Ahead of the start of the Seventh Annual Rock’N the Ranch at the Rusty Ravin, co-owner and organizer Ravin Swan said that the energy would build as the festival continued. As the first band of the weekend took the stage, that progression could already be seen.

“We got your attention now,” Gold Peak frontman Dirk Brankel shouted as toes started tapping and heads started bopping last weekend.

Brankel was joined by bassist Christian Villareal and drummer Joe Gonzalez. He told the crowd they were genuine Alaska rock music, “written here, produced here, released here.”

As the band kept the crowd going on stage, Swan said the energy would only continue to climb through the night and into the festival’s second day. The rain had let up just in time, and the sun would be shining down all Saturday. She credited her team of volunteers with making the festival a success.

All proceeds from the festival each year go to Nuk’it’un, a transitional home for men that Swan also founded. The festival is its biggest fundraiser each year.

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

Gold Peak play the opening set of the Seventh Annual Rock’N the Ranch at the Rusty Ravin on Friday, July 7, 2023, at Rusty Ravin Plant Ranch in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Gold Peak play the opening set of the Seventh Annual Rock’N the Ranch at the Rusty Ravin on Friday, July 7, 2023, at Rusty Ravin Plant Ranch in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)