…whose voice soars with eagles gliding through cloudless skies, echoes with the power of ocean surf and rings with the purity of snow-covered mountains that frame his northern home. On North Country Fare, Butch’s first CD, this seventh generation Alaskan gives voice to the powerful forces that shaped his talent as a musician, singer and songwriter, with the warm southern sounds of country.
Letting music blend a world of influences is second nature to Butch. Born in Ninilchik, on the shore of Cook Inlet, his childhood was molded by the Alaska Native and Russian traditions of his ancestors. Russian-style guitar melodies played by Uncle Nick were balanced by Saturday’s broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry heard on Uncle Joe’s radio. The familiar chanting of Sunday services in the Russian Orthodox Church found harmony with Baptist missionaries’ simple Sunday school songs. As a commercial fisherman, Butch sets his clock by Inlet’s tides, but as the captain of a charter fishing boat, he eyes the schedule of visitors to Alaska.
Music is the ocean to which all the influences in Butch’s life flow. He has serenaded rowdy construction camps along the Trans Alaska Pipeline. He has sung his village’s grief when a beloved elder passes. His music celebrates a life lived in harmony with Nature. His voice embraces the fragile gift of love.
I am a singer who fishes, Butch says.
"North Country Fare" is the perfect first catch.
