Name: Britt Kristine Arnesen aka 907Britt

Birthplace: Anchorage, Alaska

Currently residing: Missoula, Montana

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: I like to write music, be a good mom, play guitar and piano, pick berries, play shows and make records with Richie Reinholdt, make YouTube videos, and share original songs, though I didn’t always understand that was my calling, so before I released my first album Continental Divide in 2010 I had spent six years in a natural resource management career in Alaska where I walked away from a great job and financial security to write, record, and perform music for an (ever-frugal) living, which means we eat a lot of lentils, and although being a (too) young single mom poses huge challenges for me as a musician, having all the free time to spend with Canyon has been absolutely worth it, because I took that boy to Yellowstone, even if Mama never took ME to Yellowstone.

Website: 907Britt.com and facebook

1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

Richie Reinholdt, the Acousticals, Gordon Bok, Patty Griffin, David Gray, James McMurtry, Simon & Garfunkel, Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Neil Young, Eva Cassidy, Jackson Browne, Yukon Ryder, Ben Harper…now you said “favorite” so I am only going by emotional preference here. Of course I respect, learn from, and revere many others. But each of these artists has many songs I can put on repeat endlessly. And then there’s Sarah C. Hanson, local hero to a young teenager in Juneau and Fairbanks.

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

“Song for Adam” from Jackson Browne’s first record.

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

Run-on sentence #2. I would wake up early on the wings of an exhilarating dream feeling well-rested, drink coffee, do dishes from last night’s dinner while I cook hot breakfast, wake up my son Canyon to great smells, get him to the bus stop on time, play morning music at the Wheat Montana with my favorite banjo player, go out berry picking, cut a couple tracks in the studio, chat with my mom on the phone, kiddo arrives at bus stop on time, build Legos, cook dinner, pet Panther the kitty cat, play guitar while Canyon builds Lego, receive good news on email, work on a purdy fingerpickin’ love song while he reads until lights out, then snuggle up while he falls asleep, then… well, uh…I guess I would go to sleep too, unless there was a moonlight beach nearby. Hey, that sounds a lot like many of my days.

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

I would hope it’s my heart.

5. What is your most valued material possession?

My 1957 Gibson J-50 guitar. We met at Greg Boyd’s House of Fine Instruments when I traveled through Missoula last January and it was love at first note (low G). I’ve never been the same since.

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

The principal?

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

Midnight sun berry picking tundra on Murphy Dome west of Fairbanks, Alaska with my favorite people.

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

Play original music and make records with Richie Reinholdt!

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years?

More of the best, less of the worst, and me wiser and better at managing all of it. I hope to have a few more (and ever awesomer) records, and deepening musical and personal relationships. In ten years my son Canyon will be ready to move out of the house. That will be a huge change. We’ll just have to see how the gypsy in me handles it. Ten years ago I never would have guessed I would end up in Missoula, Montana playing music full time. Prediction fails. Hopes and dreams are cool. I keep re-reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (no relation to the recent movie of the same name).