Westin J.

Starlight on the Rails

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:06:12 -0400

Starlight on the Rails
U. Utah Phillips
Dream Garden Press

Starlight on the Rails is a 245-page book documenting the travels and tales of the late, unsung American hero, Utah Phillips, in their truest form: song. The songbook, from Dream Garden Press, is a reprint of the original 1973 version, but with four-times the amount of content, including photographs, illustrations, song introductions and a foreword by Phillips’ son, Duncan. Starlight On The Rails has been an unforgettable book, singing parts of history that couldn’t be heard elsewhere in the resounding voice of American folk music. The songs, which Phillips does not claim any ownership to, recount the things and people known throughout the course of the magical life of a tramp.

Get to know the folk hero, whom Salt Lake is lucky to call its own, yourself at Ken Sanders Rare Books where Starlight On The Rails is exclusively featured, and make sure to clear your calendar for March 24, as Ken Sanders will host a free tribute concert/book release for U. Utah Phillips featuring three local folk bands influenced by Phillips: The Folka Dots, The Trappers and The North Valley.

The North Valley

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:25:23 -0500

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, or if you’ve been living in Bountiful your probably just realizing that Salt Lake’s music scene is as charged with talent and creativity as ever. Allow me bring you up to speed. Night in and night out Utah venues swell with people who come to hear everything from acid rock to country western to punk rock; the genres abound, but what they all have in common is that they are local bands. Be it these times of economic hardship, the swiftness of mass communication, whatever the reason, more and more people are toe-tapping to the tune of local music.

There are so many bands that I could list and tell of their greatness (Eagle Twin, Holy Water Buffalo, Mountain Hymns just to name a few) but, for the sake of your entire week I won’t. Instead, I’ll tell you just a little bit about the best new band on the scene, The North Valley.

The five piece, assembled around two members of Mountain Hymns and two vestige members of The Spins has played only a hand-full of shows and one radio session since debuting with Desert Noises in Ogden last December. On the surface The North Valley are a simple hard-hitting rock band with powerful vocals, but what sets them apart from the rest is rooted beneath the longhair torn jean exterior. It’s their songwriting. As the late great Utah Phillips put it, “A revolutionary song is any song that you choose to sing yourself.” Now I’m not calling the The North Valley revolutionary, but they certainly have a voice of their own and aren’t afraid to use it. When a band with this much talent and versatility speaks its mind, or in The North Valley’s case sings it in angelic harmony, people won’t be able to help but listen. The North Valley is playing in Provo on February, 3rd at Muse Music Cafe and again in March at Kilby Court. Until then, get your fix with their first official, unofficial music video, “Left for Dead,” here http://youtu.be/kWxCdOG7448. You can also check out their recent radio performance on KRCL here, http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-north-valley/id282932563?i=109518774 jump to the four-minute mark to hear my personal favorite of their’s titled, “Drink Alone.”

By Westin Porter

Yukon Blonde

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:02:53 -0500

Yukon Blonde

12/13

Kilby Court

by Westin Porter

I love going to weeknight shows. You get all the musical enjoyment as you would on the weekend but without the drunken stumble-dancing of the guy next to you shouting out for Def Leppard covers. Upon arriving at one of my favorite venues in Salt Lake I stalked down the freezing alley way passed the blazing bon-fire to stand under the enormous vent inside that spews hot air like Sean Hannity. The guys from Yukon Blonde must have had similar thoughts to mine as their vinyl laden merch table was set up under the same vent. I made small talk with frontman and Hulk Hogan look-a-like Jeffrey Innes as the Kilby Court on a weeknight sized crowd meandered in from the cold to watch the show.

Having never heard them before I silently half-expected yet another dorky hipster band shitting all over the stage and calling it “Indie” or worse yet, “Folk-Rock,” but I was wrong; the only shitting Yukon Blonde did was in the designated lavatory just outside the venue. Being from Vancouver they definitely have that trademark sound of the great Northwest; Just as raw as the grunge that preceded it but without the angst, and Big Muff pedals. As they blasted through their amplifiers similar bands that came to mind immediately included Built to Spill and Band of Horses, so much so, that at first listen I thought that they were opening with a cover of Built to Spill’s Sidewalk.

The thing that really set them apart from other indie bands for me was their vocal harmonies; For those of you who have heard Salt Lake locals The Trappers, this is all I could think of to compare them to. Their harmonies rang song after song nearly flawless; a rare trait for a band to have, especially live. At times their harmonies even seemed to flirt with the likes of a country-western sound. They played a relatively short set before melting my face with the greatness of their last song, Nico Canmore. I’m not even going to try to describe this song to you, as no words of mine could do it justice so just view it for yourself http://r3.ca/059Y and imagine it 10x better live.

The quartet rattled out laughter from the crowd with quirky jokes from their guitarist who looked like he was wearing one of those Groucho Marx mustache disguises that Bugs Bunny would wear. Their 6 song set was over too soon before leaving the stage to The Fling, a four-piece from Long Beach. Really, after watching Yukon Blonde The Fling just seemed like four guys with mustaches. They were good, but not nearly as good as Yukon Blonde.

The four-piece from Vancouver stopped in Salt Lake on the return leg of their 60+ date tour of North America and shouldn’t be expected back anytime in the near future as they gear for an international tour to begin early next year. So check out their newest album Fire/Water and be the first and hippest one of your gang to drop their name.

Dawn of the Deck 10/21

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:15:00 -0500

On Friday, October 21st, hipsters from all corners of the Salt Lake Valley lined Edison street for two things: free tacos, and Dawn of the Deck. The event hosted by Super Top Secret, included skaters and artists coming together in what made for a colorful and exciting collaboration. While the event hosted hundreds of people throughout the night, it hardly had the feeling of exclusion; folks casually viewed the art which was displayed in gallery format at the back of the Super Top Secret office, while local skaters rode the mini-ramp. All proceeds from the exhibit/auction went to Skate4Homies, a non-profit organization centered around using skateboarding as a healthy lifestyle for disadvantaged youth.

All of the artwork was contributed by 13 artists associated with AIGA, a nationwide organization that provides artists with training and support. The artwork was then submitted to Smug Labs Brett Blaisdell who laser etched each art piece onto its own individual blank skate deck. When asked where the idea for laser etching came from Blaisdell laughed, “It was so random, I was in Arizona with my dad and we saw an ad for it and went and checked it out.” Six months and six thousand dollars later, that same laser etching machine is sculpting skulls into skate decks for a benefit expo in Salt Lake. Each skateboard was auctioned off silently throughout the night while other items also for sale included poster prints of the event and Milo skate decks.

When asked where the idea for Dawn of the Deck came from Thy Doan, co-vice president of AIGA’s Salt Lake chapter explained that it came from a similar event in Denver called Bordo-Bellows. “The idea is to illustrate that design has such a broad reach, and to embrace and create community here in Salt Lake,” explained Thy, and Dan Kimball, also of AIGA. The collaboration that took place to make this event possible consisted of AIGA, Smug labs, Skate4Homies, and Super Top Secret. All of which except for Skate4Homies, are organizations that specialize in graphic design. The event was also sponsored by Rosignol, who provided $1,500 to put on the event.

The excitement surrounding the sense of community could be heard in Todd Ingersoll, founder of Skate4Homies voice. “People need to not be afraid to get involved.” Says Todd who funds the non-profit organization almost completely out of pocket. Since forming in March of 2009 Skate4Homies has slowly been gaining steam. While the organization is growing, benefits such as Dawn of the Deck are necessary to sustain itself. “It’s not just me here, there are a lot of people involved to make this possible.” Todd explained with one eye on the shredding going on at the mini-ramp. Dawn of the Deck made for a stellar event for an even more stellar cause, and the taco’s weren’t too bad either.

Westin Porter

Crossroads, Night of the Living Shred 10/18

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:58:00 -0500

Night of the Living Shred @ Crossroads 10.18

By Westin Porter

On Friday night, October 18, Crossroads skate/snow shop’s indoor park played host to kids of all ages for the Halloween themed skate competition, Night of the Living Shred. Metal music blasted through the PA system as attendees found their places in the park. Parents oohed and aahed through the spectator window above the park and against the walls, while kids zipped this way and that on their wheely boards. Typically, indoor parks are a bit of a tease, but Crossroads really impressed me. Divided evenly down the middle, one side is a street course, while the opposite side is vert. The park uses the transition of the pyramid and placement of the quarter-bowl to loop itself, allowing skaters to hit each obstacle in a line with out stopping. K-mart ketchup bottle costumes squirted out tasty tre-flips off of the launch ramp in the center of the park. On one side of the launch, a dead Michael Jackson crooned a long, shallow mini-ramp. Opposite of the king of pop, contestants floated frontside nose-slides along a ghostly smooth hubba. The competition was divided into three divisions, 13 and under, 14 and up and a sponsored division. Contestants within each division took turns competing in three heats of five minutes, two skaters at a time. The division heats were followed by a Best Trick competition in which everyone competed. Judges and commentators, Jeff Dahlin and Jon Hogansen who run the shop, watched closely to see who would be crowned winners of the event.

By hosting events such as Night of the Living Shred, Crossroads has been making its presence in Ogden felt. For the past year now Dahlin and Hogansen have been gearing the shop for greatness. “We are trying to establish ourselves as the snow and skate shop of Ogden,” Dahlin said. The skate scene in O-town differs from that of Salt Lake’s more than you might think; The crime scene in Ogden is higher than Salt Lake’s, which means the bust factor is lower; Skaters in Ogden rely more heavily on finding spots due to the disparity of parks––three compared to Salt Lake’s eight. However, Dahlin said, “The scene is definitely growing. Our mission is for kids to develop a sense of pride here.”

Many of the kids skating in the competition were students of Crossroads Therapeutic Boarding School. The program brings in out-of-state youth and uses skateboarding and other action sports as therapy. Crossroads skate/snow shop as well as the indoor park are extensions of the program providing kids with a place to skate when the weather gets cold, and an opportunity for students to gain job experience in the shop. “The up-keep is good, the atmosphere is good, all the kids seem to be respectful, and its safe,” said one parent as she watched her son skate.

As the competition ended an award ceremony was given atop a quarter pipe in the corner of the park. Second and third place winners from each division, as well as a single winner from the Best Trick competition, were awarded with prize bags filled with goods from the shop and sponsors Powell Bones Kahuna and Casette. First place winners took home prize bags and a Crossroads shop deck. You can check Crossroads out on Facebook, or online at crossroadsskatepark.com.