Americana/bluegrass jamband The High Hawks recently announced they are coming back to Alaska for two nights – Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Sitzmark in Girdwood.
Though not their first time to Alaska as The High Hawks, due to the band members all being in other touring bands, this is a rare sight indeed. With more than a whopping 150 years and hundreds of thousands of miles of touring experience between them, the members of The High Hawks consist of Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra) and Will Trask (Great American Taxi).
“Most of the band members have played the Sitzmark/Alyeska with other bands and just love the resort, the town and people of Girdwood as well as all the other music lovers that come from Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula to jam with us,” Staehly said. “I always say to folks who ask what it’s like visiting Alaska that there’s nothing like Alaskan hospitality. […] We have made so many friends that these shows will be like a giant family reunion. We can’t wait to get up there.”
Some people might call The High Hawks a “supergroup” or “all-stars,” but they just think of themselves as friends lucky enough to get to do what they love together sometimes.
“It’s a tight-knit music community in our Americana-bluegrass-jam band world,” Greuel said. “Over the years, we all kept bumping into one another and realizing there was a deep sense of fellowship and kindred spirit. The main impetus to form The High Hawks was really a curiosity about one another, both musically and personally. This band came out of a yearning to hang out.”
It is that kind of tight-knit community that The High Hawks will be bringing to Girdwood the first week of December. While it might sound like a chill time, you can expect one of the most high-energy “chill nights” of your life. Going back as far as 2021 with their first single, “Singing a Mountain Song,” The High Hawks have been that perfect mix of wordsmith and jamband. Think The Grateful Dead – if The Dead had a banjo and a fiddle, and a new album (soon to be announced) on the way in early 2024.
“Not sure what the animal is for 2024 on the Chinese (zodiac) calendar, but we’re calling it The Year of The Hawk,” said Staehly with a laugh. “We already have some calendar space locked-in which guarantees us getting out and playing more than most years. We’re really proud of this new album and the way it came together. New music also means an opportunity to expand and gives us more to play and explore together. We can’t wait to share the news about it as well as the new songs!”
Tickets for both nights are $30 and are still available on the resort’s website. Both shows begin at 8 p.m. and are for ages 21 and over.
This article was published in partnership with Arts Anchorage.
John Christensen is an Anchorage-based photographer, columnist, and creative who operates under the Candlewick Studios brand. He has written previously for the Anchorage Press.