On the last Friday of every month, as the Alaska summer light stretches long over the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, a small independent bookstore on Bogard Road in Wasilla pulls back the curtain on something rare in small-town retail: a free stage where anyone—regardless of age, skill, or courage—can step up and be heard.
That's the promise of Open Mic Night at Black Birch Books, the monthly gathering that runs from five to seven in the evening and invites all comers to sing, strum, recite, tell stories, tell jokes, or simply talk about their day. Hosted in the café corner of Wasilla's only independent bookstore, the event is free, open to all ages and all abilities, and in the words of owner Taylor Jordan, "really heartwarming and always fun."
The bookstore itself sits at 2901 East Bogard Road, Suite 104, a tidy shop that has become one of the more unexpected cultural hubs in the Valley. Its shelves carry new and used books across every genre, with a dedicated children's corner and a section of banned books. There are handmade Alaskan gifts, locally roasted coffee, vinyl records, and the distinctive title of being the only business in the state offering professional bookbinding and historical book restoration. A community board covers the wall with notices and requests. A well-loved bookstore dog greets customers at the door. But the real heart of the place is the roster of events Jordan keeps rotating through its doors—and Open Mic Night, which has run for years, is one of its most durable traditions.
The reason the tradition exists runs deeper than a stack of shelves. Jordan spent fifteen years in the U.S. Air Force, where she served in Security Forces—essentially the Air Force's military police. After a spinal injury ended her military career, she described the moment as the sudden loss of an identity she'd spent fifteen years building. "I couldn't do any of it anymore because you had to be physically able," she told the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. "It was not a pleasant time when I got injured because I had to be like, 'I'm no longer a bad ass.' How do you make a new life with someone who's been a bad ass for this many years and then you do something that's maybe not? Well, you compensate by making other people feel important."
Out of that pivot came Black Birch Books, which Jordan opened in 2018. The store is female veteran-owned, and she hosts community events including "Coffee with a Veteran" and "Cards Against Veterans." The open mic has become one of the store's signature nights. Jordan has said she started it "because people wanted to be heard in a safe, supportive environment." The format is deliberately low-pressure: A microphone and amplifier are set up in the café, and an acoustic guitar and ukulele are kept on hand for anyone who shows up empty-handed. Participants have ranged from four-year-olds singing their first songs to older instrumentalists with astonishing range—and they've filled every category between: singers, comedians, musicians, poets, rappers, and people who just want to share a story about themselves or their day.
A touch that makes Black Birch's open mic unlike any standard one is the crowd's gentle ritual: when a performer is nervous, the audience has been known to turn around and face the other way, giving the speaker a moment of privacy while still cheering them on. "Everyone is excited for every performer," Jordan said. On a typical night, she anticipates anywhere from five to fifteen performers, with the café space setting an intimate stage where first-timers and regulars alike can share their voices.
The monthly night is also woven into the store's sense of community in a way that hints at how personal the whole enterprise really is. The event's official listing notes that the gathering is "brought to you by the love and generosity of our dear friend, Mick Adams," who passed away in early 2025. The store's memorial note—"Mick passed in early 2025 and lives on through the people he helped. His kindness to all parts of our beautiful and diverse community will never be forgotten"—makes clear that the open mic is not just a scheduling nod, but part of a network of people who keep coming back.
Jordan has a way of describing her work that gets to the core of it. "I'm honored to be Wasilla's bookstore," she said shortly after opening. She calls herself a self-proclaimed extrovert who engages every customer, and she famously welcomes "the weird" because, she says, "we are a very interactive place. I've never been a bookstore that wasn't."
Local press has taken notice over the years. The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman has repeatedly covered the open mic nights, profiling the mix of voices that show up on those last Fridays. That kind of resilience is what makes the monthly ritual feel so significant. In a town like Wasilla, where winters run long and dark, a free open stage in a warmly lit bookstore café is a small act of sustained generosity. It costs nothing to attend, carries no agenda, and makes room for any talent level. It's the kind of event that would be easy to overlook on a chamber-of-commerce calendar—a five-to-seven pm slot on the last Friday of each month, listed simply as "All are welcome."
But behind that modest listing is years of careful, deliberate community-building. Taylor Jordan's spinal injury remade her life, and she chose to remake it by making other people feel important. That impulse, in all its quiet stubbornness, is what Black Birch Books has poured into every monthly open mic—a microphone, a store guitar, a circle of supportive listeners, and the belief that every voice in the Valley deserves a turn.
The next Open Mic Night at Black Birch Books takes place on the last Friday of the month from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 2901 East Bogard Road, Suite 104, in Wasilla. Admission is free, all ages and all talents are welcome, and sound equipment, a guitar, and a ukulele are provided. For more information, the store can be reached at 907-373-2677.