Regular Celtic Music Sessions in Alaska
and the neighboring Yukon Territory
All sessions are informal. New folks are welcomed with our famed northern hospitality.
Fairbanks
The College Coffeehouse is the session location for Celtic music every first Sat. evening of the month from around 8 pm till midnight. On the corner of College and University, just behind the Tesoro quickstop and next to the Artworks. (907)374-0468. They also have a Wed. evening jam session, though mostly other than Celtic.
There is also a slow-moderate Irish jam every Thursday 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Pioneer Park Civic Center. This has been on and off as spring turned into summer. Contact Jean McDermott for further info.
- Lynn Basham (907) 479-2006 or Gary Newman - email: gary(at)alaskafolkmusic.org - can usually get together some impromptu session if out-of-town trad musicians pass through.
Anchorage-Southcentral Area
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The Irish sessions in Anchorage are being held at the Snow City Cafe on Wed. evenings located at 4th. & L st on the south side of the street. They usually start at 7 pm and run until everyone gets tired or at least till 11 pm. Sandwiches and soup are available and beer and wine. People can contact Suzi if they have any questions by email or at 277-9660.
- I'm not sure this is still going on, as the link is dead, but there used to be a Celtic Session every Sunday, 3:00 pm, at Mead's Coffeehouse in Wasilla.
Kodiak
The Greenstring Band, meets on Thursday nights at Monk's Rock Coffee-House and bookstore at 7:30 pm. This is an informal session and all levels are welcome to "sit in".
Juneau
- There are some hard core Celtic enthusiasts in this town. Henry Hopkins reports Irish Sessions happen on weekends and rotate between player's houses. They are always happy to play tunes with visiting musicians. He can be reached at 907-364-3187 or
rhhph@rocketmail.com. Other folks in the know are Greg McGlaughlin or Lis Saya at (907) 780-4213. They also promote Irish and other traditional music in Juneau.
Haines
- October through March monthly usually Sat. night, at Hooligan House.
Contact Dr. Len Feldman at LenFeldman@wytbear.com (907) 766-3009 for more info. If nothing else, he'll host a session in his waiting room between patients.
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
- October through March First Sat. of each month, Whitehorse Coffeehouse.
Call Bob Kuiper at (403) 633-4501 for further info.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Folkjam.org's Session List, not entirely comprehensive, but a good start. If you know a good session, you can register with them and enter your own session.
thesession.org is another site for locating sessions as well as other good celtic music resources.
If you have session information in Alaska you would like to add to the list, you can email me at gary(at)alaskafolkmusic.org.
Last updated June 22, 2006