Homer, Alaska – Bunnell Arts by Air presents Joe Goodkin performing The Blues of Achilles at Bunnell Street Arts Center on Friday, June 19th, 2026 at 7pm. The concert is broadcast live on KBBI AM 890 with in-person tickets available at Bunnell. In-person audience must be seated by 6:45pm.

The Blues of Achilles is a set of 17 original songs for guitar and vocals. It tells the story of the Iliad through the eyes of the characters: Achilles, Patroklus, Briseis, Helen, Priam, and more. The performance evokes the original oral tradition of epic bards that stretches back millennia and frames the poem in an accessible way (both musically and narratively) for modern audiences. Whether you’re deeply immersed in Greek epic or just curious to see and hear a new take on an ancient story, this event is for you.

Biography: Joe Goodkin is a Chicago-based singer/songwriter with a BA in Classics from UW-Madison. He has performed his original song retellings of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad (The Blues of Achilles) over 500 times in all 50 US States, Canada, Greece, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, and The Netherlands. He has released 15 albums of original music, including 2023’s Consolations and Desolations (produced by founding Wilco drummer Ken Coomer) and 2026’s Winedark Life.

Supported by an Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities grant from the Society for Classical Studies.