Creative Q&A with Gary Sloan

WASILLA— Longtime Alaskan blue musician Gary Sloan recently participated in a question and answer interview discussing a long and fun career doing what he loves most.

Q: How long have you been playing music?

“Since 1965.”

Q: What originally led to it?“My mom played the organ in church and it was a big pipe organ and it just rattled. Nothing else rattled my little butt like that. So, I started playing piano and switched over to harmonica and guitar. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Q: When did you discover how much music really meant to you?

“I rode my bike a couple of miles to the nearest record store… when I walked in the door and he was playing John Lee Hooker in the store and I said, ‘God, that’s great. What’s that?’ He gave me the album… and I said, ‘you got any more guys like this?’ and he said, ‘oh, here’s the blues section.’ It was a whole wall, and I’ve never forgotten that guy… I kept getting records. We had like, hundreds.”

Q: When did your music start to develop?

“I was in the high school choir and somehow we got roped into entertaining a party for the choir. Four of the guys put together a couple of beach boy songs and all the girls changed when they saw us playing music,” he said with a laugh.

Q: What did you do with your music after high school?

“I joined the Air Force. It was because of the earthquake up here. They asked me if I wanted to reenlist after that and I said, ‘no, that’s enough. Two years in the Air Force is enough. I’m gonna try to find something else to do,’ and I discovered some like souls and found some music to play.”

Q: What’s it like looking back at your musical career, being able to play with so many big names?“After I had been playing for 5, 10 times. Jimmy Reid died and I thought, ‘I’m never going to be able to see John Lee Hooker.’ So, I called his home phone number, I don’t know how I got it… The next thing I know John Lee Hooker is getting off the plane in Anchorage. We did five dates with him and it was the greatest way to start because I had already listened to all of his albums.”

Q: Did it feel like you were coming full circle?

“It didn’t dawn on me until I had him in my living room and I’m going oh crap man this is great,” he said with a laugh. “I pretty much got my name out there… and I started getting phone calls… It just kind of bloomed... It was a marvelous job to have.”

Q: What’s your favorite thing about the blues?

“We jam. We wouldn’t play anything that was written down… It’s real fun because it’s not always the same people. I’m amazed at how many talented people are in the Wasilla, Palmer area.”

Q

: Are you glad you spent your life dedicated to making music?

“Oh, it’s wonderful. I will play as long as I can. My wife said, ‘if you can remember the notes,” he said with a laugh. “She’s my power… She takes care of me real good.”

Q: How does it feel to be able to express yourself and connect with people through your creativity?

“I feel really lucky because I have this ability and I can have fun with it. We’re serious about it, but we don’t take it seriously. Let me put it that way.”

Sloan was the most recent local artist featured in the HarpDaddy Backcountry Blues Jam music series. Local musician, Darren Smith runs the series, hosting homegrown talent each Sunday at Schwabenhof.

“He’s had an amazing career that guy… I just have the utmost respect for him… He’s really truly done it with the best of them. Not only that, but he promoted the blues,” Smith said. “To me, to have that sort of connection is so valuable. The jam has been a really overwhelming success, lot’s of great feedback… Live music heals people. I’m convinced of that.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com