Seats were filled on Friday for a free — but sold out — “Evening of Traditional Irish Music,” an annual concert hosted both as part of the Kenai Peninsula College Showcase and as the annual membership meeting for the local public radio station KDLL 91.9 FM.

Kenai Peninsula College’s Ward Building was alive that evening with jigs, marches and lively sounds from the tenor banjo of John Walsh, the bouzouki of Pat Broaders and the fiddle of Jannell Canerday.

The performers told jokes and explained the music they were playing between songs. The first jigs they played were “big jigs” because they have more than two parts. One of the marches they played “sounds like a jig to us,” Walsh said to the crowd.

“This song is called ‘Mary and the Soldier’,” Broaders said before launching into one tune. “It’s a song about a girl called Mary and a soldier.”

The three tapped their feet as they played each song to an engaged audience.

At the event, Kenai Peninsula College Director Cheryl Siemers introduced Katy Koetitz, the new showcase coordinator, who promised “more talent” coming to the showcase this year and “more great things in the humanities to bring us all together.”

Though the concert is included in the showcase series, Siemers credited KDLL with advertising, facilitating registration and managing logistics from transporting musicians to setting up audio equipment. KDLL Board President Shaylon Cochran encouraged attendees to get involved with local public radio — there are three open seats on the board of directors, per the most recent edition of KDLL’s newsletter. Cochran said that the station is working on a major infrastructure project in improvements to its broadcast transmission tower.

The annual Irish music performance has been staged on the peninsula by a trio of performers — including Walsh, Broaders and a rotating third seat — for many years. This was be the event’s fourth year hosted by KDLL, who sponsored the return of the event in 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the show in 2021. The event was funded in part by a grant from the Anna Fossett Goodrich Humanities Program of the Damon Memorial Fund.

For more information about KDLL 91.9 FM, visit kdll.org or find “KDLL 91.9 FM” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

John Walsh, Jannell Canerday and Pat Broaders stamp their feet during “An Evening of Traditional Irish Music” at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Jannell Canerday and Pat Broaders perform during “An Evening of Traditional Irish Music” at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Pat Broaders performs during “An Evening of Traditional Irish Music” at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Jannell Canerday performs during “An Evening of Traditional Irish Music” at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

John Walsh, Jannell Canerday and Pat Broaders perform during “An Evening of Traditional Irish Music” at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)