The definitive "This Is Bethel" (TIB) song. Tries to compare Bethel, Alaska, favorably to Paris, France. Familiar novelty/folk style. Vocals, guitar, bass and brushes by Michael Faubion; harmony and mandolin by Martha Scott.
lyrics | download the whole darn thing (MP3) | blue box
Tour Bethel from Lousetown to Tundra Ridge in a cab on a cold day in hell. Cheesy lounge swing. Michael Faubion does all the parts.
Who says there aren't any roads in Bush Alaska? The rivers are paved with ice. This song rocks. Archie Barnes on piano; Martha Scott on harmony and mandolin; Michael Faubion does all the rest.
Bethel is in in the middle of a vast wetlands, with one of the biggest rivers in the state flowing by. But your drinking, washing, and flushing water has to be delivered by truck*. The system is fraught with perils. Blues pop whatever. The fabulous Tundra Sisters (see Liner Notes for details) provide choral harmony; Archie Barnes on piano; Michael Faubion on lead vocals, guitar, bass, etc.
*Unless you live in one of those priviledged parts of town with above-ground water/sewer pipes.
No matter how beat-up, rusted-out, rough-running and just plain dead they get, Bethel vehicles keep getting resurrected and put back on the road. This is a kind of calypso/Bo Diddly ditty. Brian Sanders, acoustic lead guitar; Bobby Gregory, electric lead guitar; Michael Faubion, vocals, drum machine and other parts.
Half of the singer-songwriters in Alaska do a version of this song. This one goes to extremes. You can call it country corn. Michael Faubion recorded live by Pat DeSmet at the K-300 benefit concert, January 13, 1996.
For about a year and a half, Bethel's KYUK TV aired a statewide Bush-oriented news program every day at noon. It was called, appropriately enough, Midday Alaska. This was the theme song for the show. Duane Eddy goes to the roller skating rink. Michael Faubion does the twangy low string lead, bass and drum machine. Tod Nedrow does the Bobby Gregory impersonation on loopy electric lead and also plays the cheesy organ part.
no lyrics, it's an instrumental
| MP3 by request
a.k.a. Acronymania. Michael Faubion recites.
Celebrates Bethel's most traditional
neighborhood with a 12-minute hard-core blues jam. Brian Sanders, acoustic lead
guitar; Bobby Gregory, electric lead guitar; Mark Jenkins, harmonica; Michael
Faubion, vocals, other lead guitar, keyboard, drum machine, bass.
This is the one serious song of the collection. After all the absurdity, surrealness, anomolies and incongruities, living in Bush Alaska is a heavy experience. This is where America ends. A winsome waltz. Michael Faubion, vocals and guitar.