Live Music, Locally Grown

Getting out-and-about in order to kick up your heels to the strains of a local dance band has been part of Park City’s cultural landscape since locals first began installing floors. On a single page of The Park Mining Record Newspaper of September 3, 1881, were announcements for two upcoming “Grand Balls” at the Miner’s Union Hall and a third dealing with the formation of a new square-dance band in town. Those old-timers would be happy to see how well we’ve kept the faith. These days, Park City flaunts a local organic music scene to die for. Bands are truly coming out of the woodwork.

We’ve got the Motherlode Canyon Band, Muddpuddle, Fat Paw, Rich Wyman, Small House Strings, John Boy’s Mule, Mary Beth Maziarz, Tony Oros, Wisebird, and a slew of young jazz riffers, among others. And for honky-tonk aficionados, there’s always The Barfly Wranglers to get the boot heels wanderin’.

The “Motherlode Canyon Band,” first organized almost 15 years ago by current Park City Mayor Dana Williams, has proven to be quite the popular dance band and concert opening act over the years. Their CD “Each and Every Day” has been receiving good reviews while spreading their soulful rock shtick even further. You can catch them keeping the beat almost everywhere from Park City’s outdoor summer venues to hip local hotspots on a regular basis.

Tim Wray’s “Fat Paw” is another longtime local music outfit of note. A rock trio with the rather unique configuration of guitar, drums, and Hammond B-3 organ, Fat Paw can work your southern-rock, folk-rock, and jam-rock sensibilities until your feet wear out. Other than the usual local haunts, Fat Paw, along with Tim Wray’s solo act, can be seen often at the Owl Bar at Sundance or down at Hog Wallow in Salt Lake City.

Another local band packing a chunk of on-stage history around these parts is “Muddpuddle.”  As with most any group with a longtime local following, this outfit is as eclectic as its ever-expanding set list of covers and self-penned tunes would suggest. Besides their local club and outdoor summer concerts venue rotation, Muddpuddle also performs that alternative country-rock-blues thing they do at special events both here andown in the big city.

“Small House Strings” may be small in size, but is huge otherwise. Cutting a rather wide swath through the numerous and ever-evolving sub-genres of rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass and folk, the acoustic duo configuration of Marty Morrison and Drew Frink expands, often without prior notice, into the “Small Strings Trio” or “Quartet” with the additions of  horns, keyboards and percussion. And last summer saw the debut of their latest incarnation, a most artful outfit called, “Him and the Nouns.”

A very interesting group that has emerged locally over the last couple of years is “John Boy’s Mule,” a melting pot of everything from olde tyme, to folk, to rock, to blues. Made up of Jack Walzer on guitars and vocals; Karri Hays on fiddle, banjo and vocals; multi-string instrumentalist Ken Sager; doghouse bassman Mark Viar; and Damion Rommets on dobro, you’ll find John Boy's Mule pickin’ and grinnin’ at multiple venues around town.

Rich Wyman, Park City’s passionate keyboardist-with-a-cause, continues to perform locally and internationally both as a solo artist and with his band. With a half-dozen album releases on his resumé, Wyman champions causes ranging from nuclear testing protests to peace rallies. Mary Beth Maziarz is another Park City musician whose fame has reached beyond the regional scene. As a headliner, an opening act for legends such as Etta James, and as a longtime contributor to the “Dawson Creek” TV series soundtrack, Maziarz is currently putting her musical and writing chops to work on a new book while managing a company that puts artists and facilitators together for weekend getaways.

Then there’s Tony Oros, a musical chameleon in every sense of the phrase. Whether performing in the guise of a solo act, featured in a group called “Plays Well with Others,” leading the U2 tribute band “Rattle and Hum,” singing in the all-’80s Heavy Metal band “Metal Gods,” or playing bass for the “Spazmatics,” an ’80s pop and new wave group, Tony is beyond category.

“Wisebird” is a most intriguing quartet with ties to Park City and various other musically expanded-consciousness zones. Currently, this extremely talented band features Trevor Nealon on keyboards, Tyler Lambourne on bass guitar, Will Webster on lead guitar, and Dave Meservy on the drums. Last summer they performed as part of the “Desert Rocks” Festival in Moab, and barnstormed universities as part of the Human Rights Awareness Tour.

Possibly one of the cooler groups to emerge locally in quite some time is the jazz quintet “Big Time Jazz.”  Formed from within the nucleus of the Varsity Jazz ensemble at Park City High School, the group features saxophonist Gabe Oriente, John Eckels on trumpet, bassist Chris Croce, drummer Ben Corrigan, pianist Clay Corazo, and vocalist Margaret Vallejo. Showcasing a solid background in classic jazz, these honor students also add a bit of “funk” while demonstrating a high awareness of the current grooves being laid down today in their ever-evolving art form. Keep your eyes and ears open for the next time “Big Time Jazz” is performing a gig, especially around the holidays, and you’ll flat out get blown away by their passion and virtuosity.

The band that is the newest rage of the outlying saloon scene in Summit and Wasatch Counties would have to be the “Barfly Wranglers.” Fusing alternative country with everything from retro-rock to pure honky-tonk, the quartet’s vocal and instrumental virtuosity just about captures each and every essence a cosmic cowpoke or saddle-gal could wish for. Most often you can check them out at the Other End Bar & Grill on the northern outskirts of Heber City or the Beaver Creek Inn just east of Kamas on the Mirror Lake Highway. (Although they have been know to show up onstage at The Spur in Park City, too.)

Park City and its environs continue to flaunt as healthy a local live music scene as any town could wish for. The bands in question do it with passion and fury and a valid musical point to make. They’re in your face and in your heart. Check ’em out! There’s always room for one more on the dance floor.

Jay Meehan has been tappin’ his foot to Park City's homegrown bands since "Cleveland" first rocked the much-smaller ski town's rafters from the Blackout Saloon back during the first Nixon administration.