Modern folk with Alaskan themes, recorded in a remote log cabin based in the Susitna Valley

11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, EASY LISTENING: Mature



Details:
Hi, welcome to Steve Durr's page. Try checking out cuts #3 & #4. These are two of Steve's best known songs and if they strike a note with the listener, then this may be an album you'll enjoy..




"If it's the music of the last frontier you're after, Steve's the guy!" Jim Kloss, Whole Wheat Radio, Talkeetna Alaska.
"To hear Steve's songs is to hear the real Alaska." Doug Geeting, Doug Geeting Aviation, Talkeetna Alaska.


Take a touch of Americana,
A touch of Debussey,
Give a nod to the music of the Orient,
Weave them all together in a poetic tapestry,
And what you get is Steve Durr's Susitna Summer.

"I don't write for 'markets.' I write about where I live, and the people and times I've known these last thirty-seven years in Alaska." - - - Steve Durr

Steve Durr's songwriting career has its roots in 1960's Greenwich Village where he performed in some of the famous clubs of that era such as the Bitter End, The Cafe Wha?, The Cafe Bizarre, The Night Owl, The Gaslight and more.
How he ended up in Alaska before the decade was over is a long story, but fortunately one that is now in print. "The Coldman Cometh" (St Martin's Press, 2004. Also see "Down in Bristol Bay" by Bob Durr, St Martin's, 2001) is the saga of how the Durr family left their secure existence in upstate New york in 1968 for a new life of adventure (and misadventure) in the Alaskan wilderness.

Thirty some years later Steve is a central figure in the Alaskan folk scene. His songs are known for their poetic perception, humorous, as well as soulful insights, and the unique guitar and vocal stylings that he brings to his music. "Susitna Summer" was recorded in his log cabin twelve miles from the nearest road.
During the short Alaskan summer Steve comes down from the hills, so to speak, and sets up camp (as in: a tent) on the banks of the Talkeetna River closer to the tiny village of Talkeetna. This is his base of operations for what he calls his "river gig." Working with the local raft company, Talkeetna River Guides, Steve performs his original Alaskan songs three times a day on the riverbank to the surprise and delight of the people going by. Though the site is not more than a mile from the town, it is still roadless and wild and Steve may be the only musician in the world who has to look out for bears as he takes the stage.

Besides his club gigs and his "river gig," Steve has opened up for, or performed with Arlo Guthrie, Rambling Jack Eliot, John Gorka, Cheryl Wheeler, Doug Geeting, Peter Yarrow, Larry Zarella, Jon Durr, Little Feat, Karen Savoka & Pete Heitzman, Bruce Tetley, Don Paul Way, Bill Morrisey, Bill Staines, Brian Bowers, Johny Cunningham, The Toyes and more.