News of Death Every city has a place where the downtrodden congregate. In Salt Lake, Pioneer Park is that place. I would see drug use and violence, but on one spring day I saw something new. A man in a chef toque was meditating under a tree. I saw him there daily. My curiosity grew and one day I sat in silence beside him. After awhile he turned and smiled at me with a sublime … [Read more...]
Kanab and Fracking
Small Town Kanab In a small town, change is often unwanted. Kanab, in the heart of Utah’s color country, has long enjoyed fame due to its astounding beauty and small-town charm. Multitudes of Western films were shot amongst the buttes and mesas that point the way to Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon. The town has long been home to the Western Legends Roundup, which features a … [Read more...]
The Colorado City Music Festival blows up!
The Colorado City Music festival For three years now we have brought music to the Utah/Arizona border Community of Short Creek. Historically, the area has been more known for polygamy than it has for music festivals. This year‘s event only sold 230 pre-sale tickets so we were in no way prepared for the awesome rock concert that was about to take place. I knew something big … [Read more...]
Silver Reef Brewing Brings Beer to St. George
Beer in St. George St. George is a town famous for its red rocks, senior games and its footlooseesque law against dancing. Nearby Colorado City, Arizona, opened its own Edge of The World Brewery and St. George couldn't help but follow suit. It's a dry town and it needs a little moisture. Silver Reef Brewing Co is named after Southern Utah's famous silver vein just north of … [Read more...]
Searching for Sasquatch in Utah
Searching for Sasquatch in Provo Canyon: I was deep up Provo Canyon around 3 am when I let out some whoops and left apples scattered in a perimeter about 150 yards from my camp. I sat up most of the night, my ears and eyes searching the darkness until sleep overtook me. I awoke early in the morning. Nearby, cowboys were unloading and saddling their horses. The sky was a … [Read more...]
Turner Guitar Company: Ogden Craftsman Mends Guitars
Jon Turner is a fast man—he talks fast, he walks fast, he thinks fast and he works fast. I know this sounds like a Jimmy John's commercial, but Jonny T, as his friends call him, isn't making sandwiches; he is creating tone. I sat down with Turner in his basement in Ogden. The low ceiling and walls framed his work table and guitars hung from stands all over the room. … [Read more...]
Mormon Economics in Early Utah
Utah is defined by two factors; natural beauty and Mormonism. No matter how the state evolves and changes, Mormonism was the reason for the founding of the state. After the Mormon pioneers were driven from Missouri and Illinois, they headed west, many on foot, to the deserts of what was then Mexico. Prophet Brigham Young saw a location that would be a gathering place for the … [Read more...]
To The Bat Kave: Tunes in Toquerville
Southern Utah is not synonymous with live music. However, near the blood red cliffs of Zion, in the little town of Toquerville, Dave Durrant is cranking away at the Bat Kave studio. Like many musicians, Durrant was interested in capturing his own material and started recording his music on a Tascam cassette recorder. Looking back on those days he says, "it was kind of cool … [Read more...]
Respect the Real: the Need for Authentic Voices in American Music
I was sitting at a table in one of my favorite Salt Lake bars listening to Rooster, a traveling country singer. His song was about something he experiences on any given night of the week. It was a song about sleeping in his truck in some middle-of-nowhere Wyoming town after a gig. Throughout the song, a drunk lady leaned against the stage yelling repeatedly, "play Johnny … [Read more...]
Road Trip Adventure: Diary of a Wanderer
I’ve driven the highways of 43 states, sang in endless dive bars, and slept in more WalMart parking lots than I care to remember. I left Utah in 2013, in a van with a bunch of blues musicians, and we worked our way, playing shows all the way to the Georgia coast and back. I haven’t left the road since. I was singing at the Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, when Richard Markosian, … [Read more...]