Tales From Utah - The Party

There were two events that drew me to Utah for the weekend. The first was the chance to see Lewie on his leave from the sandbox. He's spending a year or so in Iraq and this was his one trip home to visit. I've gotten to see lots of my other Utah peeps through other events but this was the one shot to spend time with him.

The second event was that Lewie and Charlotte threw another great party in their backyard. The Wasatch Mountain Parrot Head Club invited Matt Wahl to come play a house concert. Matt's played at PHINS To The West and all over Wisconsin and Florida so some of us had met him or at least heard him perform.

Lewie Introducing The House Band (that is actually still nameless)

Then, their local "club band" decided to get together (or maybe was browbeaten into it) and do an opening set for us. It was Jay on lead guitar and vocals, Cody on drums, Anna on Accordion and David on bass guitar. Sorely missed by all was Griz who had to miss the show. Gary and I got to the house while the band was setting up and Matt was tweaking the equipment. Jay was really nervous and I did my best to be encouraging. They were all much braver than I for getting up there but it was just among friends and it's not like we were going to throw tomatoes at them. Well, not after David did an audience tomato check.

Cody - The Coolest Cat There

The kids got started and they were great. Jay did just fine as the lead guy, Anna was awesome on her Accordion bits, David was my stereotypical bass guy just kicking back and looking cool and Cody… Well, Cody was just adorably cool on the drums. And, quite skilled. I can only hope that our little club band will sound half as good at Parrot Grande when we jam.

Rich Wyman - Rock Star

We had a surprise musical guest play for us after our gang finished. Rich Wyman lives in Park City when he's not out touring and opening for people like Alanis Morisette, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Bryan Adams. He set up his keyboard and wowed the crowd with some spectacular playing. Shannon actually got him to drop by after she told him about the party and Lewie and he gave us a great show. His dog, Jacko, also entertained while he worked the crowd for munchies and pettings.

Matt Playing Cool Stuff While Actually Freezing

Matt closed out the show for us and he was fun to listen to. He says he's not really Trop-Rock because his songs aren't about going to the beach or spending time on the water. But, they are about the Trop-Rock mental lifestyle of kicking back and having fun that we all try to live. His tunes were great and I liked listening to his stories about his family. I really felt like I "knew" him by the time the show was over.

After Show-Show. He's finally got his jacket on!

Of course, we had a post-show show. Lewie, Charlotte, Gary, Rhett, Mike and I headed down to the first floor to hang out and listen to Matt play some stuff for us. There was a lot of talking and laughing as well as playing. Matt did a lot of country stuff which is my favorite genre and I felt compelled to text The Rocket Scientist, "Matt just played Brad Paisley", when he did Mud on the Tires. I can't get TRS to listen to Paisley because he's too "twangy" even though I sincerely believe he would like him if he would just listen.

It was a great musical day and a great party.