The Family That Kilby Built
by Jeremy C Wilkins [punkrock_183@hotmail.com]
Issue 223 / July 2007 More from this Issue
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Anyone who has grown up in Salt Lake City and started going to shows at a young age knows that Salt Lake’s all-ages venue options have always been limited. Stereotypically, all-ages venues come and go every few months to every few years for numerous reasons, which is also a nationwide trend. The staying power of a venue screams volumes about the owners, the patrons and the bands that play there. Furthermore, there is something to be said about an all-ages venue, which doesn’t require any bar revenue to pay the bills. That venue in Utah is Kilby Court: one of Utah’s longest running all-ages venues, which will celebrate its eighth anniversary in July.
Photo by Jeremy C Wilkins, Esq.
"Kilby was an accident," said Sherburne. "It was never intentional. I never planned on starting a venue, but at a certain point it became my identity and now I like it. Up until very recently I still thought I was a woodworker."
In 1999, Sherburne was living in his woodshop on Kilby Court (the street) where the bathrooms are now located. At the time Sherburne was living there the Kilby space/garage became available for rent and Sherburne snatched it up. "I was in this art group called Borrowed Walls," Sherburne said, "And I thought they’d go in on it with me; as it turned out, they didn’t want to. There was no bathroom and it was a garage with one outlet."
When Sherburne’s idea for making the garage space an art gallery didn’t pan out, he decided he still wanted to find a way to hold on to the property. Around that time, venues around town had been under fire for doing shows and were laying low. "The promoters were trying to find places to put shows and I said, ‘We can do it here in this garage, just give me a little money to offset the rent.’ Then it became fun. It was parties and you could bring alcohol, do anything you wanted and there was a donation jar if you wanted to give."
It was in July of 1999 that Gentry Densley of Iceburn and Form of Rocket (to name just two of his many bands) called up Sherburne about doing a proper show in the garage—not just a party with bands playing. When Densley printed up flyers for the show he advertised the garage as the "Kilby Court Gallery," thus naming the space.
Kilby Court had entered the "honeymoon phase" of its existence. The shows started flowing, it was gaining notoriety and it quickly become the place for live music and parties—everything seemed to be perfect, then reality came and swiftly put its foot down.
"For 10 months [when] it became more consistent, we were doing three, four, five shows a week and then the city came in and said we needed to get a license. We had to shut it down and get it legal. I was going to quit at that time because I got some pretty hefty tickets and was looking at jail time for running a business without a license and they said I was selling the alcohol to the people I let bring it in. The city had a pretty solid case."
While going through the mess of getting shut down, resolving tickets and accusations and deciding whether to close up shop or reopen, Sherburne said his attorney talked him into keeping Kilby and making it legal. However, the money it would take to get things official was more than Sherburne had to give. One night, Rick Ziegler, owner of the then Salt City CDs, called and told Sherburne he really liked what he was doing and hoped it would continue. Sherburne told Ziegler he didn’t have the money to go through the legal process. Ziegler then promptly offered $2,000 to help and said to call if more was needed.
Photo by Jeremy C Wilkins, Esq.
"Kilby was an accident," said Sherburne. "It was never intentional. I never planned on starting a venue, but at a certain point it became my identity and now I like it. Up until very recently I still thought I was a woodworker."
In 1999, Sherburne was living in his woodshop on Kilby Court (the street) where the bathrooms are now located. At the time Sherburne was living there the Kilby space/garage became available for rent and Sherburne snatched it up. "I was in this art group called Borrowed Walls," Sherburne said, "And I thought they’d go in on it with me; as it turned out, they didn’t want to. There was no bathroom and it was a garage with one outlet."
When Sherburne’s idea for making the garage space an art gallery didn’t pan out, he decided he still wanted to find a way to hold on to the property. Around that time, venues around town had been under fire for doing shows and were laying low. "The promoters were trying to find places to put shows and I said, ‘We can do it here in this garage, just give me a little money to offset the rent.’ Then it became fun. It was parties and you could bring alcohol, do anything you wanted and there was a donation jar if you wanted to give."
It was in July of 1999 that Gentry Densley of Iceburn and Form of Rocket (to name just two of his many bands) called up Sherburne about doing a proper show in the garage—not just a party with bands playing. When Densley printed up flyers for the show he advertised the garage as the "Kilby Court Gallery," thus naming the space.
Kilby Court had entered the "honeymoon phase" of its existence. The shows started flowing, it was gaining notoriety and it quickly become the place for live music and parties—everything seemed to be perfect, then reality came and swiftly put its foot down.
"For 10 months [when] it became more consistent, we were doing three, four, five shows a week and then the city came in and said we needed to get a license. We had to shut it down and get it legal. I was going to quit at that time because I got some pretty hefty tickets and was looking at jail time for running a business without a license and they said I was selling the alcohol to the people I let bring it in. The city had a pretty solid case."
While going through the mess of getting shut down, resolving tickets and accusations and deciding whether to close up shop or reopen, Sherburne said his attorney talked him into keeping Kilby and making it legal. However, the money it would take to get things official was more than Sherburne had to give. One night, Rick Ziegler, owner of the then Salt City CDs, called and told Sherburne he really liked what he was doing and hoped it would continue. Sherburne told Ziegler he didn’t have the money to go through the legal process. Ziegler then promptly offered $2,000 to help and said to call if more was needed.
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