Preview: The Aces Return to their Utah Roots for One Night Only

When The Aces play The Depot on Friday, November 28, it’ll be a bit of a homecoming, though they don’t exactly see it that way.

I spoke to the Aces shortly before they played a show at The Beacham in Orlando recently. Guitarist Katie Henderson, bassist McKenna Petty, drummer Alisa Ramirez and sister/singer/guitarist Cristal Ramirez are in the throes of their current Gold Star Baby tour. It winds down briefly after their Utah date and picks up again for a smattering of European dates in February. 

“We’re kind of the counterculture to Utah in a lot of ways, and that’s made the hometown shows feel interesting. At the same time, the fans who come to those shows feel like our most important ones,” Henderson says. “We relate with them. Many have had the same experiences we did growing up.”

From playing as often as they could get away with at Provo’s Velour Live Music Gallery to opening for Neon Trees to winning a competition that found them recording with June Audio, the Aces are enjoying a steady climb to a lot more streams and a growing fanbase. It’s no recent phenomenon — they’ve been around nearly a decade — and perhaps it’s their longevity in a cutthroat industry that’s a real part of their success story.

“To look back at what we’ve done is insane,” Cristal says. “We’re four best friends from the Utah suburbs who are able to be professional musicians for our full time career. While we’re always pushing for more, we can’t help but be grateful for how far we’ve come, impacting the local scene and young women and queer women, people who don’t always feel like they fit.”

By deciding not to press pause on writing during this tour, they wrote and released their latest single, “Square One,” and it’s already a favorite staple of their shows. It builds on the disco flavor of their recent Gold Star Baby, and hearing it will probably make you dance.

One thing’s for certain, the ladies of Aces are right where they want to be. And if it means waking up in The Sunshine State at three in the afternoon wondering what breakfast will look like, even better. Maybe especially then.

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