Sitka, Alaska. Home Skillet Festival hath gone down. Music x mirth x smoked salmon x eagles with talons out.

Twenty-five bands and Dj’s over July 13th and 14th including Don't Talk To The Cops!, Kingdom Crumbs, Fresh Espresso, Silver Jackson, Katie Kate, Metal Chocolates, Astronomar, Breathe Owl Breathe, Medicine for the People, and the first ever performance of Iska Daaf, featuring Buffalo Madonna and Benjamin Verdoes.

Weather breaks quick in Sitka, rain into sun, then wet again. Massive mirth prevailed. Alaskans were charged and happy for music.

AKU-MATU, Allison Aisa Akootchook Warden delivered full range Iñupiaq prowess and performance, from the Village of Kaktovik, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.

On festival grounds, ice cold keg beer and fried bread flowed. A muddy, ale flushed festival goer in boots ran toward a gigantic beach ball with a long approach, kicking, and puncturing it with a cannon shot. They wound up more muddy in a mud patch, consumed by a smile.

Sitka’s air is noticeably fresh. Crisp, clean, full of the ripest O2. Jogging along Crescent Bay toward Tlingit Totem Pole up into Sitka National Park the views out over the water are encompassing.

Within the maze of trees the totems speak. An eagle swooped over my head, angled down on a line to a creek inlet, talons out, to pluck its dinner fish.

Bears are there. They are around. (Guard your cheeseburgers.) Some locals advised wearing “bear bells” when venturing into the park to make noise in the forest. So as to “announce” your presence to the bears, and not surprise them. Best not to surprise a mother with her cubs. Others say carry bear spray.

 Artist hub / base was the Sitka Hotel near O’Connell Bridge.

Kingdom Crumbs were especially on and at home in the spotlight, closing out the first night with the undulating prowess of their heliported Boughinni Fantasia.

In one of the rain washes, the stage became a bit of an electronic soup. Puddles of water and electricity don’t mix, doubly so on Friday the 13th.

 Luckily nothing went awry, except for the sixty-eight year old fisherman at 3 AM, who had laid down in the hall of the hotel after a fit of marijuana smoking. His pants were off and he said he was Moby Dick.

Someone in Sitka is selling jock straps with real fur on them. They’re called The Duke. Whoever came up with this is a genius.

Sitka and its population of roughly 9,000 lie on a western, cloud muzzled fjord of Baranof Island. It’s on the Pacific Ocean ninety-two miles southwest of Juneau. Thick snowcapped mountain air and the Tongass rainforest bear down with wind on uncrowded streets.

Sitka gets its name from the contraction of Shee-Atika, a Tlingit expression used to describe the area’s location, on the side of Shee, on the outside of Baranof Island. In 1804 the Russian Empire forced its way into Sitka and occupied it until the sale of Alaska in 1867 for $7.2 million.

Props and massive respects to Home Skillet booker / envoy Nicholas Galanin, Yéil Ya-Tseen for hosting and putting the festival together. Success was had. Galanin is an artist, activist, performer, craftsman, representative, spokesman, steward, and emissary of Tlingit and Unangax̂ descent. He’s a knowledge holder, moving the Sitka Tribe of Alaska into the future. He’s one to watch and learn from.

Galanin performs music as Silver Jackson, Indian Agent, and Ya Tseen (Sub Pop Records).

Check out his own Home Skillet Records for choice cuts.

Galanin is the defacto Mayor of Sitka. He should be awarded a golden Duke Jock. He goes above and beyond to manage and perform in the festival. His smoked salmon is wildly delicious, nutritious, and filling. His presence is positive. You learn things just by standing in his orbit.

 Cheers to Galanin and Sitka, AK. Long live Home Skillet Fest.