AI WILL NEVER TAKE MY JOB
VIDEO HERE
I had a wild traveling day in Alaska. It began with coffee and then two small plane flights covering hundreds of miles before noon. This spectacular and somewhat. typical “errand” was followed by a beautiful drive South through the Denali borough down to Talkeetna, recording my song “River” on the banks of three separate rivers along the way, and then busking on the streets and singing for my supper like I used to in the early days. I did not need to sing for my supper, but I was just so energized by the day that I felt like singing some songs, and lo and behold that led to a meal and some good company.
I woke up in Kantishna, which is an old mining town at the end of the road in Denali National Park. There are a few lodges back there that cater to those who can afford to fly in and stay. My friend Greg owns Kantishna Air Taxi, which often shuttles guests from the park entrance to various locations. He owns a small lodge out there that has been closed the last few years for a few different reasons, and it is now for sale. For one, the road washed out during a massive landslide two years ago. That made it difficult to get supplies back there. A two-hundred-million-dollar bridge project was finally completed, but only special permits can use it. Most of Denali National Park is inaccessible and I have been very lucky to have friends who bring me deep into this glorious wilderness. It’s a challenging land to run a business on but when the weather cooperates and the stars line up, it is a life-changing experience.
In Kantishna we had ourselves a little party with music and storytelling and the emotions came forward like at the Kantishna Music Festivals of the past. We auctioned off a painting that Matt Unterberger made for the occasion. The proceeds are the seed money for the Carlo Creek Center For The Arts. Matt was the central organizer of the Kantishna Music Festival and now he owns a spot on Carlo Creek, by the park entrance. This will be an art center which will display his work and others who are inspired by this wondrous place. He will carry on the tradition of open-heartedness and joy that was the cornerstone of life in Kantishna where you do not survive very long without the grace of your neighbors.
After flying in just the night before, we left at nine in the morning to drop a couple off in Fairbanks, then got right back in the plane and flew to the park entrance, passing over fires and mines and Alaskan wilderness that I had not seen from the air on previous trips. My mind began to race with the dreams and fury of youth and potential. Alaska does that to folks. After landing, I had breakfast with pilot Greg Lahaie, and then made my way South to Talkeetna to move in to my friend’s cabin. This whole day is more or less the payoff after coming up here for twenty-plus years. I have friends all over the state with properties and cabins and restaurants and boats and trucks and fishing gear and skis and airplanes and the road goes on forever and the party never ends.
On this day, the mountain was out, and I stopped by three separate rivers to record my song “River” for a project that I am calling FIFTY RIVERS—which is where I go around the world and record on the banks of fifty rivers in order to raise awareness for those that take care of our rivers. I was so exhausted yet so energized by the day’s journey that I started to sing on the streets of Talkeetna just like I would in some European town back in the nineties when I used to busk all the time. The manager at the Fairview Inn came over and suggested I play on his deck. For this they offered my food and drinks. I played a short set and sat down with a cool couple from Tennessee who were on their Alaskan journey. I enjoyed a delicious meal. I was reminded of the fact that I used to live like this all the time and it was the intuition and confidence that I would be taken care of that got me through years of rambling back in the day. I still have that intuition, a priceless gift that leads to real adventures that Artificial Intelligence will not be able conjure. Today, I am grateful for all my Alaskan friends and folks around the world that usher me to and from the shows and house concerts and festivals and campfires and such.
I have learned so much from my family and friends and all of you along the way and I thank you all.
From TIm E. at Middle Way Cafe in Anchorage