WORKSHOPS TEAMBUILDING EVENTS PARTIES YOUTH CAMPS BOUTIQUE
Alaska Scottish Highland Games ALASKA STATE FAIRGROUNDS, PALMER
alaskanscottish.org
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, JUNE 24TH & 25TH
The Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce Proudly Brings You:
Home of the Grand Parade, Slippery Salmon Olympics, Teddy Bear Picnic, Human Foosball Tournament, Classic Car Show, Bear Paw Community Awards, AND SO MUCH MORE!
ADVANCED DISCOUNTED TICKETS for the 42nd Alaska Scottish Highland Games are available online, at Fireside Books in Palmer, The Book Shelf in Eagle River, and Bosco’s in Anchorage.
EVENT GUIDE INSIDE: PAGE 9 >>
2023 Bear Paw Festival, Eagle River MORE ON PAGE 7 OF THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Hope Cassity AK Residency Tour 2023
MORE ON PAGE 4 OF MAKE A SCENE MAGAZINE
Mark McKenna Oil Painting Workshop MORE ON PAGE 7 OF MAKE A SCENE MAGAZINE
Scottish Highland Games Guide & Map MORE ON PAGE 9 OF MAKE A SCENE MAGAZINE
Strings Attached: An Interview With The Harp Twins What It Takes To Succeed As Independent Musicians
Submitted by Joshua Fryfogle Make A Scene Media Company, and our flagship publication, Make A Scene Magazine, were built on the ethos of making a local arts and music scene happen here, locally. As a musician myself, I see touring musicians coming to Alaska as an intrinsic part of the growth of the Alaskan music and arts scene, so we’re happy to share this interview with this plucky pair of internationally recognized touring artists, Camille and Kennerly Kitt, AKA, The Harp Twins. Camille and Kennerly were gracious enough to answer my own questions, and I also included several questions that were submitted by other local musicians, the latter being included at the end of this interview.
Q: What were the key steps in building your fan base both locally and nationally/internationally? A: “When we began performing, all of our gigs were local events in our area. As word of mouth spread in a wider circle, so did our performances. We started creating music videos to show to clients and eventually others started to find them as well. The gigs started to find us! We live in a global age, so finding an international audience is just as easy as finding a national audience, especially in a market as universal as music. All you need is to find your niche and the have tenacity to continue to follow your dreams.” Q: How do you maintain your physical and mental health while on tour? A: We’ve always enjoyed staying active, working out, and spending time in nature. Even while touring, we try to stay as healthy
as possible. We try to get a reasonable amount of sleep whenever possible. We’re also vegetarian and we don’t drink any alcohol, which we feel works best for our health and lifestyle. Q: Touring can be an expensive endeavor, especially for up-and-comingmusicians. Can you share any practical tips on budgeting for a tour? A: Don’t out-spend your means! We have heard of (and witnessed) touring musicians who have made some big mistakes by touring like they are on vacation. While on tour we shop at grocery stores, rarely eat at restaurants, “shop around” for the best deals on hotels and accommodations, and just generally save wherever we can. Maybe you don’t need that tour bus, or a bunch of back-up musicians! For many years, we toured just with our mom in a mini-van. Just a few years ago, we got to the point where a venue owner sat us down and said, “you need help.” He told us that we were performing at too large of venues to do everything ourselves, and that we were doing way too much work for only 3 people. So, we now tour with 2 additional people. However, we waited as long as we could! Sometimes less really is more. Q: Business and creativity are two very different things. What advice do you have for balancing creativity and the business aspects of music? A: “We think it’s important to realize that not all of your work is going to be ‘fun’. We hear a lot that ‘it’s not work if you love what you do’. However, being an independent musician doesn’t mean that you are sitting in musical bliss with your instrument all day and the rest just falls into place. If you have
trouble making the time for the business or ‘not fun’ aspects of your career, set aside a certain time of day for that portion of your job. Often the things that we as humans avoid are the things that most need to be done.” Q: Can you talk about a time when things didn’t go as planned on tour and how you dealt with it? “We’ve always enjoyed staying active, working out, and spending time in nature. Even while touring, we try to stay as healthy as possible. We try to get a reasonable amount of sleep whenever possible. We’re also vegetarian and we don’t drink any alcohol, which we feel works best for our health and lifestyle. “No matter how well things are planned, eventually something happens that is out of your control. Our touring van once died in Nebraska when we were on our way to a performance in California. We lost a day, had to get a new van, and then drove straight with no overnight stops to make it to our performance in time. We also had a venue power outage for our Christmas show in Colorado, followed by the venue owner getting injured during that same windstorm. We personally stood outside (in the middle of winter) at a theater with no lights or power to meet every car who showed up for the concert and let them know that it was postponed. Those are just a few examples! Sometimes you just have to go with the flow!”
READ MORE OF THE INTERVIEW ON PAGE 8 OF MAKE A SCENE MAGAZINE