Salmonfest Radio

We’re breaking our episode format with this show! Listeners will be taken on a tour through the Salmon Causeway and chatting with organizers and coordinators of various non-profits who work on salmon issues throughout the state. You’ll hear voices representing Salmonfest, Fishermen for Bristol Bay, United Tribes of Bristol Bay, Salmon Habitat Information Program, SalmonState and Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition. This episode is sp...

This episode of Salmonfest Radio is all about expression, female empowerment, and artistry. Revel in Carsie Blanton’s tunes from her show at Salmonfest 2021- tunes and lyrics that have no greater creative direction than her own. Carsie pulls performances together from seven different albums and gives us an interview backstage steeped in spirited activism. 

Amber Webb, Bunnell Street Art Center’s Resident Artist last May uplifts Y...

In this Episode of Salmonfest Radio we feature a sibling, strumming duo named BroGrass. They’re young, talented, and like many from their generation- aware of our climate’s struggle to maintain a habitat that is suitable for all. Get ready for a fast picking infusion throughout the entire episode! 

Our Salmon Champions, Sue Mauger and Maddy Lee, dive deep into their passion for salmon science. This is Sue Mauger’s second time app...

Our fourth episode of Salmonfest Radio season 2 highlights long-time Anchorage based band Super Saturated Sugar Strings and returning Salmon Champion Sam Schimmel. From opposite ends of the festival grounds, both Sam and the Sugar Strings infused Salmonfest 2021 with salmon love and joy, Sugars Strings from the stage and Sam from the workshop barn where he spent the weekend smoking and sharing fish. In Inletkeeper’s recording loung...

Episode 3 of Salmonfest Radio dives into bears, salmon, and brass! Our Salmon Champion & professional bear viewing guide, Drew Hamilton, will discuss Alaska’s “bear coast” the western side of Cook Inlet which is home to the world's highest concentration of brown bears. A long winter has passed between fat bear fall and skinny bear spring, bears are now emerging from their dens and it's the salmon systems of Bristol Bay and Cook Inl...

Episode 2 of Salmonfest Radio keeps us rooted in our beloved Alaskan land, waters, and people. This episode features music and a backstage interview from a four piece band called Whiskey Class. Typically, Whiskey Class records as a duo and the sound is electronic; but at SalmonFest they rearranged and evolved their music to incorporate keys, bass, drums, and guitar for their performance. The duo, Liz and Patrick began creating thei...

With the steady beat of a Yup’ik drum and the explosive boom of the removal of a long-abandoned deadbeat dam, our first episode of season two, kicks off with a bang. 

Listen to learn about ongoing efforts to revive the King Salmon run of the Eklutna River - a run that sustained the Native Village of Eklutna for thousands of years until the river was dammed and fish passage blocked in 1929. Now a coalition of salmon people are worki...

We’re wrapping up our final episode of season 1 of Salmonfest Radio with some classic sub-aquatic neo-folk n’ fish-punk-rock brought to you by The Ratfish Wranglers. Truly embodying the spirit of Salmonfest, this Kechikan spawned band centers Alaskan values and fishy culture in their funky and playful performances. Our 13th episode “Spawn On Alaska” features The Ratfish Wranglers not only as our musical spotlight, but also as our S...

We are nearing the end of Season 1 of Salmonfest Radio! This episode “You Can’t Eat Gold” spotlights an important and familiar story of a salmon landscape facing the threat of a proposed large, open pit gold mine; this time it's the Donlin Mine in the Kuskokwim watershed.  We’ll hear from two Salmon Champions working to protect the communities that depend on the salmon of the Kuskokwim river. Together they will help us understand w...

The sport fishing opportunities of Bristol Bay’s salmon landscape draw in anglers from all over the world. Our 11th episode “Evolving Casts” features Salmon Champion Nancy Morris Lyons, a lodge owner who was concerned early on by the lack of local people benefiting from the growing tourism sector. In collaboration with others Nancy launched the Bristol Bay Guide Academy which recognizes that local people have the best voices to sha...

Salmonfest Radio presents our 10th episode: “Death by a 1000 Cuts.” While our Musician Feature and Salmon Champion share a dedication to fighting against ecological devastation, they live in very different realities. Dana Lyons has built his musical career in the Pacific NorthWest advocating against projects that contribute to climate change and the like, infusing environmental justice movements with his often comical and always ho...

What's your favorite way to eat salmon? Our 9th episode of Salmonfest Radio Salmon Anticipation Season is serving up salmon in all the best ways, tune for mouth watering inspiration for the salmon season to come. Our Salmon Champion Harrison McHenry, owner and head chef at Fresh Catch Cafe on the Homer Spit, shares his experience serving salmon to tourists and locals alike. While Harrison asserts there's nothing better than a fresh...

In our 8th episode of Salmonfest Radio we’ll give you a taste of California and a taste of home. Our artist feature, Matt Embree, visited Alaska for the first time Salmonfest 2019, bringing his Long Beach solo alt rock and ska beats to the ocean stage. Like so many visitors, Matt was struck by the generosity and kindness Alaskans greeted him with. That spirit of generosity and community care is fully embodied by this episode’s Salm...

Stories, salmon and music transcend borders. As the Canadian government greenlights a hardrock mining district on the British Colombia side of watersheds shared with Southeast Alaskan communities, our Salmon Champions Tis Peterman and Heather Hardcastle are using stories to reconnect local communities up and down river, uniting local power on both sides of the border fighting for their place at the table. Our band feature, Kuf Knot...

Music and salmon are valued and appreciated by people across ideologies - they are powerful forces that build community and bring people together. Both our artists and salmon champion feature in this episode consciously use their platforms to create these connections. In episode 6 “Big Trees, Fat Bears, Strong Communities” you’ll hear music and an interview from Cousin Curtiss & Harrison B - two solo artists that teamed up at Salmo...

We’ve got a big bill of Fish, Fun and Music this hour! The Wisconsin band, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, packages the tradition of Americana music perfectly and speaks the simple truth of their love and understanding of the Great Outdoors. These guys are at the root of what makes Salmonfest its blend of activism and art. Our Salmon Champion, Tom Quinn, has been studying and teaching about the fish of Bristol Bay for over 30 years a...

Salmonfest Radio presents Episode 4 The Call to Protect Bristol Bay. Let the soulful grooves of the California Honey Drops on stage Salmonfest 2019 break you out of a midwinter lul and hear our exclusive backstage interview as we dig into the heart of things with lead singer and trumpet player, Lech Wierzynski.  Bristol Bay has been deemed the last salmon stronghold in the world, yet the threat of Pebble Mine and mines like it stil...

Salmonfest Radio Episode 3 Salmon Sorrows and Joys brings us back to what's at the heart of Salmonfest: protecting Bristol Bay and Alaskan salmon communities. Both our musical feature Banjo Rion, and our Salmon Champion Lydia Olympic are deeply rooted to Bristol Bay, Rion as a commercial fishermen and Lydia, a Yupik woman from Igiugig. Each interview reminds us why we must continue to fight the Pebble Mine and what's at stake. Per ...