Authors: Cody Kirkland
Beehive Distilling Launch Party @ The State Room 08.02
Partners Matt Aller, Chris Barlow and Erik Ostling, who have worked in Salt Lake’s design, advertising and photography industries, officially started producing at Beehive Distilling in January of this year and their visual skills show on both the bottle’s great label design and their promotional materials. The precious liquid inside the bottle, though, outshines its appearances—Jack Rabbit Gin is some fine-tasting liquor. … read more
Ty Segall @ Urban Lounge 09.27 with La Luz, Max...
This is better than when I saw Ty Segall play here in Fuzz and that was one of the best performances I can remember. Holy cow, this is amazing. How can he play so well and so hard, non-stop? … read more
Getting Back Up: Tempt One Writes Again
In 1980s Los Angeles, Tony Quan, aka Tempt One, was one of the pioneers of a distinct LA graffiti style. But in 2003, Tempt was diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which left him almost completely paralyzed, unable to eat, breathe or even speak on his own—writing graffiti was obviously out of the question. … read more
Palace of Buddies
Nick Foster and Tim Myers have made music in Salt Lake in many incarnations over the last 12 years. Palace of Buddies, the current musical incarnation of Foster and Myers, plays an infectious assembly of electro-pop and dance-rock. Make sure to put on your blue dress and join Palace of Buddies as they get the party poppin’ at SLUG’s Blue Dress Birthday Bash on Feb. 17 at The Woodshed. … read more
Home at Last: Signed & Numbered Frames the Future
Over the last four years, Signed & Numbered has lived a nomadic existence. What began as a tiny basement poster shop on Broadway expanded into a custom frame shop, necessitating various moves to locations around the Salt Lake valley. Now located at 2320 S. West Temple, and enough room to fit the entire operation under one roof, the shop has evolved into the creative home base envisioned nearly two decades ago. … read more
Local Reviews: Max Pain and the Groovies
Tortilla Gold, the latest release from the Groovies, is seven tracks of jangling, bluesy rock n’ roll. This band plays a great live show, always getting the crowd thrashing around. Fast rockers such as “Electro Cosmic Chronic Jam” and “Doin Time” capture that energy, while the slow groove of “Piano” and “Good Olds Blues” show a more melodic, tightened-up side of the band. … read more
Heeeeeeere’s Johnny! The New Face of Moab Brewery
Chances are, you’ve noticed a couple new beers in the cooler at grocery stores and gas stations. The bold red, white and blue bull’s-eye of Johnny’s American IPA and the vintage, checkered turquoise-and-white Rocket Bike American Lager stand out on the shelf, both in appearance and size. If you looked closer at the four-pack of 16 oz tallboys, you may have been surprised to see that they were from Moab Brewery. … read more
Midsummer Crunch: Crucial Fest Strikes Again
Crucial Fest is Salt Lake City’s own badass rock festival thrown by Exigent Records. Making its debut last summer, Crucial Fest presented an exposition of amazing local and regional talent in a five-day, multi-venue musical orgy. At this year’s festival, running June 20-23 and June 27-30, there will be more bands and more shows spread over various Salt Lake venues, with all-day Kilby Court extravaganzas complete with art, vendors, food carts and skate demos on both Saturdays. … read more
Mommy’s Little Monsters on Punk Rock Halloween
Three years ago, Minor Threat, Black Flag and the Misfits played in the basement of an abandoned building somewhere in Salt Lake City. Of course, it was actually Utah’s xCOMMUNICATEDx, Pass-A-Fist and Youth Descent, impersonating and playing cover sets of some of their favorite punk bands in a Salt Lake tradition: Punk Rock Halloween. “It’s the idea of dressing up and being someone else for Halloween, but, instead, bands are doing it,” says Robin Banks, the local artist and SLUG Mag contributor who helps organize the event. … read more
Handcrafted Hacking: The Transistor and Make: SLC
The word “hacker” often connotes a lone, bespectacled computer villain sitting in a dark room, breaking code to alter the White House’s homepage or gain access to people’s personal account information on Amazon. For the people who actually do it, however, hacking is more about taking something that was made for one purpose and integrating it into your own creation to do something else. The Transistor and Make: SLC are part a community of people around the globe who see something cool and think, “Hey, I could make that!” … read more
La Barba’s DIY Coffee Operation
On the West Coast, high-end coffee roasters and cafes long ago ditched the Irish crème and the breakfast blend, instead focusing on the flavors of the (gasp!) actual coffee itself. This new school of coffee emphasizes a lighter roasting style, which highlights the different flavor profiles of coffees from particular regions. Salt Lake’s own La Barba Coffee Roasting is roasted in a modified barbecue grill in a Rose Park backyard, and it’s on par with some of the roasters that inspired it. … read more
Quadruple Your Fun: Utah’s Four Freshest Brewpubs
When I reached the legal drinking age, I joked about aspiring to have a beer gut. I have always been a real scrawny guy with the metabolism of a hummingbird, so I figured I’d never consume enough beer to develop any visible bulge in my midsection. Half a dozen years later, the Utah craft beer scene directly correlates with my budding beer belly. Always eager to try new booze, the Kirkland brothers hit the road to see what’s brewing out in the desert of eastern Utah, on the edge of the Great Salt Lake and up the hill in the Avenues. … read more
