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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 founding member of the band. "I was coming out on the other side. The songs were therapy for me ... For me, my church may be songwriting."
The resulting record isn't what you would expect from a lead guitarist of a rock band. "This was more song-oriented," Tournet said, adding that epic guitar solos weren't part of the agenda. "I never feel like one thing in particular," he said. He didn't want to appear "self-indulgent," he said.
A few weeks after headlining Red Butte Garden, the band will open a string of dates for Robert Plant, which Tournet said was shocking. Torunet said that over the years, he gets used to hearing good news about the ascent of the band, but when it comes to touring with the Led Zeppelin frontman — "It's nice when you get that giddy feeling."
When • Sunday, June 16, at 7 p.m.Where • Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake CityTickets • $37 for Garden members, $42 for general public, at redbuttegarden.org