Do you struggle to fill out the music section of your online social profiles because it’s just so hard to pick your favorites? If you like all types of music, you’ll love Anchorage’s music scene. (And if your musical tastes are bit more specific, Anchorage will still provide plenty to make your toes tap or your ears ring too!)
From rock ’n’ roll to country, hip-hop to Alaska Native drumming, the Anchorage music scene shuffles up more variety than a 160GB iPod. That diversity is delivered by talented and hungry locals and Grammy-winning visiting acts that gig at cozy coffeehouses, rowdy bars, inviting cultural venues and big, loud arenas.
Music is a healthy part of the pulse here. Anchorage is home to an annual folk music festival that spurs heaps of hoedowns, a monthly concert series spotlighting national up-and-coming artists, free summer concerts in local parks, a handful of weekly open mic and jam sessions, and even performances from traveling headliners who are hot on the Billboard charts. Check out the Anchorage Calendar of Events for all the details.
Most often, it’s Anchorage musicians who carry the tune, and they have a larger-than-life muse: Alaska. Acoustic singer-songwriters, country and bluegrass musicians play songs infused with Alaska’s landscape, settlers and drifters. There’s rock and rap forged by Alaska’s extreme summer sun and dark winter nights. And of course, traditional Alaska Native singing, drumming and dancing that tells the living history of the first Alaskans.
Visit the Anchorage Listening Room.
