Moved to Salt Lake City in January. Started working at the City Weekly in February. Kinda got the hang of things in March. Caught COVID in April. This 2022 sure has been a kooky time to learn a whole new music scene!
First some COVID talk; then other, sundry, less-intense topics.
COVID in Four Talking Points. Point 1: This piece was supposed to hang on to an interview with some local radio show hosts. But one of that crew got COVID and begged off until his health re-arrives; a smart decision, though a drag for all parties involved. Point 2: For 11 days, yours truly rode the ups-and-downs of a daily positive test. It was a good measure of personal patience though I missed some shows that looked plenty good. Towards the end, I was reading the fine print in CDC messaging for my get-outta-jail pass, but I stuck it out until negative results arrived twice. Glad to be back. Point 3: I can pretty much say that a show in a poorly-ventilated room was the culprit in my case, though going out multiple times a week probably negates the need to isolate one particular villain. Attending concerts at this moment clearly brings risks, and I’m hopeful that anyone reading this has enjoyed the euphoria of multiple vaccinations. Point 4: Though random, the first time that I noticed that the good folks of SLC had “had it” with COVID was a Robert Earl Keen show at The State Room, as I was the only person on the dancefloor wearing a mask. Moving through this weird epoch, a lot of isolated moments stood out as indicators of shifts, and that was sure one. Anyway, here’s to y’all’s health.
Best Finger Slip: A couple weeks into living here, I was listening to KBER 101.1 FM when that rock’n’roll station played Metallica’s cover of “Whiskey in the Jar” one too many times; it’s a track that’s got a strangely-outsized presence on the station, though it’s not the only song like that. Having burned out on “Whiskey” by that point, I went to silence the station, instead finding 99.9 by an accidental spin down the dial. The show Second Wind was airing on 99.9 FM KUAA at that very moment, and I was entranced by the show’s freeform style and goofy-but-educational hosts, John and Justin. One listen equalized full station fandom. We touched on the station’s overnight jazz programming in a previous CW article, but would heartily recommend the shows airing there on weeknights from 7-10 pm; I’ll plan on highlighting those show hosts on the Buzz Blog in coming weeks. The 100-watt station’s available inside the city limits and streams worldwide on kuaafm.org.
Making Good Habits: This isn’t an outright gripe, but this town might lack for music at regularly-booked venues that aren’t a) ticketed shows, or b) pure listening rooms. Another way of saying this is that it’s great to have options to see/hear music without a cover and without having a full concert experience. Local brewpubs have been a great landing point to catch SLC acts. There’s something live and local most every night at Hopkins Brewing (1048 E 2100 S), where the jazz programming is emphasized and exceptional. Meanwhile, RoHa Brewing Project (30 E. Kensington Ave.) has been a go-to for finding real range, with blues, Americana, bluegrass, pysch/jam and singer/songwriter types all having been sampled in that one room. I have an eye on catching some music at Kiitos Brewing (608 W. 700 South) soon enough; Hey Kiitos, check your DMs! Though not a brewpub, the music at the International Artist Lounge/Bar (342 S. State) is universally smart, unique and challenging, booked across the week; you can ditto those adjectives for the Sunday afternoon record spins at TF Brewing (936 p. 300 West).
Record Sales: It’s been fun to make the rounds of local record shops. It’s cool to check out books, art and vinyl at 9th and 9th Books & Music Gallery (872 E. 900 South); cassette players and cut-outs at Randy’s Record Shop (157 E. 900 South); the highly-curated jazz and adjacent sounds at Elevator Jazz Gallery (412 p. 700 West, Unit 140); the general goodness of Lavender Vinyl (123 25th Street, Ogden); and the wonderfully-weird dollar bins at Diabolical Records (238 S. Edison St.). In the seven days between writing these words and when you might read them, I’ve got eyes on finally crossing the thresholds of Graywhale (1773 W. 4700 South) and Raunch Records (1119 E. 2100 South). It’s never too late!
Help Me Help You Help Me: Send tips on local music culture to [email protected]. And bands: For the love of all that’s good, get yourself a current bio and press pic. Let’s not let another three months go by without talking…
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