BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Blaine County Live Music Summer 2024
If you love live music, nodding your head or bouncing your hips to smooth grooves, where are you going these days? How is the local music scene faring this season? It appears the post-pandemic paranoia is fully lifting and the fine venues in Sun Valley carry the torch for live arts and entertainment. Whatever your taste in harmony and melodic rhythms, you’re bound to find something to swing to.
How is the summer of 2024 stacking up?
Sun Valley Museum of Art (SVMoA) keeps the creative juices flowing with its Summer Concert Series.
June 9 – Grammy Award-winning Americana string band Old Crow Medicine Show at 7 p.m.
July 30 – pop/soul group Lake Street Dive checking in for their Good Together Tour. Concerts start at the usual 7 or 7:30 p.m.
Limelight Hotel in Ketchum has current early offerings. The Limelight Lounge features live music every Friday and Saturday night with 5:30 p.m. show times. Early shows offer a unique start time for those early evenings. Last week Kevin Ware played the Lounge on May 24. Coming up:
Saturday, May 25 – Ellie Mae serenades in country on Friday
May 31 – catch Seattle-based singer-songwriter Adam Williams
The Wicked Spud – ever iconic and dependable for their free Wicked Wednesdays, the Spud has a strong lineup with a delightful variety of acts from country and classic rock to pop-rock and even heavy metal! \m/ .. iykyk
June 19 – Side Hustle w/NAMI
June 26 – Redlight Challenge w/Swiftsure Ranch
July 3 – Rancho Notorious w/ Blaine County Education Foundation
July 10 – Craig Bernauer & Double Wide w/Girls on the Run
July 17 – Jukebox WidowMakers w/Wood River Fire & Rescue
July 24 – Kim Stocking w/Senior Connection
July 31 – Magic Circus w/Alliance of Idaho
August 7 – That Johny V. Band Thing w/Syringa Mountain School
August 14 – Dog Haus w/Mountain Humane
Saturday July 20 – Alice in Chains and System of a Down metal fans? Mark your calendars for a free showcase, presented by Spudfest 2024.
Mashup metal band System in Chains brings a unique blend of Alice in Chains and System of a Down to Sun Valley. “I just didn’t want to be another bar band.” James Cornwell of The Wicked Spud and Wiseguy Pizza Pie plays drums and sings harmony for this new musical twist. “Having to sing harmony, I’m almost singing as much as the lead singer, if you know anything about Alice in Chains. We’re like a heavy metal Everly Brothers.” The intricate harmonies and intense conviction of the two bands blend in surprising ways. “With System, it’s all about the conviction. I just figured if we’re going to do another band project, I wanted to do something more of a tribute. You know, I have to hear Sweet Home Alabama one more time…”
Point taken. Is classic rock muzak in stores a type of noise pollution? System in Chains is primed to put on a KISS-level show, sonically speaking. “The real trick is putting together a set that creates a seamless guitar change between the tunings. When we start the show, we want it to be cohesive so that something is ALWAYS going on.” An ex-Seattleite, Cornwell was neighbors with Mike Starr, bassist of Alice in Chains for the Dirt and Facelift albums. Years back, Starr played him cuts from Dirt before it was out. “He’d come down and play my guitar and he played me about ten tracks off of Dirt before it was released and I’m like wow… this is neat stuff.” Cornwell toured as merchandise agent for Alice in Chains and Jane’s Addiction in 2013 and recalls the graciousness of Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins who also knows Ketchum well. System in Chains features Travis Urbany (lead vocals), Patrick Adams, aka “the GravyTrain” (bass and vocals), Ron Bentz (guitar) and James Cornwell (drums). There’s always something wild in Sun Valley. Catch their show on July 20.
Mahoney’s Bar & Grill has community-centric plans for a unique offering this season. Ever onward, they’ve changed up their program to feature an open mic night every third Thursday of the month from June until around Labor Day (September 2). With a hot PA system provided, this will take place on the patio with an outside bar serving the sauce as well as their inside bar. The kitchen will be open for vittles until a hard close at 9 p.m.
What’s the process? You come in at 6 p.m., sign the list, the VU flashes at 6:30 p.m. and when you’re on, you’re on!
If you’re raring to rock, keep practicing, it’s time to take your act to Mahoney’s this summer.
Whiskey’s on Main has already kicked off the season with great offerings, including a karaoke night on May 17. Cocktail crooners surely hope it repeats.
May 27 & 28 – Jerry Joseph and the Jack Mormons rock it out for two nights
June 8 – Hurdy Gurdy Girls, everyone’s favorite outlaw country group
June 14 – B-Side Players, a 9-piece “horn- driven, polyrhythmic groove” outfit blend rock, jazz and South American funk
Sawtooth Brewery puts on the ultimate community-sponsored live music event with their Hailey Rocks program. Featuring live music every Thursday from May 9 to June 13 at the Tap Room. They also do shows from June 27–August 22, 2024, every Thursday at Hop Porter Park, 6:30-9 p.m.
You or your business can sponsor the community tunes via their sponsorship program. There are five tiers from $500-$6000 including social media shout-outs, stage banner and promotional materials mentions and thank-you’s from the stage. If you’d like to keep the frequencies flowing, check out the form at https://www.sawtoothbrewery.com/haileyrocks. Hailey Rocks commences on June 27. Upcoming shows at the Tap Room include:
May 30 – Adam Williams Band
June 6 – Natalie Soma Band
June 13 – Doublewide
Sun Valley Music Festival in Ketchum puts on a world-class Summer Season from July 29 –August 22 at the Sun Valley Pavilion.
July 29 – Opening Night with Meechot Marrero with the Festival Chamber Orchestra, Conductor Alasdair Neale, and Soprano Meechot Marrero. John Stafford Smith for the Star-Spangled Banner, a Timothy Higgins Fanfare and Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25, “Classical Symphony” by Sergei Prokofiev
July 30 – Piazzolla’s Four Seasons and Mozart’s “Linz” Symphony
August 1 – Meechot Marrero and Festival Musicians play Schubert’s Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano in A Major, D. 667, Op. 114, “Trout”
August 2 – Andy Akiho, Concerto for Cello of George Frideric Handel’s
Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
Sun Valley Resort hosts the legendary Duchin Lounge this spring and summer with 6:30 p.m. shows.
May 30 – Katie Buxton (singer/songwriter)
May 31 – Alan Pennay (jazz pianist)
June 1 – Travis McDaniel (vocalist and jazz guitarist)
June 2 – Leanna Leach (multi-genre pianist)
Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic
On the way to the rave? For the real hush-hush parties, you’ll have to ask a friend. How old is too old to rave? Your mileage may vary and you may have to head toward Treasure Valley, Twin Falls or Boise.
Summertime Rolls
That’s a small taste of Sun Valley’s summer musical offerings. There’s a lot to be grateful for and if you’re a musical creature, it’s prime time to meander through the frequencies and mentally unwind in the coming warm weather.