Music

Mansion of Heartbreak, the sophomore release by , presents 12 worried songs for worried times. Recorded directly to tape at Orchard Studios with production by Jay William Henderson and Ryan Tanner, Mansion of Heartbreak builds on the band’s 2012 album (Long Nights, Short Lives and Spilled Chances) by introducing a bit more grit into the grain, guiding a dark thread through a silver needle.

​Sisters Marie Bradshaw (guitar) and Kiki Jane Sieger (bass) knit their voices in the long tradition of harmonizing sisters, with instrumental backing befitting the house band at the Cosmic American Barroom—Dylan Schorer on guitars and M. Horton Smith on mandolin and guitar, Daniel Young on drums, and help from guests Ryan Tanner (piano) and Billy Contreras (fiddle). The band unfolds their sonic map on this record, with nudges from Hi Records-style horns and a new set of textures. Mansions of Heartbreak confirms the Hollering Pines’ place as a high desert rock ’n’ roll outfit committed to tracing the outer contours of Americana.

See more Small Lake City Concerts here. Salt Lake Magazine’s Small Lake City Concerts were produced by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography and Video.

Mindy Gledhill refuses to take no for an answer. “I was really drawn to singing when I was a young teenager,” she says. “I tried out for the school musical and the chamber choir. I didn’t get into anything.” But that wasn’t the end of the story for the Provo-based singer-songwriter. “I’m a really driven person by nature, so rather than letting that determine my path, I decided to create my own path.” Gledhill got an internship at a recording studio, formed her own band that played at open mic nights and school assemblies and then went to BYU where she majored in commercial music. “I got the ball rolling myself,” she says matter-of-factly.

“I would say at one point I was a poster child for the LDS church,” says Gledhill, explaining that her songs and voice were featured in Especially For Youth (commonly called EFY) albums released by the church and her first album was on a church-owned label. “I started my career playing church music but 10 years ago it evolved into the indie-music scene,” she says. But when she left her LDS-owned label she turned to the web to release music with the help of sites like YouTube and MySpace. “The internet made it possible for me to reach people on the other side of the world. It was a really exciting time. It still is,” Gledhill says.

The move away from her label wasn’t her only transition with the church—Gledhill left the LDS church as well. “I would say that all of my upbringing and beliefs unraveled over the last couple of years,” she says. “I became an activist for LBGT rights and women’s rights—that’s been my personal journey. I started to find my power as a woman and find my voice as a woman and that was an incredible thing for me. ”

Her album Rabbit Hole is heavily influenced by her experiences leaving the church behind and the new beginning it has created. Says Gledhill, “This new album goes through what it’s meant for me to have an existential crisis and the journey that has been painful and beautiful.” — Christie Marcy

See more Small Lake City Concerts here. Salt Lake Magazine’s Small Lake City Concerts were produced by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography and Video.

Sammy Brue is making quite a name for himself in Utah’s music scene right now, but that’s not always where he figured he would end up. “Before I became a musician, I was super into tennis and had a dream of becoming a professional,” says Brue. This long-haired, hippie-lost-in-time seems the opposite of a tennis pro in crisp whites but we’re lucky that he never made it pro. Brue has innumerable, often unexpected interests that infuse his music with a transcendent quality some singer-songwriters only wish they could harness.

Brue unabashedly credits fusing those perfect notes and lyrics to his superpower of constant observation. “I’ve always been an observer. I like watching things happen around me and thinking about them,” he says. “Every week or so, I make a list of things that have either inspired me or just make me feel good to set the vibe for the week.” His desire to experience every facet of what life has to offer gives him a fascinating eye for the strange—especially in one so young—that imbues his music with the raw appeal of Johnny Cash or Gillian Welch.

Brue credits the folk/Americana/rock scene in Utah with giving him everything from role models in his youth to connecting him with incredible musicians he is proud to call friends today. But being a young (read: under 21) musician in this state has some unique challenges.

“It really has been challenging for me here. It’s time to change the liquor laws so that young performers can work when they have the opportunity,” he says. “A year or so ago, I was on tour with my label mate, Justin Townes Earle, and we went to almost every corner of the country playing in all kinds of venues, but the one place I couldn’t play with him was here in Utah, my home state.”

Utah should take note because Brue is blowing up (we’re pretty grateful he wanted to do a Small Lake City Concert for us). Heck, this kid was dubbed an “Americana Prodigy” by no less than Rolling Stone magazine. Through it all, he focuses intently on his music and continues his self-described search to find the words and sounds to take him on the next step in his journey. Whatever Sammy Brue encounters next, he’s definitely up for it: “I want to live a fantasy. I want to live the weirdest paragraph known to man.” —Ashley Szanter

See more Small Lake City Concerts here. Salt Lake Magazine’s Small Lake City Concerts were produced by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography.

I called Steph Darland to talk about his music. The first thing he said to me was, “Let me put you on speaker so I can talk with my hands.” Steph, guitarist, and Amber Pearson, cellist, form the duo Fur Foxen, a group that started out playing small gigs at coffeehouses like Alchemy and is now a favorite in Salt Lake clubs.

The first thing I asked Steph about was the band’s name: Fur Foxen. Why? I couldn’t see what his hands were saying, but his unexpected answer was, “I love alliteration.” “Our previous band was a trio called Harold Henry. And I’m obsessed with foxes—my house is filled with images of foxes. Foxen is the old English plural for fox.”

Finally, we talked about the music.

Steph started playing the guitar when he was 23, but even more than gaining facility with the instrument, he’s interested in writing songs. “I write about six to ten songs a month,” he says. “They’re not all good, but they are a kind of therapy.”

Raised in Amarillo, Texas, he moved to Dallas but had a tough time breaking into the music scene there. His day job at Whole Foods is what brought him to Utah, where he found a more open and yet tightly knit musical community. He and Amber host the Foxhole Sessions, a podcast of local bands for small, intimate audiences that foster community as well as sharing music. 

“I don’t come from a musical family,” says Steph. “I don’t listen to a lot of music and what I do listen to is all over the board. Of course, I like singer-songwriters.” And he says, “The more raw the capture the better. Authenticity is something you can’t hide in music. It’s not about proficiency. You love it because it’s real.” — Mary Brown Malouf

See more Small Lake City Concerts here. Salt Lake Magazine’s Small Lake City Concerts were produced by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography and Video.

Morning at the Rabbit Hole might as well be midnight: The gas lamps flicker, barely lighting the dim corners. It seems an apt atmosphere for Utah jazzman Alan Michael, who cradles his gleaming saxophone as he talks about the jazz that is his life.

Of course, he’s from New York City. But he moved from that jazz habitat to Utah in the mid-nineties at the urging of his wife, Shannon. “She wanted out of the city and loves the mountains,” he says.

He loves them too, so he exchanged the jazz scene for the natural scenery. But, “I still get back there,” he says. In fact, he recently returned from the city where he went to have the mouthpiece of his sax reshaped.

He has a whole other life and a different name in New York. There, he uses his real name, Alan Michael Braufman. “Here, I was always calling up and talking to a receptionist who couldn’t understand “Braufman.’ So I dropped that and changed it to Alan Michael a year ago.” He also plays a different kind of music in New York—still jazz, but more experimental, edgier. It’s the kind of music he made his name with, ever since playing with the Psychedelic Furs, among other bands.

That sound doesn’t play well with audiences here, but he loves the music he does play with his quartet, Friday and Saturday nights at the Bayou and as often as possible at the Rabbit Hole, a space downstairs from Lake Effect where Kelly Samonds books jazz. “It’s a listening room, not a loud jazz room,” says Michael. “I’ve learned not to mind talking; if the music is good enough, they’ll be quiet and listen, unless they’re drunk. Kelly won’t allow a synthesizer here. He’s a purist, so there’s no amplification. Michael also plays at the Garage, Jazz Vespers at First Unitarian Church and Jazz at the Gallivan but Rabbit Hole is one of the only places in Salt Lake City where he plays his own music.

Indian Navigation Company put out an album in 1975, Valley of Search, that focused on Michael’s avant-garde jazz. Out of print now, copies sell on eBay for $150. There are plans to reissue the album, but, remember, jazz (like most music) is always best live. —Mary Brown Malouf

See more Small Lake City Concerts here. Salt Lake Magazine’s Small Lake City Concerts were produced by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography and Video.

The Twilight Concert Series is returning to Salt Lake City’s Gallivan Center this summer, revealing just some of its 2022 lineup Monday. This is the 35th year of the concert series, which endeavors to present a diverse range of artists and musicians—some well-established, some up-and-coming—with every lineup.

 “Twilight has been an integral part of Salt Lake City for 35 years now, and we can’t wait to present this incredible season,” says Felicia Baca, the Executive Director for the Salt Lake City Arts Council. “The 2022 Twilight Concert series features a lineup which is diverse, exciting, and is sure to be a season with something for everyone, contributing to the vibrancy and vitality of Salt Lake City and making it the best place to live, work, and play.”  

While more artists are yet to be announced, this is the current Twilight Concert Series 2022 Lineup:

• July 14: alternative rock indie band Rainbow Kitten Surprise, alternative blues band Houndmouth and local act Dad Bod
• Aug. 6: singer-songwriters Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker and musician Spencer.
• Aug. 11: Portland-based indie rock band The Decemberists and Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Brigid Mae Power
• Aug. 16: singer-songwriter Cuco
• Sept. 2: blues/folk/country/rock musician Shakey Graves, bluegrass artist Sierra Ferrell and local Americana singer-songwriter Michelle Moonshine

According to organizers, the 35th-year celebration will cultivate a sense of belonging to local communities by attracting attendees from all over Utah and neighboring states, stating, “This year, the concert series will not only support the local creative economy of musicians but it will also contribute to the economic recovery of other industries downtown such as local restaurants, businesses and venues that have been impacted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” 

Twilight Concert Series 2022 season tickets are on sale now at 24tix.com. $10 individual show tickets go on-sale March 8 at 10 a.m. Set an alert on your calendar, because tickets usually sell out very quickly.

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