In early 2017, I received a telephone call from Bethel, Alaska. It could only have been one person, singer-songwriter John Angaiak. By then, John’s calls to VIN HQ were nothing new, we had already made waves together. In 2014, two of John’s compositions had been featured on the GRAMMY®-nominated Native North America (Vol. 1) compilation, followed by a full-length 2016 re-release of his landmark I’m Lost In The City LP, originally issued through the Eskimo Language Workshop at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1971, not long after returning from service as a heavy artillery operator for the United States Armed Forces in Vietnam. Not only is I’m Lost In The City an intimate glimpse into John’s soul, but an initiative to help document Yup’ik from an oral language to the written word. Truly incredible. In 2015, John returned to the stage for a rare live performance at Yellowknife’s NACC (Northern Arts and Cultural Centre) alongside Willie Thrasher + Linda Saddleback, and a film screening of Willie Dunn’s The Ballad of Crowfoot. Still, this latest connection with John was more than revisiting the past. There were fresh ideas to share along with a plan to hatch them.

John had written a handful of new songs in recent years and wanted to visit Vancouver to try and capture them. Everything in its right time. His last recording date had been 30 years prior, for 1987’s Family, an independently distributed cassette. Over a few weeks, further calls were made and a March trip was planned. In typical lower mainland fashion, Vancouver remained grey with light rain for the duration of his stay. Across three days, we enjoyed Granville Island Market, a tour of Suite Sound Labs, Red Cat Records, Pat’s Pub, Deep Cove, and a special lunch at On Lok Restaurant & Won-Ton House on East Hastings. The recording session itself took place in the evening at VIN HQ (RIP) with Dada Plan’s Malcolm Biddle operating his trusty TASCAM 388 and connected microphones, brought over for the occasion. “You Make My Life Sweet,” “Once Our Way,” “Skiing Hymn,” and “Mambo In Mexico City” were all performed in one take by John before returning to his nearby hotel, and back home to Bethel the following morning.

Five months later, it was great to reconnect with John, this time in Toronto, at the 11-artist Native North America Gathering at Trinity-St.Paul’s on Bloor Street. “Poor Man” was a board recording from that legendary night. This current selection of now published songs, entitled Vancouver Session Plus, are not only offerings to your ears, but represent mutual support, cross-cultural exchange, and intergenerational connection. Whatever Voluntary In Nature becomes, it will be due to the contributions of its artists, including John Angaiak, a Yup’ik husband, father, grandfather, singer-songwriter, U.S. Armed Forces veteran, language preservationist, and recording artist who has chosen to help a younger artist of settler/immigrant heritage follow their dreams. Thank you John Angaiak. Together, we grow!

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