Music of Utah - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

has long been influenced culturally by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The local music scene thrives in clubs

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

. However, the musical history of Utah, and much of its current distinctiveness, is owed to secular artists.

Contemporary Utah music scene

Utah has produced some popular recording artists since 2000. It has a thriving local music scene some nationally recognized bands. Most are based in Provo

Provo, Utah

Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

and Salt Lake City, and perform at venues like Velour Live Music Gallery, Kilby Court, Urban Lounge, and Muse Music. Notable bands include Fictionist

Fictionist

Fictionist is a indie pop rock band currently from Provo, Utah, with origins in Salt Lake City, Utah and Sacramento, CA. The band's line-up is Stuart Maxfield , Robbie Connolly , Brandon Kitterman , Jacob Jones , and Aaron Anderson...

, Kid Theodore

Kid Theodore

Kid Theodore is a disbanded American indie-pop band that was based in Los Angeles, California. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah with a reputation for drawing from a wide range of genres and musical styles, the band has recently moved into a more "garage pop" sound drawing heavily from rock n'...

, Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons is an indie rock band based in Las Vegas, Nevada.After winning four back-to-back battles of the bands, the band entered the studio for the first time in 2009. They released two EPs titled Imagine Dragons EP and Hell and Silence EP in 2010, both recorded at Battle Born Studios...

, Goodnight Annabelle, and The Brobecks

The Brobecks

The Brobecks is an American indie rock band, and a project of singer/songwriter Dallon Weekes. The band is unsigned and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California. The band's sound uses a wide variety of instrumentation and attributes its influences to artists such as George...

, whose frontman Dallon Weekes now performs with Panic! At The Disco

Panic! at the Disco

Panic! at the Disco is an American alternative rock duo, formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2005. Since its split, the band's line-up includes Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith . Former members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the group in 2009...

. Many genres are represented, including rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, indie folk

Indie folk

Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...

, emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

, synthpop

Synthpop

Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

, singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, goth

Gothic rock

Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

, alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

, hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

and religious music

Religious music

Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...

Rock groups

Several popular bands have roots in Utah. Post-hardcore band The Used

The Used

The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third...

was formed in Orem

Orem, Utah

Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the north-central part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Utah and...

in 2001. Currently signed to Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

-owned Reprise Records

Reprise Records

Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

they have released two gold-certified albums

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

in the United States.

The post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

band Neon Trees

Neon Trees

Neon Trees is an American alternative rock band from Provo, Utah, with origins in Murrieta, California. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the rock band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records and...

is from Provo. In 2010, their single, "Animal," rose to number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. They occasionally make appearances at the venue where they first amassed a following, Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo They are currently signed to Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

,

The increasingly popular indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

performers, sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, formed their band Meg & Dia

Meg & Dia

Meg & Dia is an American rock band formed in 2004. It was founded by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, and is now a five-piece act with additional members Nicholas Price, Jonathan Snyder and Carlo Gimenez....

in Draper

Draper, Utah

Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah Counties in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Between 1990 and 2000 Draper was Utah's fastest-growing city over 5,000 people . Its population in 1990 was 7,143 and had grown to 25,220 by the 2000 census...

and until recently were signed to Warner Music Group-owned label, Doghouse Records

Doghouse Records

Doghouse Records is a Toledo, Ohio based record label, now run out of the New York City office. Since 2004 Doghouse has been a part of the Warner Music Group....

.

Royal Bliss

Royal Bliss

Royal Bliss is an American rock band formed in 1997 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently signed to Capitol Records and have released eight studio albums.-Background:...

, from Salt Lake City signed with Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

in 2007 and has enjoyed national recognition and touring success.

Fictionist

Fictionist

, from Provo

Provo, Utah

was signed with Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

in 2011 and will soon be going on tour.

Folk and pop

Newgrass

Progressive bluegrass

Progressive bluegrass is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. It is also known as newgrass, a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker. Musicians and bands John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the...

artists Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand had a country music hit single in 2005, "Dream Big."

Provo based folk singer/songwriter Joshua James

Joshua James (folk singer)

Joshua James is an American rock and folk musician currently based out of Provo, Utah. Joshua James is often compared to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joe Purdy, Bright Eyes or Ray LaMontagne...

had moderate success in 2007 when his album The Sun is Always Brighter reached number one on the iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

Folk Album chart.

Recently, Isaac Russell left his deal with Utah based Northplatte Records

Northplatte Records

Northplatte Records is an American independent record label founded by singer/songwriter Joshua James and McKay Stevens. The label's quick ascent began when Paste Magazine darling Joshua James and successive artist Isaac Russell came to prominence in singer/songwriter markets.-Fork Fest:In Oct...

to sign with Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. He is also from Provo.

Metal

Salt Lake City has also been the home of several underground extreme metal

Extreme metal

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...

music bands. One interesting act is Progressive

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

act Katagory V

Katagory V

Katagory V is an American heavy metal band from Salt Lake City, Utah that formed in 1999. Signed to Nightmare Records, Katagory V has released four studio albums...

who are still relatively unknown in their hometown of Salt Lake City but have had considerable success nationally. Katagory V has released four albums and signed with Nightmare Records in the U.S. and later with Burning Star Records in Europe. They appeared at some notable heavy metal festivals in the U.S. including the ProgPower USA

ProgPower USA

ProgPower USA is a progressive and power metal festival held annually in the United States since 2001. Its twelfth edition will be held at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on September 14 – September 17, 2011, with Sanctuary and Therion as headliners....

festival in Atlanta, Georgia.

Another considerably big band to come out of Salt Lake City, Utah, is Chelsea Grin, who have 2 albums and an EP

Folk music

Folk music constituted some of the earliest white/euramerican

Caucasian race

The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...

music in modern Utah. These songs, simple and easy to remember, were usually sung without accompaniment because of the scarcity of musical instrument

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

s in territorial Utah

Utah Territory

The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

. Although they often employed the same tunes as folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

elsewhere, Mormon folk is distinctively Utahn. The songs often include unique pioneer

Settler

A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...

-era Mormon culture references such as crossing the plains, Mormon ecclesiastical leaders, and LDS religious convictions.

A cappella

Utah has a flourishing a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

music scene. Some groups include Voice Male

Voice Male

Voice Male is a six-man contemporary a cappella group based in Utah. The group performs covers of contemporary popular songs as well as traditional Latter-day Saint music and some original material. Voice Male formed at Utah State University in 1994 as a nine man group, Over the next two years...

, InsideOut, Octappella

Octappella

Octappella is a seven-man contemporary a cappella group based in Utah. The members first sang together in college. Since forming Octappella, they have released three albums and were featured performers at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. Their albums feature a mix of humorous and original...

, Eclipse, The Standards, T Minus 5, 6th Gear, Moosebutter

Moosebutter

Moosebutter is a comedy a cappella group that started in Salt Lake City, UT, and has been based for most of its existence in Provo, Utah. The quartet has performed at venues spanning the United States, with most of their shows in the Rocky Mountain region, most notably Utah and Colorado...

and BYU's Vocal Point.

Religious music

The state’s most famous musical group is The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...

. Named after the Salt Lake Tabernacle

Salt Lake Tabernacle

The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah along with the Salt Lake Assembly Hall and Salt Lake Temple.-History:...

on Temple Square

Temple Square

Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...

in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

, the 300+ member choir is world-famous. The choir performs at least weekly at the Tabernacle for a radio program

Radio programming

Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....

called "Music and the Spoken Word

Music and the Spoken Word

Music and the Spoken Word is a weekly 30-minute radio and television program of inspiring messages and music produced by Bonneville Communications with music performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir .The radio program is distributed by the CBS Radio Network and its broadcast center is KSL...

". The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was first recorded in 1910 has released innumerable albums.

The Utah Saints

Utah Saints

Utah Saints is a dance band based in Leeds, England. The music is produced by Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt, who are joined on-stage by other musicians whenever the band plays live...

' song Something Good

Something Good (Utah Saints song)

"Something Good" is a house music song released by Utah Saints in 1992. It was first included as the lead song on a seven-track EP titled Something Good, then later included on the Utah Saints album...

added an uncharacteristically ecstatic experience to Utah religious music in 1992 and the 2008 remix topped the UK dance charts.

Utah music events

The Ogden Music Festival, 3-day outdoor festival featuring bluegrass, blues, folk & rockabilly is held the first weekend in June at Ogden's Fort Buenaventura with on-site camping. www.OFOAM.org The Park City & SLC Music Festival and Autumn Classics Music Festival, formerly the Deer Valley Music Festival, the Park City International Music Festival and Autumn Classics Music Festival, is held in Park City and Salt Lake City. These are projects of the Park City Chamber Music Society (PCCMS). PCCMS founded the original Deer Valley Music Festival

Deer Valley Music Festival

The Deer Valley Music Festival is the summer home of the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera. It occurs each summer in July and August in Park City, Utah at the Deer Valley Resort, St. Mary's Church, and Temple Har Shalom...

and the name was changed to Park City International Music Festival

Park City International Music Festival

The Park City International Music Festival is Utah's oldest classical music festival. Founded as the Deer Valley Music Festival in 1983, the Festival is centered around bringing renowned classical solo artists together to perform chamber music...

after a number of years. After two years, Russell Harlow

Russell Harlow

Russell Harlow, a clarinetist, grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in Utah. Russell is the co-director of the ] and Autumn Classics Music Festival] and runs both the Sonolumina Chamber Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Consortium of Utah...

joined the Park City Festival as co-director. When the Utah Symphony started its own Deer Valley Festival in Park City, the Park City Chamber Music Society divided its Park City International Music Festival into two separate festivals and added concerts in the Salt Lake City area. Utah's oldest classical music festival, the Park City &SLC Music Festival is well-known for its chamber music concerts.

The Park City Film Music Festival

The Utah Symphony was founded in 1940 by Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel was aSwiss-American Jewish conductor of classical music. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years.-Life:...

and performs at Abravanel Hall

Abravanel Hall

Abravanel Hall is a concert hall in Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to the Utah Symphony, and is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts. The hall is an architectural landmark in the city, and is adjacent to Temple Square and the Salt Palace on South Temple Street...

, a modern

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

concert hall in downtown Salt Lake City. The symphony merged in 2002 with the Utah Opera Company, which was organized in 1978. These organizations were the largest arts organizations in the state. Some opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

and orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

aficionados claimed that combined production quality would decline. There were questions about the wishes of the symphony's late founder. However, critical response to the merger has been good.

The Utah Valley Symphony

Utah Valley Symphony

The Utah Valley Symphony was organized in 1959 with about 30 members and an initial audience of eleven people . Today the orchestra has grown to between 75 to 80 members and gives multiple performances to accommodate demand. The Symphony performs 6 concerts a season at the Covey Center for the...

is a community orchestra organized in Utah County, Utah

Utah County, Utah

Utah County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000, the population was 368,536 and by 2008 was estimated at 530,837. It was named for the Spanish name for the Ute Indians. The county seat and largest city is Provo...

in 1959.

Notable musicians from Utah

Osmonds

The Osmonds

The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children, to achieving success as teen-music idols, to producing a hit television show, and to continued success as solo and group performers...

, Donny

Donny Osmond

Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...

and Marie Osmond

Marie Osmond

Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s...

and other members of the Osmond family hail from Ogden, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...

. In the 1970s they rose to prominence and Donny became a teen idol

Teen idol

A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...

.

The Deseret String Band formed in 1972 has performed across the world. They play a mixture of old-time music

Old-time music

Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...

, Utah pioneer

Settler

songs and Celtic music

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

.

Rock band The Used

The Used

was formed in Provo, Utah

Provo, Utah

.

In 2007, David Archuleta

David Archuleta

David Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...

rose to the national spotlight as a major contestant in the seventh season of American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

.

Dallon Weekes, bassist/keys for multi-platinum rock band Panic! at the Disco

Panic! at the Disco

and singer/songwriter for indie band The Brobecks

The Brobecks

Record labels

Although no major record labels are based in Utah, there are several small independent labels, such as Northplatte Records

Northplatte Records

, Differential, ExUmbrella, Lincoln Street Sound/Handsome Rob Records, Rest 30, and Sound vs. Silence. The End Records

The End Records

The End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...

is an independent metal and rock label that has signed some avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

and experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

groups. It was formed in Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, CA and relocated to Salt Lake City and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

The ISOMIKE label, which produces SACD (Super Audio) recordings, primarily of classical and jazz artists, is based in Utah and is produced by Ray Kimber.

Matchless Records is a fast-growing record label based in Utah It has a management division called Monolith Management, with approximately 100 local and international bands signed. .

The second-largest Utah publisher of local heavy rock music is HGR (Heavy Guitar Rock) Records .

Smaller heavy rock labels are Full Metal Distro (hardcore & death), Exigent (mostly death) and Retrospect (metalcore & 80's glam reissues).

Northern Utah

Notable venues in the Salt Lake Area include:

Club Vegas - 445S 400W, SLC
The Dawg Pound - 3550 S State St., SLC
The Depot
The Depot
The Depot is a 1200 capacity, 4 story venue located in downtown Salt Lake City that is part of the Union Pacific Train Station. It is a 21 and older venue with a patio for smoking....

– 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City
The Complex – 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City
The Rail Event Center – 235 N. 500 West, Salt Lake City
The Great Saltair – 12408 W. Saltair Drive, Magna
In The Venue (formerly known as "Bricks") – 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City
Club Sound – 579 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City
Kilby Court – 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City
Murray Theater – 4961 S. State Street, Murray
Avalon Theater – 3605 S. State Street, Salt Lake City

Notable venues in the Ogden Area include:

The Basement – 329 24th Street, Ogden
The Storm Cellar (inside Uncommon Grounds) – 136 25th Street, Ogden
Though other all-ages music venues in the Ogden Area do exist, they are not considered "notable".

Notable venues in the Provo Area include:

A. Beuford Giffords Libation Emporium - 190 W. Center St. Provo
Velour Live Music Gallery – 135 N. University Avenue, Provo
Muse Music – 151 N. University Avenue, Provo
The Death Star – 145 N. University Avenue, Provo
The Grove Theatre - 20 S. Main Street, Pleasant Grove

Southern Utah

Because of a quickly growing population in Southern Utah, local venues with regular performances are increasing. These include The Electric Theater, Sand Hollow Resort in Hurricane Utah, Jazzy Java cafe, The Firehouse Bar, the St. George Elks Lodge, and the Avenna Center on the campus of Dixie State College in St. George

St. George, Utah

St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ...

, Kayenta in Ivins, Utah

Ivins, Utah

Ivins is a city in Washington County, Utah, United States. The population was 4,450 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated at 7,205 in 2006. Although Ivins was a town in 2000, it has since been classified as a fifth-class city by state law.-History:...

and The Grind Coffee House and Mike's Tavern in Cedar City

Cedar City, Utah

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...

. The Southern Utah Songwriter's Association was founded recently and
has released several CDs of local performers as well as sponsoring open mic nights and songwriter competitions.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.