Music

Country music duo, Florida Georgia Line will perform at USANA amphitheater on Friday, July 29.

Often seen as the “pop” side of country music, duo members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, have nonetheless skyrocketed to success since their band’s debut in 2010. Most recently, Florida Georgia Line has become the first country music act to be awarded RIAA’s DIAMOND certification (10 million copies sold) for their hit single “Cruise.” Plus, their recent single “H.O.L.Y.” is currently #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs List.

Florida Georgia Line’s unique style of music, blending country, pop and rock all together, has led them to 11 #1 hits over the past six years, along with numerous CMT, ACM and AMA awards, including three consecutive years as CMT’s Vocal Duo of the Year.

Stopping in Salt Lake as a part of their DIG YOUR ROOTS tour, their show will start at 7 p.m., doors open at 5:30 p.m. Special guests for the night include Cole Swindell, The Cadillac Three and Kane Brown.

Their newest album, Dig Your Roots, is scheduled to release this August.

USANA amphitheater is located at 5200 S 6200 W. Tickets are available here.

What can one say about Willie Nelson that has not already been said?

Rolling Stone calls him “One of America’s greatest songwriters, a hero from Texas to San Francisco, a hippie’s hippie and a redneck’s redneck,” and that’s not even the half of it. He’s an old school troubadour, who got his start writing songs for other people (including Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”) and now, in that full-circle way the universe seems to love, a fair amount of his most recent releases have included him covering other people’s songs.

It seems that same universe loves Willie Nelson. The 83-year-old seems to do best when he’s “On The Road Again” (see what I did there?) with his older sister Bobbie on the piano and his road-worn guitar, Trigger. There’s only a handful of people in the entire music industry as universally liked and respected as Nelson—at a Willie Nelson concert you will find grizzled old bikers in leather vests, hipster twenty-somethings and grandparents.

And he’s a Renaissance man. Not only is he a singing and songwriting tour de force, nelson is an accomplished actor, advocate for the environment and the face of the legalize weed movement.

Here’s what to expect at a Willie Nelson concert: He’ll open with “Whiskey River.” He’ll close with “I’ll Fly Away.” And he’ll play his ass off in between with little banter between songs, except for when he’s giving credit to his band. Some of us (ahem) will have a darn-near religious experience. And you’ll walk away believing in the youth preserving power of pot.

Willie Nelson & Family performs at Red Butte Garden on Thursday, July 28. The show is sold-out and it’s likely that even scalpers have a wait-list for this one, but if you’ve got the money, honey..

The doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:30.

Dolly Parton will perform Tuesday at the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University in Orem as part of her Pure & Simple Tour.

To summarize Dolly Parton’s life and career is an attempt to sum up decades of music, film, philanthropy work from a woman who has proven that humility, in spite of incredible success, never goes out of style.

Dolly’s sound and style has remained timeless throughout several decades of the country music genre that is currently undergoing an unfortunate identity crisis. Her music hearkens back to the golden age of country music females who weren’t afraid to make a statement, like Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Jeannie C. Riley.

Dolly grew up in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains in a family of 12 children. Her first Grand Ole Opry performance was at the age of 13 – with an introduction by Johnny Cash. I don’t really remember what I was doing at age 13, but I definitely wasn’t performing at Ryman Auditorium and meeting the Man in Black.

Dolly Parton’s music is a mix of classic country, pure gospel, bluegrass and 70s country pop (everybody was doing it). The country diva has been a music machine – cranking out hits throughout the decades like “Jolene,” “To Know Him is To Love Him,” “Islands in the Stream,” and my personal childhood favorite, “Coat of Many Colors.” Oh, and no offense to the late Whitney Houston, but we all know that Miss Parton’s original version of “I Will Always Love You” turns even a heart of stone into a blubbery mess. Her work on the soon-to-be-three Trio albums with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt showed off Dolly’s pure, enduring sound.

Speaking of Trio, Salt Lake Magazine was recently included on a media conference call with the three women, and Dolly definitely sparkled.

“The joy of being able to sing these songs really comes through,” Parton said. “I have a lot of gospel songs, and I’m proud of that. All you’ve really got in life is your faith and hope.”

Dolly’s film career also showcased her many talents. She had a starring role in the iconic Steel Magnolias (arguably one of the most quotable movies ever). Parton also hit the big screen for 9 to 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Parton’s Dollywood theme park in Tennessee receives over three million visitors a year. There’s a reason why the U.S. Library of Congress gave Dolly Parton the Living Legend award. She has been nominated for (and won some of these) an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar AND a Tony. She is an angel among us.

The Imagination Library literacy program, a section of Parton’s Dollywood Foundation, mails each enrolled child one book per month until they enter kindergarten. Almost a million children benefit from Dolly’s literacy program each month. Dolly uses her money, business expertise, and global influence to bring jobs and education to the impoverished area where she spent her childhood.

One need only listen to Dolly’s body-positive song “Backwoods Barbie” to realize that there’s more to her than meets the eye. When confronted about her iconic look, Parton turns on the Southern charm and pulls out her best wit, like when she said:

“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.”

Seriously, what did we do to deserve Dolly Parton?

Tickets for Tuesday’s performance are still available. Click here for tickets. Show starts at 7:30.

“I don’t even like country music,” said the guy behind me in the beer line. When I pointed out that we were, in fact, at a country music concert, he shook his head and laughed.

“Naw, man! Keith’s my boy! My boy!”

This is Keith Urban in a nutshell: country music for people who don’t like country music. At his ripCORD World Tour stop at USANA Amphitheater, Urban put on a show that seemed to transcend genre.

Photo by Brandon Mizar of Mizar Photography

Urban borrowed beats from R&B, a stage setup befitting a rock star, and the nimble guitar licks of classic rock. “The Phantom,” a techno-inspired mixing board that plays drum loops and samples from other songs in real time, featured prominently into the show. Even Urban’s hair seemed straight out of pop music, billowing beautifully in the wind a ‘la Beyonce and her wind machine (you know you’re a real star when you can out-Beyonce Beyonce).

But at his core, Keith Urban is very much a country artist. This eclectic combination of music meshed nicely for both new tunes from ripCORD (Urban’s 9th studio album) and in revamps of his number-one hits, including “Somebody Like You,” “Stupid Boy,” and “You Look Good in My Shirt.” While shredding on guitars and gango (a guitar-banjo hybrid), Urban’s fingers seemed to glide effortlessly over the strings. An easy smile graced his face from start to finish. This show, it was clear, was fun for the superstar.

And that, perhaps, is the key to Urban’s universal appeal. When the artist is having a blast, so does the audience. Between songs, Urban breezily talked with the crowd, eliciting much shrieking and swooning from the females in the audience. A preteen girl, holding a sign asking for a hug, was invited onto the stage (more shrieking and swooning). Halfway through the show, Urban made his way through the crowd (shrieking and swooning ad infinitum) to take his place on a small stage in the middle of the lawn seats for a three-song set. Despite the 100-degree heat, Urban had plenty of time and energy to spare for the audience. The crowd replied in kind.

“Wow, Utah,” Urban said as he looked at the crowd in amazement after a loud sing-along of “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.” “Y’all are singing your asses off tonight.”

The crowd cheers in response made it clear: no matter the genre, Keith Urban is Salt Lake’s boy.

The crowd at Red Butte Garden was graced with perfect Salt Lake summer evening weather as the opening act took the stage. Jeff LeBlanc is a 29 year old singer/songwriter hailing from New York who played a solo acoustic 40 minute set.

With the help of his “looper,” a foot controlled digital recording device that allows performers to layer multiple instrumental and vocal parts live, he won over the attentive crowd with his great songs and candid, humorous banter between tunes. Think John Mayer meets Ed Sheerhan and you got it. His original songs are featured on several  teen drama make-out sessions according to Jeff, and featured some better than average guitar playing and his soulful falsetto. He wrapped up with a cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” which the audience loved.

Boz Scaggs and his 6 piece band came on at 8:20, and got things underway with his blues “Runnin’ Blue.” The band settled right in. Boz chatted and explained that he’d be visiting material from throughout his long career. They launched into a rumba- boogie cover of Willy DeVille’s “Mixed Up Shook Up Girl” and it felt like the party had swung into gear. Folks were starting to dance on the next number, the hit single co-written with David Foster, “Jo Jo.”

The performance continued with a cover of Gamble and Huff’s “Drowning in a Sea of Love” with an arrangement reminiscent of Steely Dan, letting the band stretch out with some world class improvising. They grooved on thru Boz’s tunes “Some Change”, and a nice acoustic version of “Harbor Lights” that morphed into a samba for more killin’ guitar and keyboard solos.

After a well received rendition of “Georgia,’ a big hit from the Silk Degrees album in 1976, Boz stepped aside to feature the back up singer Ms. Monet on a cover of the Stevie Wonder penned Aretha Franklin 1973 hit  “Until You Come Back To Me,” and she wowed the audience with her soulful five octave vocal range.

Couples slow danced for the next tune “Look What You’ve Done To Me”, the popular ballad from the soundtrack of the film “Urban Cowboy”, and the entire house was on it’s feet for “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle.” Surprsingly, it seemed as though none of the nearly sold-out crowd left before they were favored with two encores.

As the full moon rose Boz flashed his bluesy guitar chops on 1969’s “Loan Me a Dime,” which transitioned thru a couple of double time grooves featuring the band. After a rousing version of Fats Domino’s “I’m Sick and Tired of Foolin’ Around With You,” the show closed with a lovely tango “Last Tango on Sixteenth Street” conjouring the Buena Vista Social Club.

Throughout the show, Red Butte was wrapped in a good vibe from the appreciative and polite audience. And at 71 years of age, Boz Scaggs is singing and playing as well as ever!

Monday’s Intermezzo Chamber Music Series’ concert put the spotlight squarely on Rainer Eudeikis.

The young principal cellist of the Utah Symphony wowed the sizable audience in Vieve Gore Concert Hall with a program that, in the first half, ranged from J.S. Bach to a brand new piece written for Eudeikis. And he easily showed he is comfortable and at home in any style period. Eudeikis  possesses superb musicality and an innate sense of interpretation, as well as astounding technical acumen. Watching him play was sheer pleasure.

The concert opened with the world premiere of Circle Limit, written for Eudeikis by the young American composer Louis Chiappetta. It’s a well crafted piece that explores the limits of the cello’s physical capabilities. Eudeikis made short work of it, playing with confidence and imbuing the piece with vitality and virtuosity. 

This was followed by Bach’s Cello Suite in C major, BWV 1009 which Eudeikis played in the baroque manner, straddling the instrument between his knees. The cello he played was also outfitted with gut strings and tuned a half step lower than the A440 that’s standard today. Accustomed as we are to hearing the cello suites played by a modern instrument, this interpretation was a breath of fresh air. Eudeikis gave a captivatingly vibrant account, playing the six-movement suite with fluid lyricism and finely molded expressiveness.

Rounding out the first half was Sergei Prokofiev’s romantically tinged Cello Sonata, op. 119. Eudeikis was joined onstage by pianist and Intermezzo music director Vedrana Subotic. Meshing wonderfully together as a duo they captured the work’s lyricism and nuanced expressions.

The second half was devoted to one work, Franz Schubert’s monumental Cello Quintet, in C major, D. 956. For this piece, Eudeikis was in good and familiar company. Joining him were violinists Kathryn Eberle and Claude Halter and violist Brant Bayless, all principal players in the Utah Symphony. Completing the quintet was guest Joyce Yang playing the second cello part. The five gave a richly textured and perceptive reading of what unquestionably is one of the greatest chamber works of the 19th century. They brought depth to their interpretation and sensitivity to their playing that served the music well. Their account was nuanced, cohesive, seamless and fluid.