Cordovans celebrated Copper River Salmon Jam, the annual summer music festival, this past weekend. The two-day festival is a fundraiser for Cordova Arts and Pageants (CAP) and gives residents the opportunity to enjoy a variety of cultural activities celebrating the arts.
The weekend festivities are preceded by a week full of music around town during the Cordova Music Camp. Cordova Music Camp, formerly known as 4H Music Camp, merged with Cordova Arts and Pageants this year under the latter’s 501c3 fiscal sponsorship.
Many Music Camp instructors and participants stay in Cordova past the camp dates, which is always the week before Salmon Jam, to join in on the festivities and even perform on the main stage. Malani Towle, president of the Cordova Music Camp, says the proximity on timing of the two events is serendipitous, but the shared values of the two groups are what truly makes collaboration flourish.
“We hope that our partnership will strengthen our ability to provide arts education to Cordova’s youth and increase the sustainability of both organizations,” Towle said.
Salmon Jam began on July 18 at the Mt. Eyak Ski Area, where tents and booths featured food vendors, an artisan market, and live music and beer under the large tents. Three different food vendors and more than ten artisans were present on the hill this year.
The Friday music lineup kicked off with several local and visiting musicians at 5 p.m., including Jenny Baker, Keith Lamp, and Medusa Phase among others. Alaskan based band Good Company opened for headliner Indiana Commune beginning at 8 p.m. on the main stage.
The festival continued on July 19, with the Ski Hill opening at 3 p.m. to showcase more than six hours of live music, as well as Small Fry activities catered to the festival’s youngest attendees. Several visiting artists who played were returning to Cordova after past performances.
The Ke KuKui Foundation, hailing from Hawai’i, participates in the Cordova Music Camp each year and have become mainstays of the festival. They shared their songs as well as a hula performance with the audience. Kuf Knotz and Christine Elise, a rapper harpist duo, returned to Cordova for a third time. Headliner Indiana Commune, some of whose members have close roots to Cordova, returned again after popular demand from last year’s performance.
According to CAP board members, attendance for the festival was on par, and slightly exceeded, that of last year.
Each year the music lineups for both days feature a mixture of local musicians and visiting bands.
To play at Salmon Jam, artists apply and express interest online. Salmon Jam music coordinator Sarah Phillips says that over the last few years the music lineup has remained predominantly composed of local artists, many of which are represented through Music Camp instructors and their students. Other local artists included the Towle Family band, the Smyke Sisters, and a group of Cordova High School (CHS) students named Good Question, as well as the CHS jazz band itself.
The festival featured 120 total minutes more music this year than in previous, with each set beginning earlier in the day. Phillips says that coordinating the music lineup can be challenging, both through logistics – such as travel and equipment – but also through piecing together a puzzle of performances that might vary greatly in genre.
“I’m striving to cater to all of our audience all weekend,” she said. “Providing a soundtrack for those experiencing Small Fry activities with their families to those in line for last call in the beer garden on Saturday night.”
Phillips says that like all great projects, Salmon Jam comes with challenges – but that it is all worth the effort.
“The most rewarding aspect is seeing the youth on the stage and in the audience. This year the theme of conversation backstage was instilling a love of arts in the young,” she said. “I’m grateful for all the artists who express interest in sharing their talents on our seasonal stage, who travel long distances and take time off of work and away from their families just to be here, to support Cordova and the arts in our little fishing community.”
