Arts & Culture
Alaskan poet onstage
The Pointer
jspra793@uwsp.edu
Ken Waldman fused poetry and bluegrass together onstage at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Monday night.
Waldman, also known as “Alaska’s fiddling poet” played to a crowded Michelsen Hall in the Noel Fine Arts Center.
Professor of Communication, Bill Davidson introduced Waldman to the stage.
“I was fascinated by the integration of the arts,” Davidson said.
The self-taught fiddler began his set with “I don’t drink and I don’t smoke and I don’t wear no greasy coat,” giving audience members the lighter side of poetry with his humorous lyrics.
A former college professor, Waldman spent the last 23 years of his life writing poetry and playing fiddle and mandolin in Alaska. He’s published six poetry collections, a memoir and recorded seven CDs.
“I was a shy fiddler and I was the best fiddler for a thousand miles,” Waldman said of his tours around small Alaskan communities.
Also joining him onstage that night was poet and director of the creative writing program at Knox College, Robin Metz, who professed a deeper side of poetry. He told stories, with a resonating and expressive passion, of his experiences in Africa where he witnessed a wedding procession march past a dead person lying on the road.
The last set brought Jamie Saegert, washboard player for local bluegrass bands Sloppy Joe and Dangergrass, onstage with Waldman and Metz in a harmonious trio of string, percussion and poetry.
“The thing about this music is even if I have a bad day, I play and I’m happy,” Waldman said.
The variety of components that were brought to the stage gave audience members something more to appreciate other than a standard poetry reading.
“I don’t think I would have gone to something that was just poetry,” student Heather Brokmeier said. “Maybe more people are interested in poetry, now, from the show.”
