I was so nervous and starstruck that I could barely strum a few chords. We sang "Husky's Code" and "Pretty Sled Dogs" together. It was incredibly fun to jam with him. We had that musician bonding thing going on. Then I asked him to sing "Dogs, Dogs, Dogs" which he sang on the "All Alaska Sweepstakes" video. "You didn't tell me about that one so I didn't practice it," he complained, but he found the words and picked it up again right away. What an excellent musician.
I played a little autoharp for him, and he even tried to play it himself (even though he's left handed). Then he gave me a souvenir pick that said Barleyjuice. I was so nervous (and I usually play with fingerpicks not guitar picks) that I ended up dropping it into my autoharp. I actually kind of like that rattle in my autoharp. It reminds me of that happy time - and I think it will give me good luck and help me play better.
Kyf is a great guy - a real class act. He has that "rock star charisma" and yet that way of giving you his full attention and making you feel special. He gave me a big hug goodbye. I think I'm still floating from the whole experience.
Here are a few pics:
This is a video I posted on YouTube. It's short, but it really gives a good sense of what the jam was like. It's a little longer than the one I posted on Facebook. I added a little bit of the end. This video is public, so feel free to share it:
And if you're really interested, here is a longer compilation. The audio isn't as good on this one - and you can hear some singing by the person taking the video, which is a bit distracting - but you can hear a bit of each of the songs he sang. (This video is unlisted, since it's not ready for prime time, so please don't share. It's just for the die-hard fans):
