The bars and backrooms of a still-wild place like Alaska might elicit a mental picture of rowdy nights and raucous good times–and that’s true on occasion. But, most of what you’ll find scattered around the landscape of the lower 48’s big sister are tight-knit small towns and villages, with a deep reverence for nature, community and what it means to be human in a beautiful, flawed world. Based in Juneau, The Heists’ music is steeped in love for both. 

Break & Mend, the duo’s upcoming EP, marks the first time the husband and wife have recorded as equal partners after 21 years together. Produced by Patrick M’Gonigle (Bella White, The Lonely Heartstring Band), the EP was recorded at Frostline Studios in Anchorage, Alaska, in full, live takes, with everyone in a room playing together. 

“That’s how we play in real life,” Andrew says. “With Patrick’s help, we were able to translate that to the studio. His creative guidance throughout the process added so much to the feel and flow of the songs, without making anything feel overwrought.”

“Not that I thought we were going to have trouble recording, but you just never know until you’re in the room,” Erin adds. “It was so fun, and moving, to get to bring these songs to life with my best friend and to watch us both rise to the moment and grow through the process. We’re going back in the studio for a full-length album of our more Americana songs this fall, and I can’t wait.”

The six songs on Break & Mend center around the idea that nature doesn’t care what you do; it can both heal and kill you—which feels like a very Alaskan thing. Also stitched in is the fiber of community, which is inherent in every corner of the state.

“From the first day of rehearsal, recording Break & Mend felt like the kind of magic that can only happen in Alaska,” Erin says. “We rehearsed around the dinner table on St. Patrick’s day and were fed endlessly incredible food. Our friends' house is situated in a forest of birch trees, with the cool pinks and blues that only exist in the long March light of an Anchorage winter, reflected off the trees and snow around us.”

“Coffee turned to sparkling water, then Guinness and wine around the dining table turned rehearsal station wrapped by big windows overlooking the birches,” Andrew adds. “Sigrid, our banjo player Jay’s wife, is an exceptional cook whose love language is to feed people, and she made sure everyone involved in this project felt very loved.”

The EP begins with the title track, the first co-written song that The Heists have written and released. The song was inspired by three men, each marked by war, with a close relationship to the natural world. “I’ve often thought about how the land in Alaska can be both terrifying and awe-inspiring in the same breath,” Erin says. “The chorus captures that feeling of expanse and also how being such a small speck on the planet means that our own interior lives and struggles of guilt and right and wrong don’t matter. Andrew has a much longer and stronger sense of musical structure, so with every song I write, the final form doesn’t truly settle until we’ve played it together.”

“Buck Up Buttercup” follows, a fiddle-rich track that takes advantage of producer Patrick M’gonigle’s wealth of experience. “We had a blast playing this one,” Andrew says.  “I think you can hear it in the track, which also, amazingly, only took an hour to record.”

Elsewhere, “In the Meantime” takes advantage of the bluegrassers in the recording band, including Danny Booth on bass and Jay Marvin on banjo. “Like a lot of bluegrass songs, it sounds happy, but there are heavy undertones,” Erin cautions.

Both drawn to old-time traditions in folk and bluegrass, Erin grew up in Southeast Alaska. Her songs reflect the push and pull of the rural-urban divide, shaped by a life spent in isolated fishing towns mixed with an insatiable wanderlust and curiosity about the human condition. Andrew grew up outside of Philadelphia and is now an Alaskan via Portland, Oregon. 

“Part of what I’ve always loved about bluegrass, old-time, country, blues, and other American roots song styles is how the themes, characters, and stories all remind me of Alaskan life,” Erin says.

She pitched the idea for what would later become “Farewell Old Treadwell” to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum and received a grant to research the collapse of the Treadwell Gold Mine for an original composition. The ruins of the Treadwell Mine are an iconic part of Juneau’s scenery—as every cruise ship passenger sees when they sail into port. But the ruins are largely overgrown by the rainforest, which distorts the scale of the defunct mine. In its heyday, it was the largest and most productive gold mine in the world, a technological marvel with 45 miles of tunnels.

“The full collapse happened when some recent surface collapses were compounded by the confluence of a huge tide along with a very large moon,” Erin says. “The Gastineau Channel punched into the mine and then filled the full mine with salt water within hours. Another instance of nature taking control.”

“Seasons,” as can be inferred by the name, is an old-time-inspired tune about the urge to fantasize or romanticize about any other season of life other than the one you’re currently in. 

“The past year or so has been an unbelievable emotional roller coaster for Erin and me,” Andrew says. “I have often reflected on everything that we’ve been through and are still going through, and this song pops up as a reminder that life continues to change and evolve into new seasons. I’m very glad to be navigating all of this with Erin, and singing this song with her right now.”

“This project came about from an unexpected change in plans, and yet I don’t think we could have planned it any better if we tried,” he continues, speaking of the entire EP. “Arrangements were made relatively quickly to make this recording happen, and the fact that we ended up with this group of musicians, engineer and producer, staying in such an unbelievably beautiful spot felt magical and perfect.”