New Glenn Massay Theatre expands local show list

PALMER — During the course the past nearly 20 years, Valley music fans have enjoyed countless shows in this small downtown coffee house. But soon, Vagabond Blues won’t be the only place music lovers can go to take in a Whistling Swan Productions act in the Mat-Su Borough.

Owner Mike McCormick says he will continue to book shows at the popular local coffeehouse, but in addition, he has a series of shows booked in 2015 at the new Glenn Massay Theatre at Mat-Su College.

Set to inaugurate the new 500-seat theater is the eclectic folk band The Duhks, which formed in 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Duhks perform at the Sydney Laurence Theatre Feb. 7 and at the Glenn Massay Theatre, Feb. 8.

Next up is fan favorite Patty Griffin who plays April 3 at the Massay and will follow up with a show April 4 at the Atwood Concert Hall in Anchorage.

Josh Ritter will perform April 17 in Anchorage’s Discovery Theatre and in the Valley at the Massey, April 18.

The next month its rising stars the Rhiannon Giddens Band on stage May 4 at the Massay and May 3 at the Discovery Theatre. Giddens is a founding member of the band “Carolina Chocolate Drops.”

It’s Giddens Band to whom Bob Dylan’s unrecorded Basement Tape lyrics were released, McCormick said.

Wrapping up the series is Keb Mo’ and his band, who perform at the Massay June 5 and at the Atwood Concert Hall June 6.

McCormick said the plan is to book 10 shows at the Massay through June, and based on their success, more shows could be planned during future concert seasons.

“It’s a huge risk,” McCormick said. “But if all goes well you could look forward to that caliber of shows every year.”

He said his goal is to book shows at both venues. But the Massay makes it possible to book local performances for Keb Mo’ and Patty Griffin.

Whistling Swan has booked more than 300 artists at 500 shows since 1994 when the promotion company began. In the Valley, New Hampshire singer songwriter Cormac McCarthy was their first show McCormick booked at Vagabond in 1996, shortly after Mark Austin opened the business. Since then the venue has been the site for numerous acts, such as Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Kaplansky, John Gorka, Chris Smither, Dan Bern, Peter Mulvey, Alasdair Fraser, and the Valley grown musicians such as Emma Hill, Shonti Elder and Gerygone and Twig.

But there is a big difference in the economics of booking shows to fill an 80- to 110-seat venue, such as Vagabond, and the 523-seat Massay Theatre, he said. More seats to fill equals more cost to rent and more risk for his small production company, McCormick said.

That same math makes it possible to bring artists to Alaska and the Valley who couldn’t afford to play here previously, he said, citing the Keb Mo’ and Griffin as examples of performers who otherwise afford to say yes to Alaska.

“If we can get people to come to these shows, we could do great things for the community,” he said. “We’ve wanted to come out here since 1996 to a bigger space.”

Ultimately, McCormick and his wife, Katie, founded Whistling Swan after organizing a few shows as benefits for various nonprofits in the late 1980s.

But McCormick’s history as a concert promoter dates back to a 1971 show he booked with Bruce Iglauer for the band “Hound Dog Taylor and The House Rockers.” Iglauer went on to found and head the independent blues record label Alligator Records in Chicago.

McCormick admits to a lifelong love of music, but he said he’s not just bringing up acts and staging shows so he can meet and mingle with his favorite bands.

Though he has booked a lot of bands he used to listen to in high school he’s gotten to introduce on stage, like Roger McGuinn from the Byrds. McGuinn also stayed at their house while in Alaska.

“Imagine hearing those notes coming out of your basement,” McCormick said of the ‘60s classic “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

Professionally, McCormick retired from the Anchorage School District after 20 years of teaching and has been the assistant director of student activities at the University of Alaska Anchorage for the past 10 years.

Besides music, McCormick loves birding and poetry. His production company draws on both for its name, he said, referring to the W.B. Yates poem, “The Wild Swan at Coole.”

“It comes down to community,” he said. “If it was just feeding my habit, it’s easier and cheaper to fly to Seattle.”

Tickets to Whistling Swan shows are available at Centertix.net or by calling 907-263-ARTS, and at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts box office. People can purchase tickets to individual shows, or buy tickets to three or more shows and season ticket prices and great seating.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.