Park City, Utah

You’ve done it again, Park City, Utah.  Having already visited Park City and Hallie’s friend, Ryan Gerstner, for a junior year spring break (it was an epic time, we’ll keep it at that), Hallie and I were excited to return and see what musical treats the small, mountain town had in store for the Locavaux Crew.  The drive in through Wyoming and the northern region of Utah was breathtaking:  vast pastures, rolling horizons of mountains, and dusty canyons.  We stopped at a pull-of in Wyoming for a delicious rooftop dinner and were elated at the amount of honks and friendly waves we received from passersby.  So much love for Georgia, the bus!  We got into Park City later that evening and were greeted by Ryan and crew, who had graciously arranged a mid-trip soiree at their house for the Locavaux Crew.  We met plenty of Park City locals, had a few drinks, and promptly passed out. The next day we took the gondola up the mountain to see two of Ryan’s friends, Paul and Mike, play guitar to the people at the top of the mountain.  Both skilled acoustic guitar players, these two had passing crowds of tourists and locals singing along to country favorites.   We then made our way back towards Ryan’s house to take a drive to some scenic points of Park City and explore an abandoned mine shaft up the mountain.  Hunger struck soon after, and so we walked downtown to explore Main Street and its host of shops, restaurants, and bars for the remainder of the afternoon—so many sushi restaurants, so little time!  Ryan, in an attempt to get us in touch with the most local music talents in the area, decided to turn us onto the Park City DJ scene; he was able to arrange a meeting with Chris Shields, part of a local DJ set, Cosmos and Cameos, at his studio space in an Arts Collective building up the street from Ryan’s house.  We got to interview Chris and watch him work on new material with his computer and turntable.  It was unreal to witness a real DJ at work.  Never again will I look at electronic the same—that is some complicated stuff!  After standing in awe of Chris’ DJ skills (and goofing around in the recording studio with all of the fancy equipment) we made our way back to Ryan’s place for a BBQ with the Crew and Ryan’s neighbors.  The night ended with a visit to town to see some local bars (if you’re ever in Park City, make sure to go to No Name and O’Shuck’s) and subsequently learn about the strange liquor laws in Utah—no drink specials at bars?  Say what?

Our final morning in Park City was spent working on the rooftop porch (almost finished!) and interviewing Mountain Town Sound events manager, Brian Richards.  Brian coordinates free, outdoor concerts around Park City that feature a host of local musicians--check out the wonderfully diverse lineup they're providing this summer here!  The manager of Starbar, a music venue in town that hosts a wide array of local DJs from Park City, heard about the Locavaux Project and offered to show us the bar and have Chris perform a mini-set especially for the Locavaux Crew.  I won’t lie—it was awesome.  I don’t think I’ll ever be offered a private DJ party at a sick club at 4:30 pm in the afternoon on a Wednesday (with champagne!) ever again in my life.  Chris proved once again that he’s someone to watch out for in the future at music festivals across the country as he provided some sick beats to our audience of ten.  We then interviewed Koby, the manager, and learned about his role as promoter of local electronic talent in the town.

 

We walked back out into the afternoon light of Main Street, grabbed a quick bite of sushi (it was an opportunity we couldn’t’ afford to miss) and said our goodbyes to Ryan and company.  Thanks for a ridiculously good time, PC.  You were the most entertaining stop we could have asked for before the most unanticipated portion of the trip:  the vast nothingness that is the desert of Nevada.