Arts and Entertainment

Anchorage songstress celebrates album release

It had been three years since Marian Call -- an indie singer-songwriter Alaska transplant who has embraced Anchorage as her hometown -- put out a new album. That changed Oct. 1, when Call released her new double album, "Something Fierce," funded entirely through fan support. On Friday at the Snow Goose Theater in Anchorage, Call will say "thank you" to some of those fans with an album release party.

So how did it feel to finally wrap up the latest project? "I feel amazing," Call said, "like I just took off a backpack that weighed 200 pounds."

The new album, which features 19 songs and is split into two separately-titled volumes -- the first volume is dubbed "So Much for That," the second "From Alaska." According to Call, 1,000 copies have already been ordered (including preorders), and she had to put a rush on the next shipment in order to have copies for Friday's show in Anchorage -- the first time the album will be available for sale (Internet sales aside) in Anchorage.

The tracks feature a wide variety of music, from the lighthearted "Avocado Song" (so named because it's about an unnamed love interest who's "only good for one day") to the seven-minute ode to her adopted hometown of Anchorage that wraps up the album. Called simply "Anchorage," Call says it's her favorite track off the new album, and it suffers from none of the cheesiness one might expect from what's essentially a love song dedicated to a city. Instead, it's a soft, piano-backed message to some of the things that make Anchorage great.

Although the album has been a long time coming, Call said it allowed her to complete a product she was really proud of. Earlier efforts didn't take so long, but she said the time paid off. "This time, I had the time and the money and some of the experience, and I felt like I got to walk away with what I really wanted," Call said.

Following the Friday show in Anchorage, Call will also play concerts in various cities and towns around the state and is still booking concerts, so check her website for dates and locations. But, she said, she's ready to hunker down and spend the winter in Anchorage, with no plans to leave the state for the next few months. "I'm done being tired for a while," she said.

Her plan stands in contrast to many Alaskans who leave the state for winter and return in the summer months. "I figure people are fishing during the summer," Call said. "They're too busy to go to concerts."

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Marian Call will hold an album release concert for "Something Fierce" on Friday, Oct. 21, at the Snow Goose Theater in Anchorage at 8 p.m. Tickets $10-$15 if you buy them at Call's website, and $12-$18 at the door. The show is 21-and-over only.

Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com

Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson is a former writer and editor for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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