

April 18, 2008 at 10:32AM AKST

For The Dutch Harbor Fisherman

All 80 chairs were filled at the Burma Road Chapel for the Aleutian Arts Council’s 14th annual Spring Coffeehouse on Saturday, April 5. Families reclined Turkish-style on rugs, pillows and blankets in the front of the room while standing fans lined the walls, which were hung with tapestries and colorful fabrics.

Ten wooden cable spools in the center of the room were lined with white paper, and children of every age colored pictures and wrote notes to each other while the music played.

A four-foot long stuffed red and silver humpy salmon hung from the ceiling for a tongue-in-cheek local touch.

Attendees helped themselves to a hospitality table of fruits, cheeses and homemade sweets, and the room smelled of fresh, locally roasted coffee, ground and French pressed on site by council board member and self-proclaimed "coffee curmudgeon," Arnie Magee .

The band featured was "Our Band," a music group of comprised of local schoolteachers, a nurse and the city manager, who have been playing music together recreationally for three years.

Shawna Rudio fronted the band on vocals, along with Jeanne Duhan on guitar and vocals, Lynn Norstadt on drums and vocals, Carol Norstadt on bass and vocals, Wendy Hladick on keyboard and vocals, and Chris Hladick on guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals.

Our Band’s covered artists such as Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Carole King, Billy Joel, Tracy Chapman, Cindy Lauper, Simon and Garfunkel.

It was an eclectic set of singer-songwriter folk-rock music that kept the crowd intrigued with the smart, well-played music and storytelling lyrics. The versatile band members frequently changed instruments, adding an accordion, harmonica, and African djembe drums to the ensemble.

In age-old Unalaska Coffeehouse tradition, an open-mic followed, featuring a line-up of locals who had come to enjoy the talent of Our Band, then share some of their own.

The first act was Kyle Haskins, 16, who walked to the stage to deafening applause. With a shy smile, he picked up his guitar, sat down and nodded to Lynn Norstadt and Carol, who were backing him up on drums and bass.

As he leaned his head down to play, his fingers pulled the guitar strings in perfect rhythm and his smooth easy voice took command of the lyrics and tune. Haskins sang songs by Rascal Flatts and Dierks Bentley, with contemporary selections that crossed over the generation gaps.

"Kyle practices every free minute that he has and it shows. The other thing about Kyle is that he has always been such a shy and un-assuming kid, and to see him up there performing in front of a crowd is something I never would have expected," said his mother, Laura Haskins.

Next in the line was the K.O.R. (pronounced "Core") Band with singer and songwriter Sam Winters, 14, on guitar and piano, and Preston Walker, 13, on drums.

"We are glad to be here because we heard about this coffeehouse coming up and we wanted to take the opportunity to play," Walker said to the audience.

K.O.R Band played two pieces, both written by Winters. An untitled jazz piece featured Winters on piano and Walker on drums. "Fall of Retribution" featured Winter on vocals and guitar and Walker on drums.

"I’d never heard Sam play his song (‘Fall of Retribution’) before," said Winters’ father, Daniel Winters. "He said it was going to have some grunge influence, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out pretty good judging by the audience reaction to it."

Especially enthusiastic were several teenagers who were in attendance.

"It is really great to see so many of the young people performing this year and to see so many of their peers showing up to show their support," said Our Band member Wendy Hladick.

Sharon O’Malley followed, playing three original songs, one of which was her much-requested "Farewell to the Elbow Room." Shades of Unalaska community’s rough-and-tumble heritage wove through the tapestry of lyrics, shining a light on the unique people, activities, stories and places that are the backbone of the fishing community, centered around the famous, now closed, Elbow Room, a once popular local hangout and bar.

After O’Malley’s performance, Sarah Duncan sang three songs of her own composition, and accompanied herself on guitar. Her songs spoke of the love and longing in her life that had inspired the music. As she played, children stopped playing to sit quietly at her feet to listen.

Next, Randy Shinn and Lars Syverson, local poets and songwriters, sang Bob Dylan’s song "Is Your Love in Vain?" with Syverson playing guitar.

"This is the best coffeehouse I’ve seen in a long time" Syverson said. "The last one I remember that was this good was when I was a kid."

Shinn said he was blown away by the talent of the evening and said, "I noticed a collective consciousness in the lyrics and tone of the music."

Indeed, much of the music reflected an attitude of honest hard work and love, and the salt-of-the-earth kind of people that have intertwined so many varied personality types into a cohesive fabric called "community."

The room had become hotter as the evening progressed, yet the audience appeared captivated by the action on the stage, and the chairs remained full as the fans stayed to listen to every performance.

The final act was Bethany Hladick, 13. Flanked by her father Chris on the mandolin and mother Wendy playing the accordion, the youngest Hladick played the melody to "Petit Reve III," by the French Canadian band Le Vent du Nord, on the piano.

The music curled and wafted over the room as Wendy waltzed into the audience with her accordion, serenading smiling individuals as she weaved through the aisles and bringing the evening to a perfect finale.

In keeping with the Unalaska tradition, several community members stayed afterward to help the exhausted musicians and AAC board members tear the equipment down and clean up the room.

"This was what the Aleutian Arts Council Coffeehouse tradition is all about," said Carolyn Reed, longtime council board member. "Seeing this turnout and this amount of local talent is a true testament to why we need to continue doing this every year."

Event coordinator Sabrina Wilt said that she and the rest of the council wished to extend their thanks to all who attended and performed at the event.

For more information on the Aleutian Arts Council and upcoming events, e-mail the AAC at aleutianartscouncil@arctic.net or call president Babbi Goodwin at 581-4985.

Lynda Lybeck-Robinson, master of ceremonies at the 14th Annual Spring Coffeehouse, is a professional musician and co-owner of Robinson Crusoe Music in Unalaska.