News
In advance of National Public Lands Day, we’ll be releasing Refuge Alaska nationally on Friday September 27, 2024. This unique film featuring Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges is scored by keyboardists Sam Kassirer, Matt Douglas, Derry deBorja and Akie Bermiss. You’ve heard them in Josh Ritter, The Mountain Goats, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Lake Street Dive respectively.
Stay tuned for details!
Music and nature come together in this Trail Session. Join us on Saturday, July 8 with Americana band, Cold Chocolate. Guided hike with Friends of Machimoodus and Sunrise State Parks departs at 11am, followed by outdoor concert at 12:15pm.
Sliding scale donation tickets and details on our page: https://www.sustainmusicandnature.org/july82023
First Friday Film & Music: Refuge Alaska Film Debut & Musical Composer Talk
6:30 p.m. Friday, May 6 Anchorage Museum Auditorium
Gather in the Anchorage Museum auditorium for a visual and sonic exploration of the diverse lands, waters, and creatures across Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges. 501c3 national nonprofit Sustain Music & Nature collaborated with Alaska Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife on a project meant to build broader awareness of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges. Using existing footage provided by Alaska USFWS, Sustain brought together four U.S. based musicians – Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Board Member: Sustain Music & Nature), Akie Bermiss (Lake Street Dive), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit) – to compose an original score for a 10 minute film. After a long stretch of community isolation and limitations, this film envisions a time of collective re-shaping of how we experience distances, community, and nature. (Members of the project will discuss the creative process and music’s connection to nature). Free. Covid-safe guidelines will be observed.
About the Project:
Sustain Music & Nature, a national nonprofit that makes music a force for nature, partnered with Alaska’s USFWS to create Refuge Alaska, a 10 minute film featuring stunning videography set to evocative music composed by four U.S. based independent artists: Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Board Member - Sustain Music & Nature), Akie Bermiss (Lake Street Dive), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit).
Unable to travel or gather during the height of the pandemic, the composer-musicians met across time and space to virtually connect with northern places most had never visited in person. An assemblage of video captured in previous years by multiple videographers became the inspiration for an artwork of music and film. Four chapters take the audience through the air over vast landscapes, across the land with close floral and faunal encounters, beneath the water with fish and marine mammals, and finally into the winged world of birds.
Alaska’s 16 National Wildlife Refuges span from the edges of the high Arctic to the outer islands of the Aleutians, and provide some of the best places in the world for wildlife and people to thrive. These are the homelands of Alaska Native peoples from time immemorial, and we honor their centuries of stewardship and deep connections with these lands."
Today, travel with Arizona Trails executive director Matthew Nelson along the Arizona trail, which spans 800 miles from the Mexico/U.S. border to Utah. Matthew helped complete the last 100 miles of the trail in his youth, which he credits as a turning point in his connection with the Southwestern landscape. In his early 20’s, he was launched into a career in Grand Canyon National Park. He tells the story of his transformative first experience with the Grand Canyon, and how that connection led him to create music with his group, Ongtupqa. If you’re curious to learn about clay percussion, ancient flutes and how he and his group invoke Earth, Spirit and Sky, don’t miss this episode of Songscapes!
You can find out more about Matthew on his “about” page at https://www.americantrails.org/presenters-and-authors/matthew-j-nelson, or on his musical group’s page at https://www.ongtupqa.com/media.
Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles
Host: Charles Coplin
Producer: Sustain Music & Nature
Editor: Harrison Goodale
Media Researcher: Lauren Myli
Theme Music: Harrison Goodale
Featured Music: Rain of Life, Vasey's Paradise, Rolling Thunder
Meet punk musician and park ranger Mason Evan Runs Through III, also known as his stage name, Wounded Knee. Born in Minot, North Dakota, he is of the nearby Fort Peck Reservation in North East Montana and is a member of the Assiniboine (Nakoda) nation. He is currently based in Utah, where he lives and works as an interpretive ranger and environmental educator in Dinosaur National Monument. Mason also shares about his musical project, Wounded Knee, and how he “creates emotionally charged music for a world that’s forgotten how to feel.” Tune in to hear about his journey to working for the National Parks System, as well as how he uses his music for political activism. Mason’s belief in genuine self expression and standing up for what’s right is inspiring and empowering, and his life reflects what he speaks. Don’t miss this striking episode of Songscapes!
You can find Mason on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/woundedkneepunk/ or on his Bandcamp at https://woundedkneepunk.bandcamp.com/album/bury-my-heart
Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles
Host: Charles Coplin
Producer: Sustain Music & Nature
Editor: Harrison Goodale
Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson
Theme Music: Harrison Goodale
Featured Music: Holy Fire, Nakoda Calling, Burning Tipis
Charles Coplin catches up with his friend Gregg Hill to chat about his latest release, Born Liar.
Gregg has been making music since the 90’s and has spent most of his time focused on live performance and honing his songwriting craft. With a recent move to New Orleans, Gregg is embracing the artistic freedom that he has discovered in his new community.
The latest record is inspired by long road trips to western landscapes- to escape the doldrums of the pandemic, and contemplating what stories from the past can be pulled into the present to hopefully help us all be a bit more empathetic to our fellow neighbor.
You can find Gregg Hill on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/gregghillmusic/ or on his website at https://gregghill.com/
Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles
Host: Charles Coplin
Producer: Sustain Music & Nature
Editor: Harrison Goodale
Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson
Theme Music: Harrison Goodale
Featured Music: Sky of Gold, Clinging to the Wind, Born Liar
The guinea pigs for Sustain’s first Songscape retreat ever, we hear from Chris Freeman of Parsonsfield and some of the inspiration behind that experience. Charles Coplin and Chris explore the different ways in which inspiration can strike, how nature permeates to other aspects of life and the evolution of the band over the years.
The new album, Happy Hour on the Floor, investigates the “in between moments” and being present in everyday life. Setting music to the ordinary, makes it extraordinary. 2020 brought with it new challenges, and once again, Parsonsfield was forced to evolve and come up with innovative solutions for their live shows. Some of which included taking a more DIY approach to touring during the pandemic.
Thanks for listening and don’t forget to review, share and subscribe to the podcast!
You can find Parsonsfield on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/parsonsfield/ or on their website at https://www.parsonsfield.com
Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles
Host: Charles Coplin
Producer: Sustain Music & Nature
Editor: Harrison Goodale
Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson
Theme Music: Harrison Goodale
Featured music: Till I Die, Ktaadn, Weeds or Wildflowers
Sean Rowe is all about connection, whether that be through his songwriting, foraging, or surviving in the woods for weeks on end. Since he was a child, Sean has been interested in what the natural world has to offer those curious enough to look closely. As he grew older, the interest took him to the Tom Brown Wilderness Survival School and onward to his own survival treks into the woods. Tune in to hear his insight from a three-week journey in the wild, his tips for authentic “Tik-Tokery”, and why songwriters will never hear their own work the way listeners do. Make sure to check out his newest record, The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights, and thanks for listening to Songscapes by Sustain Music and Nature!
You can find Sean Rowe on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/seanrowe11/ or on his website at https://www.seanrowe.net/
Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles
Host: Charles Coplin
Producer: Sustain Music & Nature
Editor: Harrison Goodale
Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson
Theme Music: Harrison Goodale
Featured music: To Make It Real, What Are We Now, and I Won’t Run
