Songscape: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge with KT Tunstall

Music Inspired by our Public Lands

KT Tunstall explored Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, and created a song inspired by these critical spaces.

Century Trail is her ode to the bears and landscape of Kodiak.

Proceeds support Sustain and the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges.

Listen to Century Trail

KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall's music career launched into the international spotlight with the hit singles “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See”. She quickly became known for her empowered female-rocker style, pioneering looping skills and great story-telling. She’s released seven albums internationally with her most recent titled NUT, which is the last part of a trilogy of albums based on the Soul, the Body and the Mind.

She’s also worked passionately for environmental causes throughout her career and has made efforts to neutralize her own carbon footprint, including donating a percentage of her first album sales towards reforestation in Scotland, working with the EIA and ‘Reverb’ in the Peruvian Amazon jungle to highlight illegal logging, and spending time in the Arctic on the Cape Farewell expedition to highlight Climate Change. In 2011, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Environmental Science from her University, Royal Holloway in London

Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

Homeland of the Alutiiq or Sugpiaq peoples, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Gulf of Alaska and spans almost two million acres, covering more than 2/3rds of Kodiak Island, part of Afognak Island, and all of Ban and Uganik Islands. Its mountains rise 4,000 feet from craggy coastlines, misty fiords, and deep glacial valleys. Kodiak NWR is an important home to salmon, the iconic Kodiak brown bear and five other species of native land mammals, red foxes, and more than 200 species of resident and migratory birds.

The Songscape Project

Songscapes generate new fans for public lands. Over 1/3 of the US belongs to everyone, yet these public lands are at risk of being sold off and de-funded, threatening the wildlife, natural systems, and people that depend on them. By partnering musicians with public lands, Songscapes utilize the emotional hook of music, beautiful music videos, and the cultural capital of bands to create new audiences for the places we all own and need to protect.

KT Tunstall spent a week hiking and exploring Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, and crafting a song inspired by the experience. Outdoor adventure videographer, Chris Shane, captured everything on film. Century Trails was released on April 21, 2023. Song proceeds help support the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges and Sustain Music & Nature.

Songscape: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is the eighth Songscape produced by Sustain Music and Nature, following recent productions with Beebe at Colorado and Utah’s Green River, Ben Sollee at New Jersey’s Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, and Conner Youngblood at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Salt Lake City.

Songscape Partners

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 USFWS honors their centuries of stewardship and deep connections with these lands.

Sustain Music and Nature harnesses the emotional pull of music and cultural sway of musicians to build new audiences and support for America’s public lands. Sustain is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Primary Wave Music is the leading independent publisher of iconic and legendary music in the world. The company is home to some of the most iconic songwriters, artists, and record labels across the history of recorded music including Sun Records, Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Ray Charles, Count Basie, KT Tunstall, and many more. Throughout the company’s 15-year existence, Primary Wave Music has strived for excellence in the pursuit of iconic artists and catalogs that not only reflect great artistry, but impact and influence culture.

Songscape Made Possible By:

Established in 1971 by Congress to settle aboriginal land claims in Alaska, Koniag is one of the 12 for-profit Alaska Native regional corporations. Owned by more than 3,000 Alutiiq Shareholders, Koniag’s social mission originated with our Alutiiq ancestors who have called our region home for thousands of years.

The Kodiak Brown Bear Center (KBBC) is owned by Koniag.

The value of Nunapet or "ties to our homeland" is a core part of our culture, and the area around Camp Island represents the very best of what homeland to the Alutiiq people.

As our Elders say, “This is the land that we belong to, not the land that belongs to us”.

We are proud to be part of this incredible natural community, and through the Kodiak Brown Bear Center & Lodge we are happy to be able to share our private view of this special place with our guests.