John van Amerongen with his Martin guitar on his way to tour the remote Aleutian processing plant.
VanAm is back at it again
Longtime fisherpoet
to perform
BY ZOË BUCHLI
John van Amerongen, known to many
as “VanAm,” has been bringing his blue-
grass-style music and poetry to the Fisher-
Poets Gathering for nearly two decades.
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Known for songs including “Truckstop
Chili,” “The Ballad of the Arctic Rose” and
“Night Watch,” van Amerongen’s songs
tell the stories of different people he’s met
and experiences he has had during his
career in the fishing industry.
“I try to rely on the images and emo-
tions that the fishing fleet feels as they’re
out there and I’ve kind of learned those
things by my own experience as well,” he
said.
“Truckstop Chili” was van Amerongen’s
breakthrough ballad. The song, written
around 1977, is a talking-style song that
tells a story about truck driving.
“I started writing tunes that made sense
to me,” van Amerongen said. “Most of
(these songs) fell into the occupational
poetry and ballads category, especially
about commercial fishing and such.”
“The Ballad of the Arctic Rose” is
another of van Amerongen’s songs. The
song weaves through the tragedy of the
Arctic Rose fishing boat that sunk after
being overloaded with an underprepared
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