News from the 10th Planet

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Photo: Midnight Sun from Pinnell Mtn. Trail, Eagle Summit

What an amazing time of year! At 2 in the morning, when the air is cooler, the sound of birds singing reverberates through the woods at the "Planetation". The wild roses have come and (mostly) gone and now it's on to fireweed time...Congratulations are in store for Steve Brown & The Bailers on the arrival of their fine new CD, "How Things Start"... And though we mentioned it on the Studio page recently, we'll say another congrats to O Tallulah for their new self-titled CD. Lots of hard work went into both...We're saying that every leaf on every tree around the 10th Planet is dedicated to the brave people of Tehran. Our comfort only makes them more remarkable...We were sitting in the sun this morning planning the big changes coming to the studio. They've been in the planning stages for awhile but now are about to be implemented. More later but we will say that they include a vocal booth that will make live recording easier. Stay tuned...Wish Robin a Happy Birthday on June 28th. She just gets better and better...Look for some new postings on the Song O' The Week page to coincide with an article in the Old Time Herald magazine about Alaskan old-time music. (And read Pat's blog about his first introduction to that music from the legendary Sidewinders in the 1970's)...Keep the cards and letters coming folks. We love to hear from you...And by all means, Summer is what we wait for all year--get out in it and enjoy!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Saturday, May 23, 2009

We have been to the mountaintop! Meaning that lofty place of transcendence where only the most mystical music can take you. For those of you who missed the Fairbanks debut of The Subdudes: You'll be hearing about it. We'd heard them before. Even played a couple of their tunes back in our cover band days. But we weren't prepared for what we witnessed Friday night at the Pioneer Park Theatre. And as good as the songwriting, harmony, musicianship and funky grooves were, the encore was sublime. They unplugged and came out into the audience, stood in the aisle and did two more songs (one in each aisle) that evoked the Persuasions and all manner of New Orleans soul. Get a CD here. And by all means let's make Fairbanks their second home, huh?

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Leaves sprouted some time ago then seemed to say, "Whoa, what's going on here. This ain't spring weather." And they've been in a holding pattern ever since. As have we all. Some are saying, "How'd you like summer?" in reference to the few very warm days a couple weeks ago but we're not buying it. We demand some warm sunny days. As Alaskans it's our right for making through another winter. Uh, pretty please?!!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Ah, Spring! That time between winter and the green of summer--or between snow and trash pickup. And we're caught between exhilaration and the horror of the unsightly mess on the roadsides. Ever the optimist though, Robin has found a way to see through the clutter to an intriguing form of the art. You see, toss out a piece of cardboard on the snow (and people do) and as the sun gets some heft to it in April, the snow melts all around but the cardboard (or appliance or shoe or...) shades the snow and voila! The Trash Tower! Robin named this one The Magilla. Happy motoring!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Thursday, April 02, 2009

BIG BLOW! While Mt. Redoubt is erupting elsewhere in the state, thing are exploding around here with great tunes. (Check "In The Studio"). Besides that, we thought the thaw was on last week but we've got a reprieve for a short time: Sunny, warm (but not too warm) days and cool nights are making this the kind of weather we usually hope for in March. Time to be outside movin' and groovin' on the boards (skiis to you non-believers out there). Big changes planned for building this summer. Part of that will be the 10th Planet recording space. (More on that as we proceed but let's just say it's gonna be good!) And, says Pat, Opening Day ( baseball jargon) is right around the corner. In Fairbanks that means Spring!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What can we say? The picture says it all. We're just having a natural ball this winter, making and recording music here at the Ol' Planet. And we thought we'd pass the joy on to you. Plenty of snow, days getting longer, Yukon Questers fightin' their way to town, daylight savings time around the corner (and the really late light). Is this a great place or what?

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

We made it through the longest cold spell we've seen in quite a while. We got to stay home during the whole thing except a couple runs to town for provisions. Toward the end of it we accomplished our yearly cold weather full moon ski. Minus 40 below, dressed in Carhartts (Pat) and Refrigiwear (Robin) we skiied about four miles with our pal, Will Putman. In such situations, your breath rises from your mouth and condenses on your eyelashes, warms again to water and, in some cases, eyelashes freeze shut. Swipe 'em with a mitt and you're good to go. It was a sterling, crystal-clear night. Three or four days later it was 40 above. "Not global warming," says Robin,"Global weirding!" The melting destroyed the skiing but the snow fairy came and saved us. Then this past week, wind whipped debris onto trails and again crapped out the skiing. But once again--saved by the snow. Check out "Who's in the Studio" and the "Song O' the Week0" page. Things are shakin' at the Planet!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy 2009 to one and all! We the CEO's and janitors at the 10th Planet wish you a year filled with music and hopefully the Alaskan kind...Holidays started for us on the 20th when got in the Christmas spirit by playing a Christmas party with our pals Alex Clarke and Ron Veliz, guitarists extraordinare...Next day it was another music party, this time a 90th birthday party for Pat's Mom Mary. She's going strong and you can see her at most concerts that come to town. She loves country music so we played some of our honky tonk and western swing music from our band Swang! Pat's brother Kevin (more later 'bout that boy) was up from L.A. and played drums, Pat's bro-in-law Mike Thibodeau on piano, Big Will Putman on fiddle and Alex Clarke on steel...A flurry of activity in the studio throughout the week...Christmas eve at Will and Trudy's with music by the Bower's Family Band (Pete & kids Ryan & Aurora). Christmas at Pat's sister Marleen's house from which brother Kevin (aka DJ Kave-In) recorded show # 44 of his infamous, international 45 slugfest podcast The Wiggle Room! (Check it out, lock it in, drop him a line.) with a little help from yours trulies...New Year's Eve, just us, at the Planet, blasting James Hunter, classic Ska, and Rolling Thunder Revue. A pumpkin pie all to ourselves. And watched a great New Year's movie, Holiday. Just before midnight we put on our cold weather gear (-36F) and walked out in the valley as the fireworks rose all around us. The connection felt good. We were all celebrating the same thing, each in our own way. Sounded like hope to us... but maybe is was drink and fireworks. Either way, we'll take it as an omen of brighter days a-comin'.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Sunday, December 14, 2008

What a week! First of all we want to send a hearty congratulations to Charlie Hunt and Dennis Rogers (and his group Anam Cara) for the debut of their new CD's. Look for 'em folks. They're both fabulous instrumental CDs and would make great Christmas gifts and we're proud to have had a hand in their creation. The week started out with another music party. Sunday the 7th, Dave Stancliff dropped by with Jim Mitchell (fiddle) and Bryce Edgmon (mandolin, guitar, vocals) all the way from Dillingham. Along with Robin on bass, they recorded several songs including two Christmas songs, one that Dave & Bryce had written the day before and another by Bryce and two instrumentals. The Christmas songs will be heard on a show Jeff Brown (KTOO Juneau) is putting together for public radio stations in Alaska for Christmas. (Look for it!) A fine & productive time had by all. Friday, we packed up the pickup and headed out Chena Hot Springs Road to ski in to the Colorado Creek cabin overnight and join our friends Leif & Claudi who arrived there Thursday. We wined and dined and then skiied under the light of the full moon up the Compeau Trail that leads up the hill behind the cabin. Stunning, to say the least. And an incredible ski back down the hill in the moonlight. Skiied out the next day and drove on to soak in the Hot Springs. Short but oh, so sweet. Now on to the Holidays!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Very nice winter so far with just a bit of near-real-cold to get us used to it. Thanksgiving weekend was food, music, skiing and a recording session/party with Shonti Elder as host. She's been working on a solo CD in Anchorage and was up here for the annual T-day visit with Will Putman and Trudy Heffernan. The three of them put on a night of music at Two Rivers Lodge on Friday. We joined in for a set of honky-tonk tunes with Will on fiddle and Alex Clarke on steel guitar. Then Saturday night all came over with kids, Shonti's husband Bill and mandolin maestro Charlie Hunt. After food and frivolity, Will, Trudy and Charlie layed down tracks to send back to Anchorage. Throw in our annual music trip to the Denali Center and the Pioneers home on Thankgiving day and we'd call it a busy and fruitful weekend for all.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Monday, November 17, 2008

Half way between Election Day and Thanksgiving. The days are getting darker but nothing can dampen our spirits THIS winter. A bad, bad time is ending in the U.S. and, though it'll be hard to clean up the incredible mess, we'll do our part here at the Planet by writing and singing and recording the same great Alaskan music as we've done for 14 years. And we'll remind ourselves and you that we're all just cogs in the wheels in the engine house of this big ship. All we have to do is do our part now matter how small. Cheers...Here's to our health!

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Monday, October 27, 2008

October means World Series here at the Planet and, if we're lucky (and this year we are) SNOW! Enjoy the "Fall Classic" and we'll see all you ski-happy folks on the trails.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Was it just a fluke a year and a half ago? Were we just feeling exceptionally good? Or was the Clinton Fearon band really that enjoyable? Well, the results are in. On October 1st we got the chance to go back out to the Blue Loon and find out. It's hard to expect much from a Wednesday night in the fall/early winter. Especially for $20 but, to our surprise, the place was as packed as it was a year and a half ago on a weekend and the band WAS that good. Two long sets of tight, well-arranged and passionate reggae music. Danced all night. Highly recommended to one and all if you love reggae and even more so if you think reggae is just sleepy 2-chord jams. Clinton Fearon will make you a believer.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Friday, September 12, 2008

Whirlwind! That's what it was. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of work, rehearsal, travel, beauty (photo above: Donaho Mtn. from the Root Glacier Trail near Kennicott), friends (old and new) and community. Above all, community. Throughout the continued work of putting a new roof (with extra insulation) on one of the 10th Planet buildings we've had the pleasure of the presence of the Gallant of the Guitar, Gary Wescott (gallant: noun: A dashing man of fashion, a fine gentleman). (Scroll down the Song O' The Week for a brief history and a song). We rehearsed, we drove to McCarthy (year 19) and we rocked a little dance for Saturday of the Labor Day weekend . Had a fine acoustic concert on Sunday with Gary, Ann McBeth and Alex Clarke, Will Putman, Robin and Pat. Reconnected with the folks of our 2nd hometown, McCarthy. Enjoyed sunny weather all the while. A 12 hour drive back home. Just missed hitting a moose (driving only 45 mph!). Back in town we rehearsed for a concert at the College Coffeehouse (Friday, 9/7) headlined by Gary and opened by the remarkable Ann McBeth. There we traded scouting reports with a bunch of old friends from the 70's who had listened to Gary's music in bands like the Glass Bead Game and Coyote. By coincidence, one of the Fairbanks' seminal songwriters of that time, Cheryl Brewster, was in town (Look for some of her songs soon on the "Song Of The Week" page), and dropped by the show. The next day we attended a sad and beautiful event at the Botanical Garden at the UA Experimental Farm commemorating the life of Les Vierek. It made us proud to have known Les (though not well enough) and proud of the community of long time Alaskans at that gathering. Made us glad to be "old timers in training".

Highlights: A couple new entries in "Pat's Blog". Activities in the Studio. New songs from Pat's Dad, Bill Fitzgerald, at "Song O' The Week",

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Monday, August 18, 2008

We just had to get out of "Dodge". Jonesing for a road trip. And to get back on the water. (Our first canoeing experience was last year at this time.) So despite the rain and hoping that it is indeed true that you sometimes get rewarded for charging forth in inclement weather (and having a truck full of rain gear) we headed to Tangle Lakes, ostensibly to pick blueberries but also to paddle around and spend some time with friends around a campfire. We were rewarded with intermittant sun and much music and laughter around the fire and a full rainbow one evening over the lake that we agreed meant that we must be doing something right. (Very little in the way of blueberries though.) We took the most sublime trip back on the most beautiful road in the state, the Denali Highway. And for those that don't know, it's unpaved and we hope it stays that way.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

We didn't believe it months ago. A band of the stature of Wilco coming to Fairbanks to play the Blue Loon? After much anticipation around town (and puzzled looks on people's faces: "Who's Wilco?") we end up shaking our heads at the beauty of it all. They came, they saw, they rocked. And crooned. And swayed. Wilco sent a big semi full of equipment up all the way from Chicago. That, along with another smaller truck from Anchorage, supplied the hardware. Wilco supplied the rest. The weather was actually good, no easy feat for this miserably rainy summer. The only rain came briefly at the crescendo of a song that made it seem like part of the show. They played for more than two hours, with two encores. And the crowd was roaring all the time. Nel Cline, tall thin guitarist with an arsenal of sounds, used to play in a band with Pat's brother, Kevin, called the Geraldine Fibbers. He told us later that the band hadn't been playing much lately (except in the studio working on the new CD) and actually rehearsed acoustically in the Loon the day before. Pat thought the concert would probably get a handful of new bands going in Fairbanks. It was a beautiful thing. At one point in the show Jeff Tweedy said to the audience,"You're a hardy bunch." If he could have been at the Anderson Festival the next day, at which Dang! did a set, he would have really seen hardy. Cold wind and rain and people dancing and partying like the sun was shining. Face it, we're crazy. And we love it.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Caribou herd high on the ridge at Porcupine Mountain on our Pinnell Mountain hike.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Monday, June 30, 2008

Been a while since writing, you'll notice. What happened was summer. That and some fierce activity in the studio (see studio notes). The beginning on June saw choke cherry tree time. One day you come out of some building and smell the blossoms in the air and smile...big. Then came wild roses time in mid-June. Probably the most prolific year we've ever seen. Symphonies of roses everywhere through the woods and along the roadside. They're ephemeral though and now are all but gone with the leftover rosehips growing toward a nice fall crop. Now it's just the wind in fat leaves in the trees and the heart of summer ahead.

After the deadlines were met we got away to a great 4 days backpacking on the Pinnell Mountain trail at solstice. Talk about the sun never setting! It never came close to touching the horizon from that high up. We started, though, with a car camping night just to get our "camp on", by beautiful 12 mile Creek (North Fork). It was a tight fit by the bridge, on a little cliff above the creek and out of a stream coming down the pulloff road. There were several piles of gravel for future roadwork and the ones nearest a possible tent site were of fine gravel. Robin got the idea that if we a shaved off a little with some big flat rocks for shovels, we could have a great tent space. And so we did. Perfect night to start our trip.

The Pinnell Mtn. Trail was wildflower heaven. And twice we came upon a small herd of caribou less that a hundred feet away. The bucks had huge antlers that were awe-inspiring to watch as they moved the herd this way and that (skittish animals). Marmots in a few areas and one lone ptarmigan on top of Pinnell. A few bugs but more breezes that pushed them away. And long, long sunsets that turned into sunrises. Hope your summer's going well. Keep singing all the while...

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

R.I.P Bo Diddley, one of the original creators of rock & roll. Read more in Pat's Blog..

Last week the choke cherry trees began blooming. A smell from heaven. And another benchmark in the Interior summer. Saturday, late, we walked down to the the little lake in the valley. Strange as it may seem we've never been there in the summer. We ski to it in the winter but when summer comes there just too much to do. We didn't know what to expect. It could have been just a wet bog. The trails were wet going down. The night air was cool and the night birds were singing. As we cleared the trees we were delighted to find that it was a full fledged lake. With ducks no less. In fact some drama was going on. There were two pairs of mallards in the lake and a couple birds we later decided were harlequin ducks. On of the male mallards started quacking and flew over to the other male and attacked it, winged fluttering, loudly chattering. He'd then go back to his mate on the other side of the pond and a few minutes later do it again. It happened over and over. Robin called it Peyton Pond. Just another night in Hoppner Creek Valley.

.: posted by Pat & Robin

Saturday, May 24, 2008

For those of you outside of the state, and those of you who don't go outside at midnight or later, here's another reason we love this crazy place: This time of year the birds sing all night long. Not in the dark of course because at this time, a month from Solstice, it only gets dusk all night long. Last night we took a bike ride 10 miles further down Chena Hot Springs Road to a volleyball game at the house of our friends Will & Trudy. Afterwards we road home at midnight in the glorious all night sunset. The air was sweet and cool and we cruised through the night air laughing at our good fortune. Just before the turn-off to our road we saw a moose by the side of the highway munching down on the new leaves of a young birch tree. We crossed the road and passed him, talking to him gently. He gave us an eye but never stopped eating and we considered that a victory for all of us.

.: posted by Pat & Robin