Last month, Brigid Donahue grabbed her oboe and joined a group of musicians as part of a mini orchestra that entertained patrons at the scenic Hatcher Pass Lodge.
The show wrapped at 7 p.m. and Donahue descended the mountain pass, heading back in Anchorage just in time to take the stage playing saxophone with Good Company for a gig at Humpy’s.
Donahue is one of Anchorage’s busiest musicians, playing regularly with a half-dozen local bands. She is also a music teacher in the Anchorage School District and teaches oboe at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
“I’ve got like, lots of side hustles going on, but I feel like that’s every musician,” Donahue said. “I don’t know a musician that has one job, especially here. You kind of have to take what you can get.”
The life of a working musician in Alaska is an alloy of enterprise, creativity, ability and availability.
Using those qualities, David Nathanson has been molding his music career in Alaska for nearly the past two decades.
His group The Vintage Retro plays 1970s classics and is a favorite at Alaska events and parties. Like Donahue, he performs with a number of other local bands.
Mostly playing bass, Nathanson has been able to gig up to six days a week at points, especially before the COVID-19 pandemic.
While his aptitude has landed him jobs, becoming familiar with the production side has allowed Nathanson to develop a career as a musician. He’s invested in his own PA gear and can put on a more captivating show with lights and smoke machines.
“It’s a hustle,” he said. “There’s so much work involved in it, but being able to do your own production is a big part of being able to keep busy. … Having that ability really increases your ability to work and make work for yourself.”
A football injury in high school was Nathanson’s initial exposure to performing. Sidelined from the team, he started singing with a band some friends had started. Music became a hobby, and he learned guitar and drums but maintained different professional aspirations.
Nathanson got a bass on his uncle’s recommendation and soon began gigging with his uncle’s band when he was in his mid-20s.
“A lot of people need bass players, so I ended up finding out there was more work available on that instrument, so I just kind of settled into that,” he said.
He joined Superfrequency, which included Nick Petumenos and Ivan Knight, and he started doing some songwriting with other group members.
Along with The Vintage Retro, Nathanson plays with Nothin’ But Trouble, Jared Woods’ longstanding project Woodrow and Yachtly Crew. He also has a regular gig holding down the drum kit at the weekly blues jam at The Blue Note AK inside Billiards Palace.
The decision to transition out of the construction business he’d worked in, and into full-time music, was initially difficult.
“It was a struggle for a while,” Nathanson said. “I wasn’t making a lot, just kind of squeaking by. But it’s become better and better, and now I would say I’m pretty happy.”
Alex Cruver has become one of the most sought-after pianists in the state for both studio work and live performance.
He’s been a longtime member of the Hawaiian reggae band H3 and plays each week at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. He’s also the band leader at Mad Myrna’s, which produces multiple musicals throughout the year and is in the midst of a six-week run of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
He also gigs with other bands such as The Lightning Will, plays solo jazz piano gigs and has a duo with fellow Anchorage music luminary Kat Moore.
A recent trip to Southeast included short tours with both Juneau’s Taylor Vidic and Anchorage’s Ashley Young.
“Probably the most, you know, fulfilling work that I’ve been doing recently is playing keys for her,” Cruver said of Young, who was recently awarded a Rasmuson fellowship.
Cruver wasn’t initially a pianist. He played guitar as a teenager, and went to Washington State University out of high school. He returned to Alaska and earned a degree in economics at UAA. It was there he started taking lessons from jazz pianist Karen Strid-Chadwick.
Cruver considered getting a master’s degree, but started booking enough gigs to focus on working. His ability and willingness to play in a broad spectrum of genres has allowed him to carve out a career.
“There’s like, a clear divide of those who are classically trained and work in theater environments, accompaniments for students, for opera and singing and the people who play jazz, rock, blues, R&B, and I can do both,” he said.
Donahue studied music education and oboe performance at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. When she arrived in Alaska in 2019, she started teaching and began playing with the Anchorage Civic Orchestra. It was only at that time she began playing saxophone, which has become her calling card.
Now she plays the instrument with Childish Tycoon, Good Company, Raised by Elephants and Yachtly Crew. She also has a jazz combo called Constant Structure and performs with the Park Strippers marching band.
“The only thing I really play oboe consistently in is the Anchorage Bowl Chamber Orchestra,” Donahue said.
With school out, the summer was even more eventful as she plays festivals and sits in with bands like Ketchikan’s Dude Mtn. and Fairbanks’ Casey Smith Project.
Donahue’s Google calendar is reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting, nearly every day of the week seemingly splashed haphazardly with color.
“Gigs are yellow, rehearsals are blue, lessons are red and then other stuff is purple,” she said.
All three said that they book gigs on a first-come basis. Sometimes, that means taking a gig that pays less and having to later pass on a better-paying option.
“It’s a matter of ethics,” Cruver said. “You have to do what you signed up to do, and even if it’s worse pay.”
Pay can vary by gig and range across the board. Cruver said older musicians have noted to him that some gigs pay virtually the same that they did decades ago. When he was younger, he sought out better-paying opportunities to perform. Now he’s able to take a mix of gigs that pay well and some that are more creatively rewarding.
Nathanson admits that he’s not able to focus on as many of his own creative projects as he’s had to prioritize working gigs.
Generally, that means taking opportunities whenever and wherever they arise.
“I just would like to have some more financial stability, even though I’m like, working almost every weekend,” Donahue said.
Nathanson said Woods has helped him with the business side of the career. That’s helped him book more corporate and private gigs, which can be more lucrative.
“Jared is just an amazing musician and business-minded,” he said. “He’s just knowledgeable on that side of it and is not a gatekeeper. He loves to share information, and has been very giving with knowledge and information to me, which has just profoundly boosted my quality of life.”
Practicing and rehearsing relect another aspect of the job that can be time-consuming, but also vital.
“I’m definitely practicing whenever I can,” Cruver said. “I don’t practice enough. I mean, as I get older, I need to warm up more.”
Most of Nathanson’s groups are longstanding with proficient players, so rehearsal time is limited.
Donahue said she does a fair amount of rehearsing with the bands she’s played in. Coming from a classical music and teaching background, she was used to playing with sheet music. But she recalled her first times playing with Childish Tycoon, which helped her become better at playing by ear and improvising.
“It was so weird and I didn’t know what to do because I was like, always used to at least seeing like a lead sheet or something,” she said. “They were like, ‘Oh you know, we just kind of jam,’ and I was like, OK. And I had no idea what I was doing, but it ended up being really fun.”
Careers as performers have led to some unique Alaska experiences for all three musicians. Cruver has played in Bethel and Utqiagvik with H3. Playing with Inuit soul band Pamyua, Nathanson has been able to travel to multiple corners of the state and enjoys playing at 49th State Brewing in Healy.
Donahue was able to cross a few major Alaska music milestones off her list over the summer.
“This was a life-changing summer for me because it was the first time I got to like, play Hatcher Romp or Salmonfest,” she said. “I remember going to Salmonfest for the first time five years ago and being like, ‘Wow, that’d be so cool to play it one day.’ ”
