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Sep 12
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Review: Danielle Nicole Band w/ The Alleycats

By Arts & Culture, Music

The Danielle Nicole Band, a Kansas City-based blues trio, rocked the blues at The State Room on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. With no visible setlist, Danielle Nicole, her husband/guitarist Brandon Miller, and drummer Go-Go Ray, performed a tight 12-song show that included amazing guitar and drum solos. Chicago blues legend Koko Taylor once described Danielle Nicole as: “that girl gets down to the nitty gritty.”  Indeed, the music just seemed to flow out of her soul. 

From the opening number, “Love On My Brain,” Nicole sang with a fiery passion, as if she were channeling the spirit of Janis Joplin or Etta James. She frequently paused to make eye contact with the crowd, inviting us in for a shared heavy blues experience. On “Burnin’ For You,” and “Wolf Den,” Nicole rocked the bass like no other, switching out from her rack of 5 left-handed instruments that sat next to her. There aren’t many bassist-fronted bands (and even fewer who are left-handed bass playing women). She and her band commanded the room from the first note. Nicole is the 2023 Blues Music Award (BMA) winner in the category of Instrumentalist–Bass. It’s her 5th BMA. 

Besides seeing amazing artists in an intimate setting, the night’s highlights included their run of mesmerizing songs starting with the soulful “Cry No More,” followed by the heavy basslines on “Pusher Man” and “I’m Going Home.” Nicole and Miller retreated off stage, and Go-Go Ray continued with one of the best damn drum solos I’ve ever seen. He was pure magic. He hit the symbols, stopped them on a dime, and twirled his sticks like a magician. The solo didn’t drive with the frantic intensity of rock, instead, it flowed with an intrinsic wave of emotion–a hallmark of the blues. Until Wednesday, the honor of best drum solo I ever witnessed went to Jerry Mercer of April Wine, for his solo on “21st Century Schizoid Man” in 1981. But I experienced that performance in an arena, a million miles away from the stage. So, can I really claim I “saw” it? But, I can bear witness for this show. I was only a few feet away from Ray, so I didn’t miss a beat (pun intended). Nicole and Miller returned to the stage for a final reprise of  “I’m Going Home,” before Miller got a chance to feature a breath-taking classical guitar-styled solo piece steeped with smooth blues tones (he also rocked the house all evening). 

Nicole finished the set by dazzling us with her soulful vocal chops on a fine rendition of her amazing blues-rocker “Save Me.” Instead of exiting before the encore, the trio stayed on stage, Nicole thanked the crowd for showing up and the Utah Blues Society for sponsoring the event. Describing her blues journey, she told the crowd,  “You don’t choose the blues. The blues chooses you.”

For her encore she belted out a spine-tingling version of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” not considered a traditional blues song. Nevertheless, she infused it with bluesy, soul-shaking melancholy. I’m sure Prince would have approved of her bluesy take on his enduring hit. 

The local 5-piece blues band The Alleycats opened the evening. The Salt Lake City band, formerly known as Olive and The Alleycats, started us off with their rendition of Mike Zito’s “Wasted Time.” For this performance they featured the vocalist Adri, who previously worked with the band. Her powerful torch-singer voice lent itself well to the eclectic mix of songs they played. They mixed in a few well-known covers alongside more obscure, but no less wonderful deep-cuts. They totally owned “Dear Daddy,” a great song by the under-the-radar Swedish blues band Ida Bang & The Blue Tears. Adri’s vocals on Elvin Bishop’s ‘70s hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” brought new life into a great old song. This is a highly skilled and polished troup. Their eight-song set showcased their talent. I’m going to look for them at venues around the valley. I want to see what other rare gems they have to share.

I want to give a special shout-out to the Utah Blues Society and KRCL DJ Brian Kelm, host of the Red, White, and Blues program, for their work in bringing award-winning blues artists to our stages, and to The Stateroom Presents for giving us the best venues to experience these world-class performers. Walking home after the show, I felt so privileged for the opportunity to see such immense talent in an intimate space. 

If you want another opportunity to see a woman who rocks the blues, then don’t miss Samantha Fish at The Commonwealth Room on September 28, 2023. It’s going to be epic!

Who: Danielle Nicole Band w/ The Alleycats

Where: The State Room

When: Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Info: www.thestateroompresents.com

Sep 11
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Fall Drink Festivals in Park City

By Eat & Drink

What is it about having that first drink of the day when the sun is highest in the sky? There’s a sneaking sense of self indulgence creeping in with each sip that’s hard to put a finger on. For me, it’s the not-so-secret longing of some manufactured idealistic feeling that’s vaguely European, or maybe it’s the comforting admission that nothing of consequence is getting done the rest of the day. Whatever it is, day drinking’s undeniable appeal is pretty ubiquitous, so it’s delightful to see a couple festivals—Deer Valley’s Mountain Beer Festival and the Park City Wine Festival—come to town, cribbing some customs from the Alps in a way our chalet-style architecture can only dream of. 

The Mountain Beer Festival kicks things off at Deer Valley September 16 and 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with two days of suds and sun. The only beer festival in Park City features tastings from more than a dozen Beehive State breweries, including some hyperlocal Summit County brewers like Offset Bier, in a gorgeous setting outside Silver Lake Lodge.

Park City Wine Festival. Photo courtesy of Park City Wine Festival

 The venue is only accessible via a chairlift ride on Silver Lake Express, which is included in every ticket purchase. Tickets start at $45 for General Admission, which gets attendees three tasting tokens and the aforementioned lift ride. The $65 Reserve Package includes two additional tasting tokens and a commemorative mug, while the $85 Imperial Package tacks on a t-shirt, eight total tasting tokens and access to the VIP BBQ tent. For those seeking to maximize the afternoon eating and drinking, the ominously-named package may be just the ticket. 

For less bubbly taste preferences, the October 5-7 Park City Wine Festival is the way to go. In classic wine-culture tradition, the festival is far more than a “come enjoy some booze in the sun” event. The Grand Tastings at Canyons Village on Friday and Saturday from noon to 6:00 p.m. dig into the loose festival vibe with tastings available from more than 100 wineries, but the amateur sommeliers out there will find plenty more to suit them. 

Choose from all manner of wine and food pairings offered—the Portuguese Paradise Lunch sounds particularly appealing—in addition to aficionado-focused events like Wine is Blind. The late-night blind wine tasting will put those “expert” tastebuds to the test by asking participants to rate wines on *gasp* flavor alone. There are also experimental seminars with topics like “Art of Aperitif: Negroni 101” for those looking to gain some knowledge throughout the weekend. 

Full details and tickets for both events are available on festival websites. deervalley.com, parkcitywinefest.com

Snowbird Oktoberfest Park City Wine Festival
Snowbird’s Oktoberfest. Photo by Chris Segal/Snowbird

Snowbird Oktoberfest

Proper respect and mention is deserved for Utah’s original European-style beer festival, Snowbird’s Oktoberfest. Running each weekend from August through mid-October since its inaugural edition in 1972, the event features live music, authentic German fare and of course more than 50 varieties of beer. It’s still the standard against which the others are judged and is worth the trip around and through the Wasatch from Summit County. snowbird.com

Sep 07
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The Trials of a Lifelong Jazz Fan

By Community

When I was a kid, my dad would lie on the living room floor while we watched Utah Jazz games, his head propped up by a giant basketball-shaped pillow. The pillow was yellow and gold (not sure why green got the shaft) with the old Jazz logo embroidered on one section. 

“Laying on the floor is good for your back,” he’d say. 

“Okay,” we’d respond, my brother, laying sideways in the recliner while my body oozed slug-like into the contours of the couch. 

Over the years, that pillow grew filthy and misshapen. My dad began pulling up the hood on his sweatshirt to protect his bald head from whatever grew in the pillow’s fibers. Meanwhile, everyone from Karl Malone and John Stockton to Bobby Hansen, David Benoit, and Antoine Carr graced us, and the pillow, with their televised presence. 

When I was in third grade, an upstart Jazz squad took the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink. I’m talking about the Lakers. The 1980s, short shorts, Pat Riley’s hair, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the monastic A.C. Green. While losing to L.A. stung, we assumed the Jazz would eventually have their moment. But Utah didn’t reach the NBA Finals until I graduated from high school. 

I spent my childhood waiting for that Jazz team to win a championship. As my dad’s face weathered and the weight of his head morphed the basketball pillow into a giant discus, a sinister thought emerged: What if the Jazz never win a championship? What if my dad dies without seeing Utah hoist the trophy? What if I never see it?     

Michael Jordan crushed Jazz fans’ hopes in the 1998 playoffs with what has simply become known as “The Shot,” a buzzer beater that sealed Utah’s fate. Photo Getty Images/ Courtesy Utah Jazz

It certainly didn’t happen under Michael Jordan’s watch. The man was so bloodthirsty he beat the Jazz in the NBA Finals twice, just for good measure. The Jazz only needed to get a little bit better, but they couldn’t. They tried trading for Ronnie Seikaly who refused to leave Miami for Salt Lake. They tried acquiring Derek Harper who told the New York media, “You go live in Utah.” So the door closed on Malone and Stockton with their 1998 loss to Chicago.  

The idea of replacing Utah’s two Hall of Famers felt impossible. I began thinking about how lifelong baseball fans in Boston and Chicago died without ever winning the World Series. The Red Sox went 86 years between titles. The Cubs went 108. Utah’s championship drought might outlive us.   

 After Malone and Stockton, the Jazz rebuilt around Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. I spent most of those years living in faraway cities, but I’d watch Jazz games with my dad over Christmas. He’d still lay on the floor, though it took him longer to get up when he wanted popcorn. I’d still slouch in the recliner, watching Jerry Sloan stalk the referees. 

When I moved back to Salt Lake in 2010, my parents were in their 60s. A year later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and my dad with Parkinson’s disease. The Jazz compounded our misery, missing the playoffs four straight years between 2013 and 2016.  

“These are the bad Jazz,” I explained to a friend who accompanied me to a game against the Houston Rockets. At one point that night, Utah trailed by 50.

When the Jazz finally reached the playoffs again, my mom wasn’t alive to see it. My dad and I still watched games together, as much to comfort one another as anything. Parkinson’s ended my Dad’s floor-laying days, so the pillow got stuffed into a closet. Yet we remained hopeful that Utah’s playoff return might spark a championship run before it was too late.

Utah fell to Golden State in 2017, and Gordon Hayward left for Boston. The thought of rebuilding again felt hopeless. My dad was running out of time. Then Donovan Mitchell appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Poised and absurdly talented, Mitchell provided the one thing fans need: hope. With Rudy Gobert defending and Quin Snyder coaching, Mitchell’s Jazz just needed shooting and a little luck. Hang in there, Dad.

Donovan Mitchell (right) reignited hope for Jazz fans from 2017 to 2022. Photo Getty Images/ Courtesy Utah Jazz

The Jazz got better as my dad got worse. They traded for Jordan Clarkson, but no matter how often we discussed it, my dad couldn’t remember Clarkson’s name. His long-term memory remained, but Parkinson’s halted the learning of most new information. My dad still watched the Jazz on TV but had trouble following an entire game. It was easier for him to review the box score afterward. 

In 2021, we had to move my dad into a care facility that could better meet his needs. We sold the house—the place where I grew up, the home he’d worked his entire life to pay off, the house where my mom died. A lot of things got lost in the shuffle, the lopsided old Jazz pillow being one.

Not long after my dad’s move, the Jazz entered the 2021 playoffs with the NBA’s best record. This was their chance. Mitchell and Mike Conley got hurt, however, and Utah flamed out. After a disappointing 2022 campaign in which the players stopped playing for one another, Snyder resigned and management traded Mitchell and Gobert. Time to start over. Again.    

But building a winner in Utah is much more difficult than in, say, Los Angeles. The Lakers can squander draft picks and make ill-advised trades because free agents like Shaquille O’Neal or LeBron James will still come to L.A. The Jazz have no margin for error. Even when Utah drafts and develops good players, those players can opt to leave.  

My dad passed away last spring, never seeing his favorite team win it all. Perhaps the same fate awaits all who, by choice or inheritance, root for the Utah Jazz. If the Jazz do win a championship someday, I imagine I’ll laugh and scream and cry a few tears of joy. But then I’ll probably get real quiet and think of my dad with his head resting on a basketball pillow somewhere.  

Sep 07
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The Trials of a Lifelong Jazz Fan

By Community

When I was a kid, my dad would lie on the living room floor while we watched Utah Jazz games, his head propped up by a giant basketball-shaped pillow. The pillow was yellow and gold (not sure why green got the shaft) with the old Jazz logo embroidered on one section. 

“Laying on the floor is good for your back,” he’d say. 

“Okay,” we’d respond, my brother, laying sideways in the recliner while my body oozed slug-like into the contours of the couch. 

Over the years, that pillow grew filthy and misshapen. My dad began pulling up the hood on his sweatshirt to protect his bald head from whatever grew in the pillow’s fibers. Meanwhile, everyone from Karl Malone and John Stockton to Bobby Hansen, David Benoit, and Antoine Carr graced us, and the pillow, with their televised presence. 

When I was in third grade, an upstart Jazz squad took the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink. I’m talking about the Lakers. The 1980s, short shorts, Pat Riley’s hair, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the monastic A.C. Green. While losing to L.A. stung, we assumed the Jazz would eventually have their moment. But Utah didn’t reach the NBA Finals until I graduated from high school. 

I spent my childhood waiting for that Jazz team to win a championship. As my dad’s face weathered and the weight of his head morphed the basketball pillow into a giant discus, a sinister thought emerged: What if the Jazz never win a championship? What if my dad dies without seeing Utah hoist the trophy? What if I never see it?     

Michael Jordan crushed Jazz fans’ hopes in the 1998 playoffs with what has simply become known as “The Shot,” a buzzer beater that sealed Utah’s fate. Photo Getty Images/ Courtesy Utah Jazz

It certainly didn’t happen under Michael Jordan’s watch. The man was so bloodthirsty he beat the Jazz in the NBA Finals twice, just for good measure. The Jazz only needed to get a little bit better, but they couldn’t. They tried trading for Ronnie Seikaly who refused to leave Miami for Salt Lake. They tried acquiring Derek Harper who told the New York media, “You go live in Utah.” So the door closed on Malone and Stockton with their 1998 loss to Chicago.  

The idea of replacing Utah’s two Hall of Famers felt impossible. I began thinking about how lifelong baseball fans in Boston and Chicago died without ever winning the World Series. The Red Sox went 86 years between titles. The Cubs went 108. Utah’s championship drought might outlive us.   

 After Malone and Stockton, the Jazz rebuilt around Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. I spent most of those years living in faraway cities, but I’d watch Jazz games with my dad over Christmas. He’d still lay on the floor, though it took him longer to get up when he wanted popcorn. I’d still slouch in the recliner, watching Jerry Sloan stalk the referees. 

When I moved back to Salt Lake in 2010, my parents were in their 60s. A year later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and my dad with Parkinson’s disease. The Jazz compounded our misery, missing the playoffs four straight years between 2013 and 2016.  

“These are the bad Jazz,” I explained to a friend who accompanied me to a game against the Houston Rockets. At one point that night, Utah trailed by 50.

When the Jazz finally reached the playoffs again, my mom wasn’t alive to see it. My dad and I still watched games together, as much to comfort one another as anything. Parkinson’s ended my Dad’s floor-laying days, so the pillow got stuffed into a closet. Yet we remained hopeful that Utah’s playoff return might spark a championship run before it was too late.

Utah fell to Golden State in 2017, and Gordon Hayward left for Boston. The thought of rebuilding again felt hopeless. My dad was running out of time. Then Donovan Mitchell appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Poised and absurdly talented, Mitchell provided the one thing fans need: hope. With Rudy Gobert defending and Quin Snyder coaching, Mitchell’s Jazz just needed shooting and a little luck. Hang in there, Dad.

Donovan Mitchell (right) reignited hope for Jazz fans from 2017 to 2022. Photo Getty Images/ Courtesy Utah Jazz

The Jazz got better as my dad got worse. They traded for Jordan Clarkson, but no matter how often we discussed it, my dad couldn’t remember Clarkson’s name. His long-term memory remained, but Parkinson’s halted the learning of most new information. My dad still watched the Jazz on TV but had trouble following an entire game. It was easier for him to review the box score afterward. 

In 2021, we had to move my dad into a care facility that could better meet his needs. We sold the house—the place where I grew up, the home he’d worked his entire life to pay off, the house where my mom died. A lot of things got lost in the shuffle, the lopsided old Jazz pillow being one.

Not long after my dad’s move, the Jazz entered the 2021 playoffs with the NBA’s best record. This was their chance. Mitchell and Mike Conley got hurt, however, and Utah flamed out. After a disappointing 2022 campaign in which the players stopped playing for one another, Snyder resigned and management traded Mitchell and Gobert. Time to start over. Again.    

But building a winner in Utah is much more difficult than in, say, Los Angeles. The Lakers can squander draft picks and make ill-advised trades because free agents like Shaquille O’Neal or LeBron James will still come to L.A. The Jazz have no margin for error. Even when Utah drafts and develops good players, those players can opt to leave.  

My dad passed away last spring, never seeing his favorite team win it all. Perhaps the same fate awaits all who, by choice or inheritance, root for the Utah Jazz. If the Jazz do win a championship someday, I imagine I’ll laugh and scream and cry a few tears of joy. But then I’ll probably get real quiet and think of my dad with his head resting on a basketball pillow somewhere.  

Sep 06
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Bar Nohm Rises From the Ashes

By After Dark, Eat & Drink

When Nohm shuttered its doors a few years back due to covid-related stressors, the whole city gave a collective “le sigh.” Chef David Chon, mastermind at Nohm, would go on to moonlight at kitchens throughout the city, treating our taste buds with his culinary flair, but it wasn’t really the same. So when grumblings about Nohm’s revival started to spread, we knew we were in for something good. Teaming up with his Water Witch neighbors, Chon’s Nohm has become Bar Nohm. It was worth the wait. 

David Chon joined forces with Water Witch’s Sean Neves and Scott Gardner to transform Bar Nohm into a chic yet casual dining space with a snazzy semi-hidden feature—a door inside to permanently connect Bar Nohm with Water Witch (think Bar X and Beer Bar’s connecting walkway, but even more discreet). Sean Neves says the decision to jump in seemed second nature. “We already had a spiritual affinity with what David was doing in Nohm before,” he explains. “We just thought there was a tremendous amount of potential here.” Together, the crew brought Bar Nohm into a new (er) age, creating more of a gastropub than a sit-down restaurant, complete with a curiosity-driven cocktail menu and Asian fusion sharing plates. Think of it as Salt Lake’s first Izakaya restaurant, the Japanese word for an informal bar that literally translates to “stay-drink-place.” 

Bar Nohm’s Dining Room. Photo by Adam Finkle

With a portal now forever intertwining Waterwitch and Bar Nohm, another challenge arose: How do you get two totally different concepts to speak the same language?  “That’s where our design comes in,” Neves points out. Inside Bar Nohm, tall wood partitions segment the dining room into intimate spaces that accommodate both large parties and solo diners. “It’s a really ‘vibey’ space,” says Neves. “We want people to come back multiple times and have a different experience in each zone.” You’ll also see a few subtle nods to Water Witch in Bar Nohm’s artwork, like the canvases overhead displaying some witchy familiars. On a technical level, Nohm’s kitchen was completely upgraded with added prep space and shiny new bells and whistles. Most notably, a binchotan charcoal grill was installed at the chef’s counter, which makes its presence known with the omnipresent scent of wood smoke throughout the dining room.

As an Izikaya concept, guests are encouraged to share three or four plates during their visit, but you’ll likely be tempted to order the whole menu. “I centered the menu around Chinese, Japanese and Korean food,” says Chef David Chon. “But I’m not limiting myself to Asian produce, I like to play with American and European dishes as well.” Chon’s cultural infusions are a treat to the senses, like the Kimchi Rice dish that puts a zesty spin on a cajun classic (kimchi, rice, shrimp, sausage and sesame). Chon puts his beloved charcoal grill to good use to offer a skewered a la carte menu and of course, plenty of raw bar items. 

The cocktail offerings at Bar Nohm showcase similar adventurous techniques and surprising flavors found at Water Witch, but owner Scott Gardner and beverage director Clifton Reagle took care to create a menu that stood on its own. “We wanted a very unique program from Water Witch so guests can visit both spaces and get two unique experiences,” Gardner says. “A lot of our vision was based on David’s theology of food—clean, contemporary, but socially driven.” Like the experimental menu, drinks at Bar Nohm utilize elevated culinary techniques, like clarifications. Expect the cocktail menu to fluctuate with the seasons, at the time of this writing, drinks flaunted summertime flavors like strawberry, snap peas and mint (The Strawberry Sanders). The “Ghost Daq” was a particular delight, combining rum, clarified pineapple, clarified lime and Gomme syrup to riff on the classic daiquiri (for more daiquiri spins, walk over to the Witch where a daq is almost always on the menu). 

Bar Nohm’s menu and ambiance are unmistakably the stars of the show here, but there’s definitely a certain thrill that comes with the ability to walk between businesses with a cocktail in hand. While it might seem silly to big city folk, that little door between Bar Nohm and Water Witch is a sign of perseverance in the face of often stifling liquor laws. It’s a symbol of a community that lifts each other up and celebrates collaboration. It’s an indication our salty city is growing up. 

If You Go

165 W. 900 South, SLC

barnohm.com / @bar.nohm

Sep 05
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Preview: Buddy Guy–Damn Right Farewell Tour w/ Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

By Arts & Culture, Music

Buddy Guy is making his last trip to the Red Butte Garden as part of his Damn Right Farewell tour. Unlike artists who announce farewell tours, but end up on the road again (I’m looking at you, Kiss, and the Who), he’s not kidding. Salt Lake concerts aren’t over yet, so don’t put those low back chairs and picnic coolers away. Monday, September 11, 2023 will be the last chance to see the blues legend in Salt Lake City. 

Guy’s biography reads like the history of the blues. Born to sharecropper parents in rural Louisiana, he grew up in a home without electricity or indoor plumbing. A self-taught guitarist, he abandoned the cotton fields and bought a one-way ticket to Chicago to play an electrified version of the Delta Blues. In 1957, at age 21, he fell under the influence of Chicago blues icon Muddy Waters. He signed a contract with the infamous Chess Records where he worked mainly as a session guitarist backing Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor. 

Chess Records balked at recording Guy as a solo artist because they thought his unique, free-style, string-bending guitar licks were too erratic. In his live performances, he’d creatively pick the guitar with his teeth or play it over his head–two tricks that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. In 1967, Guy released his debut album Left My Blues in San Francisco, his only Chess Records release before moving on to other labels. 

In racially segregated America, the blues received little airplay outside African-American communities. But young British musicians were listening. When artists like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin took mainstream American music by storm, interviewers asked them about their musical influences, they’d name their American blues heroes like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, or Buddy Guy. Reporters were often befuddled, unfamiliar with those home-grown artists.

By the 1980s, Blues music enjoyed a renaissance. Unfortunately, it once again took British rock legends, like Eric Clapton, to introduce white American audiences to these incredible musicians. In 1991, Guy signed with Silvertone Records and released his mainstream breakthrough album Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues. It was his 7th studio album. The record won a Grammy for best Contemporary Blues Album. He won the award again in 1994 for Feel Like Rain, and 1996 for Slippin’ In. Larger audiences finally began to recognize him as one of the amazing artists who shaped our musical heritage, despite the second-class status they endured under segregation and social conservatism. Guy would take home Nine Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement award. BB King and Eric Clapton inducted Guy into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

The man who grew up with no running water or electricity eventually found his way to The White House where he was honored by President Obama in 2012. The same year he won a Kennedy Center Honors. Guy continues to record and in 2022, at age 86, he released a 16-song album, The Blues Don’t Lie, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. Guy will stop touring soon, but he will continue to play the blues.

Opening the evening is Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. The Clarksdale, Mississippi child prodigy  got his start in blues at age five after seeing a PBS documentary on Muddy Waters. His father took him to the Delta Blues Museum to learn more. He began music lessons at the museum’s arts and education program and started playing drums at age six, then bass, before settling on the guitar at age 11. Ingram played gigs around his hometown as a 7th grader. He played for First Lady Michelle Obama at age 15 as a member of the Delta Blues Museum band. When his childhood friends teased him about playing blues when they were all listening to hip hop, he told them he played history, the music that birthed their music. He noted, Rap is nothing but the blues’ grandchild.

As Ingram approached adulthood he played blues festivals across the country and shared the stage with idols like Buddy Guy. I first saw him at the Utah Blues Festival in 2018 and marveled at his skills. He released his critically-acclaimed debut album Kingfish in 2019. The record reached #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and received a Grammy nomination. No Depression magazine said the album was “a stunning debut from a young bluesman with an ancient soul and a large presence in the here and now.” His 2021 follow-up album, 662, won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

To see a blues master, for the final time, and watch him pass the musical torch to a protege is something I can’t miss. I just saw rising blues star Ally Venable at The State Room and she was amazing. She toured with Guy earlier this year and they recorded a duet together on her latest record. Guy is a national treasure and a generous mentor to the next generation of blues artists. I know he will fill his setlist with his original material and songs from those artists that guided him along the way. 

Tickets for this show may still be available.

Who: Buddy Guy w/Christone Kingfish Ingram

What: Damn Right Farewell tour

Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre

When: Monday, September 11, 2023

Tickets and info: www.redbuttegarden.org

Sep 05
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Park City Restaurant Firewood Lives Up to Its Name

By Eat & Drink

The gargantuan metal apparatus was custom-made for the kitchen. Mixing seemingly incongruous rustic and elegant elements, the 14-foot-long grill is the centerpiece, both aesthetically and spiritually, of the restaurant. The four adjustable grilling stations and the 500-degree smoker in the center are visible from the dining area and all feature exclusively wood-fired heat. No gas. No electric. Just as it should be in a restaurant named Firewood. 

John Murcko is Firewood’s chef and owner. He opened the establishment at the end of 2016 after a prolific career that helped shape Park City’s dining scene. His first job after moving to Park City in the early 1990s was as a pastry chef at the Goldener Hirsch. “It was a challenge to learn how pastries worked at 8,000 feet, but it was an amazing experience with a lot of artistic freedom,” Murcko says. He then worked with famed area restaurateur Bill White before ultimately striking out on his own, working with Talisker and a group from the Grand America Hotel to open and oversee more than 20 restaurants in Park City and Sun Valley—Talisker on Main and The Farm to name a couple. “It was an amazing journey where I gained so much knowledge,” Murcko says. But ultimately, he wanted to start a restaurant to highlight his passion. 

“I have this remote place in Escalante. It’s so far in the national forest there are no electricity or gas lines, so your only option is to cook over fire or propane. It’s so beautiful there I always wanted to cook outside, so I built these huge pits with grills, dutch ovens and rotisseries and where we could bury vegetables in the coals. In the fall I’d have other chefs come down and we’d spend days cooking over wood. The food and the experience were incredible, and I started to dream of how I could scale the experience commercially. That’s Firewood,” Murcko explains. 

Everything hot at Firewood is cooked over wood. There are two induction burners for keeping sauces warm, but even those are made with wood-burning heat. “We’ll even put hot coals inside of oils to create these one-of-a-kind flavors,” Murcko says. It makes for a challenging environment, but that’s helped cultivate an incredible staff. “It’s definitely hot in there, and you start each shift carrying four tubs of firewood to the kitchen. But truly passionate cooks and people who want to learn continuously are drawn to it,” he explains.

We’ve gotten this far without mentioning the menu, which is as much a nod to Murcko’s methodology as it is an admission The cuts of meat, whether steaks, game birds or mountain trout are wonderful, but it’s the unique flavor profiles of something seemingly familiar that sets Firewood apart. Step inside, watch the team in action and taste for yourself. 

Seasons Change and so Does the Menu 

“I want the menu to reflect the rhythm of real life,” Murcko says of the ongoing menu evolution at Firewood. “We can be creative while still respecting traditions. In the summer our only game is bison, which is very lean, whereas in the fall and winter, when people typically go hunting and your body craves those richer, higher-fat meats, we have elk. For produce, we serve what’s in season at the local farmer’s market. Peas and morels in the spring, tomatoes and asparagus in the summer and more parsnips and rutabagas in the winter.”

306 Main St., 435-252-9900, firewoodonmain.com

Sep 01
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Review: Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Funtastic Tour w/ Chris Trapper

By Arts & Culture, Music

In the late 1970s, Pat Benatar burned her way through the American rock charts and her fiery embers supplied the kindling for those who followed.  An early pioneer, Benatar proved that female-fronted rock bands could fill stadiums and reach the top of the charts. She then made a seamless transition from the late ‘70s guitar-laden arena rock sound to the made-for-MTV video pop (while still retaining her rockin’ roots). Benatar and her musical partner/husband/guitarist Neil Giraldo brought their Funtastic Tour to The Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre on Monday, August 28, 2023. As advertised, we had a Funtastic time at this sold-out show!

It wasn’t long before the packed Garden crowd was “All Fired Up.” Benatar & Giraldo mixed in chart-toppers (drawing from their 19 top 40 hits) with some deeper cuts from their massive catalog. Giraldo took to the piano while Benatar crooned a soulful “We Belong.” At Age 70, her voice still packed a punch. The band’s sound, with only a guitar, bass, and drums to support Benatar’s beaming vocals, filled the night air. 

After an early warm-up of rockin’ power ballads, Benatar & Giraldo launched a non-stop flurry of hits. We were quickly reminded why Benatar owned the rock and pop music charts for several decades. Her stories, interspersed between songs, was one of my favorite parts of the evening. She remembered that her video “You Better Run” was the second video MTV played when they launched their cable television music channel in August of 1981 (the first was aptly titled “Video Killed The Radio Star” by the Buggles). To translate for the young’uns out there, that’s like the second TikTok to ever go viral. In August of 1981, MTV only aired in New Jersey, but it soon reshaped the music industry and launched all across America. I missed the MTV music craze since I spent much of the ‘80s (and most of the ‘90s) overseas with the military. Nevertheless, thanks to devoted fans who shipped VHS copies to Korea, I observed how music videos influenced popular music in the 1980s. Mostly, I listened to Benatar & Giraldo’s music the old-fashioned way.

Okay, history class is dismissed.  Let’s get back to the show. 

They thrilled us with familiar favorites, including “Invincible,” “Shadows of the Night,” and a haunting version of “Hell is for Children.” They ended with “Love is a Battlefield.” For the encore the crew returned for a pounding rendition of The Beatles “Helter Skelter” (Benatar recorded her version in 1981,) followed by 1993’s “Everybody Lay Down.” For the grand finale they reached back to 1979 for their first hit, “Heartbreaker.” They interpolated the song with Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” They closed the show with Giraldo, who Benatar referred to as Spyder, shredding his guitar, Chris Ralles lighting up his drum kit, and Mick Mahan laying down the bass tracks. 

Don’t let the odometer fool you, Benatar and Giraldo still log plenty of miles performing at sold-out shows in large arenas across the globe. We were quite fortunate to have them play in our intimate garden. Their flame of musical passion still burns. As predicted, they didn’t play their iconic “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” since they decided last year that the gun violence epidemic makes it hard for them to sing those words night after night. They weren’t stingy on their other hits, though, thrilling us with their 15-song set.  

Chris Trapper opened the evening with a six-song set of amusing tunes and self-effacing stories. He started us off with “Into The Bright Lights.” He told us his song “This Time” ended up on the soundtrack for the movie August Rush and earned a Grammy nomination. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the actor who recorded the single, made it a hit, earning him a gold record. Trapper quipped, his own version was certified Tinfoil. When he played it for us, it still shined. 

Trapper ended his set with The Push Stars “Keg On My Coffin,” a catchy, albeit dark diddy by the alt-pop band that Trapper formed in Boston. The Push Stars enjoyed a modicum of commercial success in the ‘90s before going on hiatus while Trapper hit the road as a soloist. I’d like to catch him again in a small, intimate, listening room. His extensive catalog of alt-folk songs mixed with his wry sense of humor would make for an entertaining evening.

Listening to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Benatar & Giraldo under cloudless skies made for a glorious evening. As always, the Amphitheatre sound was perfect!

Who: Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo w/ Chris Trapper

What: Funtastic Tour

Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre

When: Monday, August 28, 2023

Info: www.redbutegarden.org