Dozens of boats, kayaks and paddleboards filled the Seldovia Slough last Saturday. But it’s not for just any regular aquatic activity. They lined up for the fourth annual Songs on the Slough, a summer concert on the water.
Live music rang across the water from an Anchorage-based band, Agents of KARMA, as bubbles filled the air around concertgoers. .
Some people had grills on their boats while others tossed drinks to nearby folks on kayaks. Landbound people filled houses and a bridge overlooking the slough while kids ran and danced around.
Will Hull came across the concert after a day of fishing in the area.
“This one's particularly awesome because you got all these crafts on the water hanging out, and we're all standing here on a bridge, watching the concert from here,” he said.
It’s a unique kind of event for the remote town — Seldovia is on the south side of Kachemak Bay, and is only accessible by boat or plane. Songs on the Slough was started by a local couple, John and Jane Sedor, who wanted to host an event for the small, tight-knit community.
Ashley Keithley runs the town’s only fishing charter and is a Seldovia Arts Council board member. She said the council organized this year’s event with guidance from the Sedors.
“They've just made it happen year after year and had the idea of passing it, the baton on and not having to organize all of it once they showed it could work,” she said.
Keithley said word has spread about the concert to the point where people mentioned it during the Great Alaska Sportsman Show, a trade show in Anchorage.
“There was people talking about it up there, like, ‘Oh my God, it was the coolest thing we ever went to,’” Keithley said, “people on paddle boards, on boats, on the deck just everywhere, just hanging out, and it's just like a big community party.”
But there were some changes this year. The council expanded the concert to a two-day event with Friday night’s festivities taking place on a floating dock in the city’s harbor.
“We've been calling it ‘Songs on the Slough Times Two. We decided we wanted to make it a little bigger, give the opportunity and encourage people to stay the night or if people couldn't be here Saturday, they can come Friday,” Keithley said.
This year’s concert also coincided with the Jakolof Bay 10 Miler, a running and biking race from Jakolof Bay into Seldovia.
Marilyn Whitaker lives in Anchorage and came to the rural town to compete in the race. While she didn’t go out onto the water, Whitaker said she enjoyed the music with other listeners on the bridge.
“The friend I ran the race with told us that there would be music tonight. And so we were really looking forward to it. And one of the main reasons we decided to stay the night,” she said.
Songs on the Slough should return next year.
