Three of the country’s most popular musicians are set to take the stage in Utah this week.
Grammy award winner Kacey Musgraves and nominees Noah Kahan and Post Malone will headline Redwest, a three-day country music festival at the Utah State Fairpark.
How did a festival that only has one year under its belt buckle manage to book these three artists? It’s a rare feat, considering all three have skyrocketed in popularity over the years, and have traditionally played at bigger Utah venues, like Rice-Eccles Stadium, Red Butte Garden and Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre.
Redwest assistant director Jake Jensen said it’s a combination of ingenuity, luck and intentionality. The discussion started five years ago, he said, of how to put together a mega-show with an ideal wish-list of artists to feature.
But the real backstory starts decades prior — with a group of a dozen friends who have been embedded in the local music scene for years and are “diehard music fans,” as Jensen puts it.
“One thing that’s very unique about the Salt Lake music scene in general is there’s a lot of locals here that all … grew up doing shows or [were] in musical theater in the different schools here,” Jensen said.
Jensen attended Brighton High School, while festival director Danny Bateman went to Olympus High School and site manager Tyler Ince went to Park City High School.
The trio bonded over their shared love of music 25 years ago, and between the three of them, they’ve worked on Vans Warped Tour, Salt Lake Twilight, U92 Summer Jam, X96’s “Big Ass Show” and other major music events in Utah.
Another sector of the friend group — cofounders Damian Benedetti, Kevin Colopy and Tanner Olsen — met while they were students at the University of Utah. That group started booking smaller concerts and acts for college parties, according to Jensen.
“Our team was one of the first teams in the entire country to book and play stuff from this kind of different artist out of Texas, and book shows with them in New Mexico and here in Salt Lake,” Jensen said. “He would all of a sudden explode and turn into what is Post Malone.”
When Benedetti, Colopy and Olsen met Jensen and Bateman, their group grew, and went on to book shows from artists like Kanye West and Megan Moroney, who performed at the first iteration of Redwest.
Benedetti credits those days at the U. and a love for country music as direct inspiration to conceptualizing Redwest.
Along the way, the group expanded and added merch manager Malie Roberts, ticketing director Courtney Coles, and food and beverage managers Bryan Morrison and Courtney Mortensen. There’s also Dan Clark, the security director, and Scott Schilling, production manager.
That original belief in Malone’s music has led to a lasting relationship with the group, and once they booked him, Jensen said it was easier to book the other artists.
This year’s Redwest festival features a lineup of 30+ artists over three days. Aside from the three headliners, country artists like Ella Langley and Treaty Oak Revival — a band whose lyrics Jensen describes as “pure poetry” — are also on the bill.
Fans from all 50 states will flock to Utah to witness the roster of musicians.
This group of friends, Jensen said, pulled together as a “mom and pop operations company” to put on the festival — everyone, from the janitorial staff to the sound and lighting crews, comes from the Beehive State.
Putting on this festival — with these artists — is something that their high school selves could’ve never predicted, Jensen said.
“It’s kind of a magic moment,” he said. “A chance to be a part of music history in the state of Utah.”
Redwest kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday.