Shamrock Bar, Ketchican
Nathan B. Spooner
Finally moved from Berkeley to Alaska in 1975. Arrived in
Ketchikan with a backpack, sixty three dollars and a guitar in a hard shell
case.
Just across Creek Street on the south part of town, walked into
the Shamrock Bar and asked about a job playing music on the small stage. John
Conway hired me on the spot and said I could play 5 nights a week from 9pm to
1am.
My all time favorite memory of the gig at the Shamrock occurred
one night around 11:30 when Tina, the young lady working the bar, said to me,
“Nathan, are you almost done? I want to put the jukebox back on.”
Tina also had some other late night stories but I think I’ll pass
on those.
Now and then someone from a commercial fishing boat, a logger, or
random celebrant came in and bought a round of drinks for everyone. Even the
fistfights usually ended up with each person sitting together and having
another round. Once in a while I’d get a request, once in a while people would
even dance to my songs. Mainly, the crowd talked, laughed, got a little rowdy
and some stayed long past midnight. The Shamrock, as most other bars in Alaska,
stayed open til 5 in the morning.
Must have been a couple months later when Jim Slaughter brought a
friend in with him. They pretty much sat right in front of me and after the end
of the second set, Jim said “This is Anita, she needs a lead guitar player for
her weekend gig at the Lodge. Interested?”
So began a 2 year venture with the Anita Rae Band. We played the
Moose Lodge, private parties, the Coast Guard Station, some live radio shows
and I made more money than ever playing electric guitar in a 4-piece County
Western band.
To back up just a bit, I remember one late morning looking out the
window of the Stedman Hotel from my small upstairs space. Walking by on the
sidewalk I saw Lise and her 3 year old son Omar. Just before leaving the Bay
Area the Yuk City street band had played a gig at Canyon, that hippie community
just east of Berkeley and Oakland. Lise got on the stage with us and played
tambourine.
I remember so clearly at the moment, thinking almost out loud, how
are they both going to fit in this tiny room. And that story develops almost
right away