Packing plenty of variety by local musicians young and old into a two-hour show is the plan for this year’s Gold Street Music Concert Series, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Church of the Holy Trinity.
The series started about 20 years ago, but this is the second year following a hiatus that began in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Riley Woodford, a longtime musician who will perform a solo set as well as emcee the opening night. He said he, collaborating with two other organizers of the series, reached out to a wide variety of local musicians in trying to put together the full season’s schedule ahead of time.
“I contacted probably 40 or 50 people and found out who would be interested and what months would work best,” he said. “And then tried to kind of fill out each evening so that the acts complemented each other. I didn’t want to have all solo singer-songwriters one night, all bluegrass bands another night. Some people were available in January, but not in December or whatever. And there were some people that I really wanted to get and so I let them pick whatever month would be best.”
Each evening of the monthly series that continues through March will feature five 20-minute sets by various musicians. Woodford said he plans to play five songs, including a couple of originals, during his solo set on Saturday.
“One of the things about this venue that’s really cool is it’s all acoustic,” he said. “There’s no sound system or anything. So it’s a chance for me to play different guitars, instead of having one guitar that’s plugged in that I have to stick with for the night.”
Among the other performers are Stacy and Guy “Ziggy” Unzicker, performing as the duo Thistle & Myth, with Woodford saying both have long musical ties to Juneau, via family and other bands, who are now a couple performing together.
“I knew that they were playing together and that they were both good musicians,” he said. “So I just asked them and they said ‘sure, we’d like to do it.’ And they were some of the first people I talked to this summer.”
A trio known as The Flukes — featuring Dylan Hulbert, Quinton Woolman Morgan and Callahan Croteau — are also scheduled. Woodford said that, along with the Unzickers, part of the reason he approached the trio was their youth.
“I really wanted to get some younger musicians,” he said. “Guy and Stacy are in their 20s. And The Flukes are all in their 20s, I think. There’s a lot of established musicians that we know are good, but there’s a lot of people coming up that are really good that haven’t been heard a lot.”
Among the voices of experience is Mike Gamble, whom Woodford said he first encountered about 25 years ago, who will perform with Caleb Wylie. And offering a different range of sound will be the duo A Felicidade, comprised of Heather Mountcastle with Luke Weld.
“Luke is a piano player who plays all kinds of music in a lot of different configurations,” Woodford said. “He also accompanies a lot of people. And he was working with Heather down at the Crystal Saloon doing kind of a bossa nova. And she sings in Portuguese and in Spanish, as well as English. I went down one night this summer and saw them, and they were great.”
Know & Go
What: Gold Street Music Concert Series 2023.
Who: Five 20-minute sets by Juneau musicians. Performers are Riley Woodford; Thistle & Myth (Ziggy and Stacy); The Flukes (with Dylan Hulbert, Quinton Woolman Morgan and Callahan Croteau); Mike Gamble with Caleb Wylie; A Felicidade (Heather Mountcastle with Luke Weld).
When: 7:30-9:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4.
Where: Church of the Holy Trinity, Fourth and Gold Streets.
Tickets: $5 donation at the door or bring goodies for the intermission snack table.
Other: Additional concert series dates: Dec. 12, Jan. 6, Feb. 4, March 2.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
