alaska.jpgAs some of you may know, my brother Joe and his family have moved to Alaska while my brother works on a medical airlift team. A seriously cool job, the kind you only hear about on Discovery Channel documentaries.
I was trying to determine when and how to get out there for a visit. Alaska has been a place I've always wanted to see for it's natural beauty. But unfortunately, I couldn't make it happen this summer due to work and other travel commitments.
As I live vicariously through my brother's blog, it hit me that I have yet to create a playlist for our largest and most pristine state. So I started searching through our never ending library of tracks for songs about Alaska. There were a few no-brainers like Johnny Horton's "North To Alaska" and the excellent "Talkin' Goin' To Alaska Blues", which appears on Shawn Mullins latest effort 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor.
The playlist contains other well-done songs inspired by Alaska, but I was soon to discover that songs about Alaska are not abundant, to say the least. So to stretch the running time past the one hour mark, I have included songs that may not be inspired by the state, but mention "Alaska" somewhere in the lyrics.
The end result is an extremely listenable playlist that features country, folk, rock and indie. It's the perfect way to start your flight when you decide to visit for yourself.
The Playlist:
1. North To Alaska - Johnny Horton
2. Talkin' Goin' To Alaska Blues - Shawn Mullins
3. When It's Springtime In Alaska (It's Forty Below) - Johnny Cash
4. Grey Ice Water - Sun Kil Moon
6. Stephanie Says - The Velvet Underground
7. Phantasies - Stephen Malkmus
9. Alaska - Kincaid
10. Warren Harding - Al Stewart
12. My Elusive Dreams - Charlie Rich
13. To The Wild Country - John Denver
14. The Ballad Of Alaska - Steve Roberts
15. Alaska - Cactus
16. No Place Like Alaska - Mike Griffin
17. Someday (LP Version) - Neil Young