If all you know about Daft Punk is some faraway memory of their 2001 club hit “One More Time” or, even more likely, the duo’s production Kanye West sampled on his club-you-in-the-head hit “Stronger,” perhaps it is time to reconsider. Daft Punk’s fourth studio album “Random Access Memories” still features the French electronic producers Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Cristo as helmet-wearing robots with liberal uses of the vocoder, but this time around Daft Punk as done something it has never done before: expose its heart, beating away somewhere inside the machine. Its homage to vintage disco and warm analog production remains fresh because the e...

Provo electronic band Polytype had a rough go at it when it began performing
“We were still learning how to make electronic music, so our songs felt a bit unfinished at times,” said Mason Porter, 24, singer in the band. “We were also still getting used to playing live with computers. One show we had a pretty big problem with the computer and it almost scared us away entirely from doing electronic music.”
But they kept at it, and on June 4, the band officially released its debut album, “Basic//Complex,” In near-perfect timing, the quartet will perform at the Provo Rooftop Concert Series on June 7, with other artists Joshua James and Jay William Henderson.
Porte...

The Downtown Farmers Market will celebrate 21 years of providing opportunities for the community to support local businesses on June 4 with Red Rock Hot Club playing at a fund-raiser.

The Market—with more than 250 vendors—offers a unique variety of farmers, producers, bakeries, prepared food and beverages, packaged foods and local artisans, opens the following Saturday (June 8).

Squatters will host the Tuesday fundraising event from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. where guests can sample all of the things that make the Market great: local food, live music, art, food producers, supporters, plus the final barrel of a special brew: Bumper Crop.

High West will also provide Wh...

Syco, Simon Cowell’s company – a joint venture between Simon and Sony Music — has a YouTube channel called The You Generation that runs ‘call outs’ every two weeks for different talents.

Well, the recent girl groups category has been won by two young ladies from Provo: Catherine and Madelyne.

Last week, they were flown to Sony Music’s HQ in New York to meet some of the label’s executives. They have also uploaded a ‘thank you’ song to Simon (see above).

Here are a few of the links.

The You Generation’s main site:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF1cWZk-kVBrN9AM_ey7qdQ

The announcement of the ladies’ winning:

...

Jewel, who once lived in Utah, will perform at Deer Valley on Aug. 24. In the meantime, she tells tabloid magazine In Touch Weekly that "being a farmhand is a dirty job."

The magazine reveals in this excerpt:

Not your typical Hollywood diva, Jewel is set to star in Lifetime’s Ring of Fire (out May 27). The 39-year-old star lives on a 2,400-acre ranch in Stephenville, Texas, with her husband, former professional bull rider Ty Murray, 43, and son Kase, almost 2.

“It’s branding season, so we’ve been castrating and earmarking our cattle,” Jewel confides in the new issue of In Touch, of keeping busy after wrapping production on her latest film. “City peo...

The Utah Arts Festival will feature newly commissioned work from this year’s honorees, including Russell Schmidt, a professor at University of Utah’s College of Fine Arts.

As the jazz commission winner, Schmidt will present a world premiere piece, “Patience,” on Friday, June 21 at 8:30 p.m., on the Festival Stage.

Classical commission honoree Don Freund will be presenting a world premiere of his work “Mixed Blood,” for mixed chamber ensemble, as the finale of a composer commissions concert on Saturday, June 22 at 4 p.m. inside the Library Auditorium.

Also included in this performance are compositions as follows: “Sunlit,” a mixed chamber ensemble piece by...

Mannheim Steamroller announced that its annual concert tour will hit Abravanel Hall on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28. After Christmas.

The tour is now in its 28th year.

"One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is being part of everyone's holiday season with our annual concert tour, says Chip Davis, founder and creator of Mannheim Steamroller, in a press release. "We are privileged to continue sharing Christmas with audiences around the country".

Davis will direct and co-produce the performances with MagicSpace Entertainment. The shows will feature the Christmas music of Mannheim Steamroller along with state-of-the-art multimedia effects.

...

Is this video doesn't convince you to see Grace Potter & The Nocturnals at Red Butte Garden, what will?

Last summer, the Vermont-born experimental roots band was the opening band for the blockbuster Tim McGraw-Kenny Chesney stadium tour, and because Grace Potter and the Nocturnals only played for about a half-hour each night, lead guitarist Scott Tournet had extra time on his hands.

So he recorded an album. “Ver La Luz” came out last month and is the fruit of a personal breakdown he went through in September of 2011, when a crumbling relationship, nagging depression and years of life came to a head, he said in a phone interview. “I had been through a lot,” said Tournet, a fo...

Just a few days after leading more than 70 musicians at Carnegie Hall, American Fork's Caleb Chapman is the only Utahn to be named as quarterfinalist for the Music Educator Award presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation.

In total, more than 30,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states, and a total of 217 music teachers from 195 cities across 45 states have been selected.

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (K – college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maint...

&n...

Before he became regionally famous as the founder and director of the summer-time Twilight Concert Series, Casey Jarman was a working musician, and in 1987, he and his bandmates in the Jarman Kingston Quartet were one of the first four concerts at Red Butte Garden, in 1987.
At that point, Red Butte Garden concerts were held on the second Sunday of each month from June to September, and a season ticket cost $10.
“I don’t think they had a canopy,” Jarman said recently. “It was a much smaller thing.”
Since those inauspicious beginnings, the Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series has become one of the most popular concert series in all of Utah, with the 2...

Tonight marks the opening of the 2013 Red Butte Garden concert series, which began in 1987 with four concerts, and has expanded to a whopping 28 this year.
...

On June 25, She & Him will perform at Red Butte Garden, and they have premiered the video for their newest song, “I Could’ve Been Your Girl,” on HelloGiggles today.

The video marks the first time Zooey Deschanel has stepped behind the camera to direct.

Says Deschanel about directing in a press release, “After 7 years and 4 albums with She & Him, I figured it was about time I took a crack at making a video for a song I wrote. The process was so much fun, and gave me a chance to give a nod to some of my favorite 60’s musicals.”

“I Could’ve Been Your Girl” is one of the highlights on the band’s new album, "Volume 3," in stores now.

...

New music released today, May 21:
—
“Random Access Memories,” Daft Punk
“Trouble Will Find Me,” The National
“True Believers,” Darius Rucker
“The Beach Boys Live - The 50th Anniversary Tour,” The Beach Boys
“Seesaw,” Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa
“LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS,” 30 Seconds to Mars
“Go Back Home,” Audra McDonald
“Quartette Humaine,” Bob James & David Sanborn
“Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20,” John Zorn and Pat Metheny
“Good Songs & Great Friends,” Bret Michaels
“All This For A King: The Essential Collection,” David Crowder*Band
“Lay My Soul to Waste,” Pale Horse Named Death
“Life Sentence,” Satan
“Journeys,” Emerson String...

Get ready for the second coming of the comic Andrew Dice Clay.

The Dice Man not only has an extended stand-up residency at Las Vegas’s Hard Rock Hotel but has scored one of the most in-demand coups in the acting world: a prominent role in Woody Allen’s next film, “Blue Jasmine,” opening in late July, alongside Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

Yes, you read that right.

“The first meeting with Woody was pretty brief,” Clay said in a phone interview. “I didn’t go in there expecting anything ... He’s one of the greats of all time.”

But he landed the part, and although he can’t discuss too much about his role — due to Allen’s notoriously secretive n...

What happens after “The Voice”?
Sometimes, not much, even if you win.
But three recent contestants with Utah ties on the NBC-televised singing competition will perform May 22 at an open house for a new artist development company for musicians in Draper, and the three acts — Midas Whale, Ryan Innes and Amy Whitcomb — will announce a tour sponsored by the new company.
Each of the three Utah-based artists advanced relatively far in the competition before being eliminated, so they are hoping to capitalize on being lauded by Usher, Shakira, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton.
“That exposure, you can’t buy it,” said Innes.
The tour is one of the first forays by Refinement Record...

When Brogan Kelby was 16 years old, he wanted to start a career in music so badly that he made the decision to finish high school online.
He enrolled at Salt Lake Community College, but even that was too slow for him, so he dropped out.
Now 18, the Farmington singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is about to release a new EP, “Breathe in Color,” after releasing “Mirrors & Masks” in 2012 and “Sky Lights” in 2011.
The EP shows off Kelby’s nearly unfathomable talent. He writes and records every instrument on the EP, and produces every song himself. He has been able to find fans in not only the pop world with his edge, but also rock fans after landing...

Alex Brown Church, better known as Sea Wolf, is returning to Utah just a few months after his second trip to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, where he performed two sets at the ASCAP Music Café.

This time around, he was able to spend some time at the festival, unlike the first time, when he flew in and out in a single day. “It was really, really fun,” Church said in a phone interview. “This time I had some friends there, and was able to see a film.”

Church’s friends came from the film school at New York University, which Church also attended as a film school student before turning his focus toward his brand of indie-folk that sounds, well, c...

One of this summer’s most-anticipated shows features British pop icon Adam Ant, who is on his largest North American tour in 18 years touring behind his new album, “Adam Ant is The Blueblack Hussar Is Marrying The Gunnar’s Daughter.”

In a phone interview, Ant, 58, said the album’s 17 songs are autobiographical, and the album’s nearly 70 minutes of material is something he never would have been able to do on a major label.

(Ant’s Blueblack Hussar label is handling the release.)

Ant promised a long night of music — “It’s like I’ve run a marathon every night” — that will include six songs off the new collection, as well as the hits that have helped sell ...

What a year the metal band Lamb of God has had.

Shortly after releasing “Resolution” in 2012, band member Randy Blythe was arrested for manslaughter for an incident at a 2010 concert in Prague. He was charged with committing intentional bodily harm for pushing a 19-year-old fan who had climbed onstage.

The teen hit his head and died from the injury.

Lamb of God canceled its tour, and after 37 days, Blythe was released on bail.

He was acquitted in March (but the Czech government plans to appeal).

“It’s about time,” said bassist John Campbell of the exoneration.

Now the band can go back to what it does best: tour with fury.

“...

Tim McGraw headlines the first country show at Usana Amphitheatre on June 14, with Love & Theft and Brantley Gilbert opening.

The latter is a 28-year-old singer-songwriter who has not only charted two No. 1 country songs, ““Country Must Be Country Wide” and “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” but wrote fellow Georgian Jason Aldean’s chart-toppers “My Kinda Party” and “Dirt Road Anthem” (co-written with Colt Ford).

In a phone interview, Gilbert said his childhood in small-town Jefferson, Georgia was full of hunting, fishing and dirt-bike riding until he picked up the guitar. “It was always therapeutic for me,” he said of the guitar. Plus, he added, “it helped wit...

The critically acclaimed indie-rock band Yo La Tengo from Hoboken, N.J., is still a little shaken up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which decimated the city.

“It’s not completely back to normal,” said frontman Ira Kaplan.

But things are looking up for Yo La Tengo, which released its newest album, “Fade,” earlier this year.

To celebrate, the trio will perform two sets at The State Room. “We were looking for the best way to present the new material live,” Kaplan said.

It is only through music that fans are able to get a glimpse of the dynamics of the notoriously private band. “We’re pretty adept at creating a pretty tight circle that is diff...

Although Imagine Dragons recently headlined a show at The Complex, the Las Vegas pop-rock band had no problem selling out the much-larger UCCU Center in Orem.

No surprise, since frontman Dan Reynolds attended Brigham Young University and guitarist Wayne Sermon grew up in American Fork.

The band’s solo debut album, “Night Visions,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart, an almost-unheard-of accomplishment for a first album.

The singles “It’s Time” and “Radioactive” also hit close to the top of the Billboard list.

“There’s so many bands that would love to be in our position,” said Sermon in a phone interview. “We’re a little shell-shocked n...

The newly crowned winner of the 12th season of "American Idol," Candice Glover, will release her debut album, “Music Speaks” this summer.

The album, anticipated for a July 16 release, is available now for pre-order on the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com/AmericanIdol). Fans who pre-order will instantly get Glover’s "American Idol" coronation song, “I Am Beautiful.”

Glover’s debut CD is being rushed for pre-orders at www.candiceglover-official.com.

The 23-year-old singer is from St. Helena Island, South Carolina.

Attached are the three songs she performed in Wednesday night's final performance night.

...

Nine free summer concerts to check out outside of Salt Lake City:

May 18 • Marinade, Snowbird
June 7 • Joshua James, Polytype, Jay William Henderson, Provo Rooftop Concert Series
June 30 • Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real, Snowbasin
July 5 • Get Off My Cloud: The Songs of the Rolling Stones, The National Parks, Provo Rooftop Concert Series
July 13 • Chicago Afrobeat Project, Snowbird
July 20 • JJ Grey & Mofro, The Canyons
Aug. 2 • Mindy Gledhill, Mideau, Scott Shepard, Provo Rooftop Concert Series
Aug. 18 • The English Beat, The Canyons
Sept. 6 • Ryan Innes, The New Electric Sound, Provo Rooftop Concert Series

...

Here are high-profile rock, pop and country shows in Utan this August and September:

AUGUST
Aug. 1 • Due West, Ed Kenley Amphitheater, $10-$24.
Aug. 1 • The Cult, The Depot, $36-$41.
Aug. 1 • Bob Dylan with Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Bingham, Usana Amphitheatre, $33-$80.
Aug. 1 • The National with Sharon Von Etten, Pioneer Park, $5.
Aug. 1 • Megadeth & Black Label Society, Maverik Center, $25.
Aug. 2 • Brad Paisley with Chris Young, Lee Brice, Usana Amphitheatre, $31-$65.75.
Aug. 2 • Bruno Mars, Maverik Center, $36.50-$76.50.
Aug. 3 • Mandy Patinkin with the Utah Symphony, Deer Valley Music Festival, $32.
Aug. 3 • Hayes ...

Since Carnegie Hall opened in 1891, a Who’s Who of icons have performed at the legendary New York venue, including pianist Vladimir Horowitz’s sold-out 1965 recital and Groucho Marx’s 1972 appearance at the twilight of his career.

On Tuesday, May 21, the Crescent Super Band, from the American Fork youth bands, will get their turn.

The trip has been 13 months in the making, with the help of sponsors such as Legacy Music Alliance and Merit Medical Systems, which donated $75,000 for travel expenses.

The young musicians — high-school age and younger — are ready.

“I get a pit in my stomach thinking about it,” music director Caleb Chapman admitted in a recent telepho...

Wiseguys comedy clubs throughout Utah have a number of comedy stars appearing soon, including:

• Dave Coulier, tonight in Ogden and then May and May 18 in West Valley City

• Chris Kattan, on May 24 and May 25 in West Valley City

• Marcus, on May 31 and June 1 at Trolley Square

• Chris Hardwick, June 6-8 at West Valley City

• Mike Epps, June 14-16 at West Valley City

• Andrew Dice Clay, June 22 at West Valley City

• Marc Maron, Aug. 17 at West Valley City

• Janeane Garofalo, on Aug. 20 at Trolley Square

Get tickets at www.wiseguyscomedy.com

...

Kenny Chesney, whose No. 1 album 'Life On A Rock' was released April 30 and who will be performing at Usana Amphitheatre in July, has collaborated with the non-profit Music and Memory to help bring iPods loaded with personalized playlists to seniors suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia in nursing homes nationwide.

The practice has been found to be tremendously therapeutic, leading to improved social engagement and quality of life.

Watch Chesney's PSA on behalf of Music & Memory - http://bit.ly/UZ8JiO

Watch Music & Memory in action: http://shorefi.re/WGSogB

...

Bountiful’s Concerts In The Park, supported by the Bountiful City Service Council and Bountiful City, are all free and will be on Fridays at 7 p.m. at the City Park (400 N. 200 West in Bountiful).

June 21, Bountiful’s Got Talent; a showcase of local talent with cash prizes for first, second and third place.

June 28, Kurt Bestor introducing music from his new CD.

July 12, Utah Voices and the 23rd Army Band will perform a patriotic concert.

July 19, Parchman Farm; a classic rock band.

August 2, Two Weeks Notice; a classic rock/pop band.

August 16, Red Desert Ramblers; country and bluegrass band.

August 23, Endless Summer, a classic rock ...

&n...

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is coming this June!

The widely respected rock ‘n’ roll band led by New Hampshire native and Brown University-educated Jon Spencer first visited Utah as a child when his family moved from the East Coast to Palo Alto, Calif. so that his father could take a sabbatical and teach a course at Stanford University.

On the way, the family car got into a wreck as they were just about to go through Salt Lake City, so the family all went skiing for a week to get over the traumatic experience.

In a phone interview, Spencer said he always have fond memories of Utah whenever they visit. The band released an album, “Meat + ...

The 2013 Billboard Music Awards will air this coming Sunday night on ABC, live from Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

As announced previously, Prince will be on hand to perform and accept the Billboard Icon Award, which pays tribute to his unique journey and history of accomplishments in the music industry. Songs to be performed by Prince will be revealed during the show. Madonna will also take the stage to accept the Top Touring Artist award, honoring the highest-grossing concert touring act of the year.

The playlist of solo performances and collaborations for this year’s Billboard Music Awards includes:

Solo:
Justin Bieber ...

Utah's The Piano Guys have signed a worldwide publishing deal with Razor & Tie Music Publishing, it has just been announced.

The Piano Guys became an internet sensation by way of their successful series of original self-made music videos which continue to amass millions of views.

The group’s just released sophomore album, "The Piano Guys 2," debuted this week on the Billboard Charts with over 11,300 units sold at No. 1 on Classical Overall, No. 1 on Classical Crossover, No. 1 on New Age, and No. 38 on the Top 200 Album Chart.

Their 2012 hit debut album is also still in the top five on the Classical Overall, Classical Crossover and New Age Billboard charts, s...

If Alice in Chains and Jane's Addiction aren't enough to convince you to be at Usana Amphitheatre on Sept. 2, one of the opening acts should.

Seattle’s Walking Papers is the much-buzzed-about new band featuring rock luminaries Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), Jeff Angell and Benjamin Anderson (both of The Missionary Position). They are gearing up for the August 6 release of their self-titled debut.

Recorded in Seattle and mixed by veteran producer Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Nirvana, Mudhoney), Walking Papers features a guest appearance by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, who played on lead single “...

The late British writer W. Somerset Maugham said it best:
“Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”
The headliners of the 28th annual Living Traditions Festival represent not just the skeletons of traditional music but also the flesh and muscle of 21st century rhythms and melodies.
That peculiar yet delicious dichotomy illustrates that traditions live and thrive in 2013 in a state where white people make up 86 percent of the population.
Presented by Salt Lake City Arts Council, the festival — which is known for having the best food booths in the Intermountain West — will feature four musical headliners who are steeped in tr...

With nearly 150 pop and rock concerts scheduled through September, Wasatch Front music fans have some tough decisions to make.
On Aug. 1, for example, they have to choose among Bob Dylan at Usana Amphitheatre, The Cult at The Depot, The National at the Twilight Concert Series in Pioneer Park, Megadeth at the Maverik Center or the country rockers Due West at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater in Layton.
The decisions are just as tough on July 19, when Steve Martin performs at the Deer Valley Music Festival. The same night, Heartless Bastards take the stage at Urban Lounge, Son Volt plays The State Room and the Country Explosion festival rides into Miller Motorsports Park.

Here are u...

The experimental, electronica ensemble Black Moth Super Rainbow is led by Thomas Fec, better known by the stage name Tobacco and revered in the underground scene for his novel approach to analog instrumentation and production.

In a phone interview, Tobacco described Black Moth Super Rainbow’s new album’s sound as “demon skater.”

Last July, Tobacco created a Kickstarter campaign to fund the release of the album “Cobra Juicy.” His goal was $45,000, but he received pledges totaling more than $125,000.

Since Tobacco does all of his production at his home studio, the funds will help him create a physical album with special packages that include masks that ...

A funny thing happened last September.
A musician successful in the local scene moved to ... California.
OK, it’s not unheard of. But when someone like folk singer-songwriter Jen Hajj moved to southern California in October, it was our loss and the Golden State’s gain.
Hajj has a deep history with the local acoustic music scene, both as a performer and as a house concert host, as well as being a DJ for more than 3 years as host of KRCL’s Sunday Bluegrass Express,
She just released her third album, “Love is Everywhere,” and immediately after won an award as Best/Favorite Folk Artist or Band at the second annual Intermountain Acoustic Music Association awards, despite now havi...

Two more shows for the Grandstand at the Utah State Fair have been announced.

In addition to Amy Grant and .38 Special, Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler will perform MOnday, Sept. 9, and Kahuna Beach Party (described as a "musical celebration of the Beach Boy [and] a lighthearted tribute to the fun and optimistic feeling of the early 1960’s) will perform Saturday, Sept. 14.

For more information or to purchase tickets go to www.utahstatefair.com

Reserved seat ticket prices include Fair gate admission.

38 Special tickets will go on sale Friday, May 17 at 10 a.m. But there will a special pre-sale Thursday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at http://w...

Midas Whale of NBC’s "The Voice" will be performing on Highway 89 tonight at 8 p.m.

You can hear the performance on Sirius XM 143 BYU Radio and at www.byuradio.org

The folk duo from Rexburg, Idaho comprised of Ryan Hayes and Jon Peter Lewis will perform 5 original songs. In between songs BYU Radio General Manager Don Shelline will chat with the pair about everything from geology to relationships.

HIGHWAY 89 is a live music performance program that originates in the radio studios of BYU Broadcasting and is distributed nationally on Sirius XM 143 BYU Radio, with classical format shows also being broadcast locally on Classical 89.1 & 89.5 FM. The recording engineer...

The three recent Utah contestants from TV’s hit show “The Voice” will help kick off the Open House at a new artist development company for musicians in Draper May 22.

Ryan Innes, the duo from Midas Whale and Amy Whitcomb will appear at a 11:30 a.m. press conference talk abiut Refinement Records, what is being called a "360-music development concept."

All three contestants will sing at the open house at 11:30 a.m. during the 11-1 p.m. event at 12244 South Business Park Drive in Draper.

A special announcement about the Utah “Voice” musicians – and a forthcoming summer tour – will be made at the press conference.

Adam Reader, president of Refinement Reco...

Bud Light is celebrating music all summer long through Bud Light Music First, a new program that brings music experiences to consumers across the country.

The program culminates on August 1, with Bud Light’s “50/50/1”presenting concerts in all 50 states on a single day, and Bud Light is bringing Blackberry Smoke to The Complex.

Residents in Salt Lake City and surrounding cities can win tickets to the 50/50/1 event – as well as more than 500,000 music-centric prizes – through the Bud Light Music First app, available through the Apple and Android app stores.

Fans can also learn more through the Bud Light Music First Myspace Hub at https://new.myspace.com/b...

With his 40th (!) studio album, “Love is Everything,” now in stores, George Strait is not one to surprise us, especially as he turned 61 the same week the album came out. There are no songs flavored with EDM, or songs with LL Cool J that will embarrass him and racial relations in the United States. There is an easy-going comfort in Strait that makes him perfect for quiet nights at home, but you will not hear this album playing loudly at tailgate parties at Kenny Chesney or Florida Georgia Line concerts. Strait wrote or co-wrote four of the album’s 13 songs, working again with his son Bubba (!), longtime writing collaborator Dean Dillon, and producer Tony ...

Here are high-profile concerts headed Utah's way come June:

June 1 • Taylor Swift, EnergySolutions Arena. Sold out.
June 4 • Alice Cooper with Marilyn Manson, Usana Amphitheatre, $34-$59.
June 6 • Katie Ainge, Gino’s, $2.
June 7 • Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand, Sandy Amphitheater, $10-$16.
June 7 • Mark Ballas & Friends Concert, Draper Amphitheater, $25-$30.
June 8 • King Niko and Hang Time, Sandy Amphitheater, $10.
June 8 • They Might Be Giants, The Depot, $20-$25.
June 9 »•Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Red Butte Garden, $43.
June 14 • Tim McGraw with Brantley Gilbert, Love and Theft, Us...

The University of Utah-educated, famed DJ and producer Kaskade has formed a partnership to help promote and grow the Hang w/ platform.

Kaskade will use the Hang w/ platform to share his life with his millions of fans. In only his first week on the platform, Kaskade broadcast live from a helicopter ride over Long Beach, California and from behind the turntables at a live show. He even used Hang w/ before his show to ask fans which songs he should perform that night.

The "Hang w/" app is quickly gaining downloads and momentum after being released to the Apple App Store in March -- reaching as high as No. 11 in Social Media. It enables live, real-time video to be s...

Utah’s favorite dads, The Piano Guys, just release their latest self-made music video “Home,” made famous by the 2012 "American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips.

This new video finds the band in their home state of Utah.

It was filmed in the town of Springdale near Zion National Park. Check it out here: http://youtu.be/aF-Z1A0ujlg.

“We love being on tour and meeting our fans! However, as we travel along with our equipment, cellos and baggage one thing never gets checked away - we miss home. We miss our family. When we first heard ‘Home’ we couldn’t help but be emotionally drawn to it,” says Steven Sharp Nelson in a press release.

“We love to incorporate...

Excellence in the Community and the Gallivan Center have teamed up to host the Wasatch Jazz Project at the Gallivan every Tuesday evening from 7:30-9:30 (with a couple of exceptions) from May 21 to mid-September.

The Wasatch Jazz Project Big Band, founded in 2004 and under the artistic direction of Carol Steffens, is a 19-piece big band amd will kick off the series on May 21.

There will be a dance floor and admission is free. Everyone is welcome, so bring your bring blankets, chairs, etc.

When Exellence founder Jeff Whiteley began the Excellence project in 2005, he talked about presenting regular big band swing dances in downtown Salt Lake City.

Th...

Although May is half-over, there are still plenty of top-tier musical acts rolling through town the rest of the month, and not just at the Living Traditions Festival this coming weekend.

I realize that some people might not consider Limp Bizkit to be top-tier. To each their own.

Over the next few days, I will be publishing lists of good shows in each of the summer months, all the way through September.

Here's May:

May 17 • Fictionist with The Technicolors and Holy Water Buffalo, The State Room, $10.
May 19 • Limp Bizkit, The Complex, $30
May 20 • Imagine Dragons, UCCU Center. Sold out
May 20 • Yo La Tengo, The State Room, $25.
May 21 • V...

The 2013 Living Traditions Festival is this weekend.

When • Friday, May 17, 5 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, May 18, noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, May 19, noon to 7 p.m.

Where • Salt Lake City & County Building (450 S. 200 East), Salt Lake City

Tickets • Free admission

Headliners • The Relatives (psychedelic gospel, May 19 at 5:30 p.m.); Maura O’Connell (Irish -American folk, May 18 at 8:30 p.m.); De Temps Antan (Quebec folk, May 18 at 7 p.m.);and Mariachi Divas (multi-cultural, all-female ensemble, May 17 at 8:30 p.m.)

Main stages • Over 40 performances will be presented on the festival’s two mai...