The State Room | A Live Music Venue | Salt Lake City, Utah

An Evening with...

Presented by 90.9 FM KRCL

Fade is the most direct, personal and cohesive album of Yo La Tengo's career. Recorded with John McEntire at Soma Studios in Chicago, it recalls the sonic innovation and lush cohesion of career high points like 1997's I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and 2000's ...And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. The album is a tapestry of fine melody and elegant noise, rhythmic shadowplay and shy-eyed orchestral beauty, songfulness and experimentation.

But Fade attains a lyrical universality and hard-won sense of grandeur that's rare even for this band. It weaves themes of aging, personal tragedy and emotional bonds into a fully-realized whole that recalls career-defining statements like Blood on the Tracks, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, or Al Green's Call Me.

"Nothing ever stays the same / Nothing's explained," the band sing in unison on the reflective opening track "Ohm". "We try not to lose our hearts / Not to lose our minds." It's a straightforward sentiment for a band who prefer private intimation to forceful expression. It makes the song's resistance to resignation feel that much more earned.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Lucid Oracle

Afrolicious has established itself as both one of the most legendary weekly parties in San Francisco, and of the top live/electronic bands on the scene. Started as a weekly dance party featuring DJ's and brothers Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz alongside percussionists, MC's and horn players, and an amazing crowd from day one. Over the years it has evolved as founding DJ/Producer Pleausremaker (Joe McGuire) alongside brother Señor Oz (Oz McGuire) hooked up with some of the most exciting personalities in the Bay Area music scene and started writing original music under the alias Afrolicious. Around 2010 the live Pleasuremaker band started including some of this new 'Afrolicious' material and added more of the percussionists and vocalists from the weekly party to form what is now the Afrolicious band. Between their weekly party and sound system shows that involve the brothers DJing alongside live percussion, they also have a 8-12 piece live band that emphasizes the organic elements, instrumentation, and energy of a live ensemble combined with club heavy beats and textures the weekly party has come to be known for.

"Crazy" is an invitation to get loose and get down in an Afrolicious space where Highlife meets 70s NYC Nightlife." KCRW

http://soundcloud.com/afrolicious/crazy/

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Last Good Tooth

Tuareg guitarist and singer Omara "Bombino" Moctar made his Nonesuch Records debut with the release of Nomad on April 2, 2013. The album was recorded with 2013 Grammy Award-winning Producer of the Year Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys at his Nashville studio, Easy Eye Sound. Nomad debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music album chart and iTunes World chart and has earned rave reviews from top media outlets around the world including BBC World Service, which calls it "utterly, utterly fantastic" and Rolling Stone, which calls Nomad "a perfect match of sound and soul [that] introduces a new guitar hero." His dazzling live performance and virtuosity on the guitar have led notable music critics to compare him to Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Neil Young, and Jerry Garcia.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest The Expanders

Formed in 2009 on Oahu, Hawaii, The Green "fuses late 1970s-era dub-heavy roots reggae with strands of contemporary rock/pop/R&B and sporadic indigenous Hawaiian musical and lyrical references" (Billboard). Shortly after the release of their debut album (2010), The Green began a heavy touring cycle, including runs with Rebelution and SOJA, Vans Warped Tour, and internationally in Japan, New Zealand, and Guam. In fall 2012 after the release of the #1 Billboard Reggae Album WAYS & MEANS, the sextet completed their first headlining U.S. tour, including multiple sold out dates. This spring The Green embarks on the Take Me On Tour, debuting songs from their third album, slated for release on Easy Star Records later this summer. The Green's first two albums combined have sold 50,000 copies worldwide.

Doors 7 pm | Music 8 pm

of Sun Kil Moon & Red House Painters

Among The Leaves is the 5th full length album by Mark Kozelek under the Sun Kil Moon moniker. Played almost entirely on nylon string guitar, this 17-song all original album was recorded between October 2011 and January 2012 in San Francisco. Among The Leaves - words which caught Mark's attention from a John Connolly novel - finds Mark relaxed, singing playfully about his life as a musician while retaining the melancholic spirit of his 20 year catalog. Mark's love for San Francisco and Northern California are at the heart of this new album. "My first album (Down Colorful Hill) was released in 1992" says Kozelek, "but creatively, I feel like I'm just beginning. The new album was written and recorded impulsively, without second guessing. I didn't have that kind of confidence in the past." Unlike Red House Painters' epic Rollercoaster, described by Rolling Stone as "the slowest and mopiest self revelations ever put to tape" or Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the Great Highway, which Billboard Magazine called "heartbreaking," Among The Leaves displays a more raw and humorous side of Mark's songwriting. Aaron Prellwitz, recording engineer of Red House Painters and all 5 Sun Kil Moon albums describes the latest effort as "wonderfully direct." Kozelek curiously ties together legends Joe Frazier, Bobby Fischer and Ed Gein in 'The Winery', ''Song for Richard Collopy' is a touching tribute to the late San Francisco guitar repairman, and 'Sunshine In Chicago' – written just before taking the stage at a Chicago venue last year – is a funny, self deprecating poke at life on the road. Though Among The Leaves is mostly in the solo, nylon string style of Admiral Fell Promises, a new ensemble of players joined Mark for a portion of the record, recalling the same spirit as April and Tiny Cities, but with a fresh, new sound.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

PechaKucha Night - SLC vol. 9
The State Room - 638 S. State St.
doors open at 6:00pm

It's been a few months since our last event. Now Spring is here, and Summer is fast approaching. What better way to celebrate the change of seasons than another PechaKucha Night full of eclectic presenters! Join us to see a cross-section of the incredible talent in Salt Lake City!

We have a great line-up of presenters ready to share their passion, work and ideas. PechaKucha Nights are about allowing ideas to cross-pollinate across different disciplines, and this group of talented professionals, artists, architects, designers, craftsmen, and educators will surely be another successful night. Be sure to get your tickets in advance, PechaKucha Nights at The State Room typically sell out!

Lysandre
(...Here and Hyères)

There were questions I was frequently asked when I first met the press. "How are you handling this overnight success?" "How does it feel to do these tours and meet people all around the world?" Questions I often found impossible to answer. As someone who communicates through songwriting this is a record that is very much an account of those days and how I was, in fact, feeling.

Lysandre could easily be mistaken as an album about a love affair and the girl I fell in love with. But it's much more then that. While love inspired me to write "Lysandre's Theme" – and the album closes with this encounter- it also tells a story: the story of a writer in a band who suddenly finds himself facing the reality of a first tour and everything that entailed; from writing alone at home, to suddenly being in a band preparing for their first out of town shows. It's a personal account. My account. Not that of a band or what the world might have seen. This is some of what I was feeling. A little window into my soul.

Download a promotional copy of Christopher's new album Lysandre

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with The VIsion  |  Red Dog Revival

MARINADE: A juicy, succulent combination of many different flavors that one would use to tenderize and flavatize anything for consumption. In this case it is the perfect name for this band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Their music is diverse, from Blues to Funk, Reggae to Rock, Psychedelic to Soul, they keep you on your toes..literally. They have a passion to let their music breathe, really jam out, so each song can marinate your aural palate. They have spread the soak all over Utah and Colorado, as well as played shows in Idaho and Arizona.

With Talia Keys on Drums, Guitar, Mandolin and Vocals, James Trevino on Bass, Jimmy Rockstar on Guitar, Matt Pizza on Percussion, and Spencer Kellogg on Saxophone, it is surely to be a diverse and highly energetic show. "Talia seems to me to be a reincarnate of Janis Joplin and the more I think about it the band sounded a lot like a modern version of The Holding Company" says Lewis Cooper, professional music photographer. Andrew Roy of Slug Magazine puts it right, "the band works so hard and plays so often that you'd probably need to put effort into missing Marinade these days, and that'd be wasted effort for sure." Finally Austen Diamond from City Weekly comments, "With Keys at the helm, playing drums and letting her pipes soar to epic heights, Marinade is tight....The audience is like "Mmmmm," because their sound's scintillating, multi-flavored kick—with its spicy funk, salty blues, savory reggae and chill jazz—is finger-lickin' good."

Doors 7  |  Show 8

Poor Man's Whiskey Performs "Darkside of the Moonshine" - "A Bluegrass interpretation of Dark Side of the Moon"

Northern California's outlaw music bards bring a reputation for
high-energy live shows and an incomparable fusion of bluegrass/old
time, southern rock, and old school jam to stages and festivals world
wide. This "High-Octane Hootenanny" will certainly delight those
interested in a foot-stompin good time. Poor Man's Whiskey has
evolved into a ragged, spontaneous beast pulling from equally deep
wells of story-telling originals, expertly crafted covers and zany
on-stage shenanigans.

PMW has released 6 studio albums, "Like a River", released in 2012,
"Goodbye California" (2011), "Dark Side of the Moonshine" (a double
disk set featuring original music as well as the bluegrass
interpretation of the Pink Floyd classic album) (2009), "Roadside
Attraction"(2005), "Train to California" (2003), and "Hunnerd
Proof"(2002).

Notable festivals and shows: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival,
Byron Bay Blues and Roots Music Festival (Australia), High Sierra
Music Festival, Wakarusa Music Festival, Yonder Mountain Harvest
Festival, Kate Wolf Music Festival, The Fillmore, SF; Harmony
Festival; Strawberry Music Festival; The Great American Music Hall;
Dead on the Creek, 4 Peaks Music Festival, Joshua Tree Music
Festival, The Summer Meltdown, Las Tortugas; the finals of the
Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and many more.

Doors 7 pm  |  Music 8 pm

with special guest Sanders Bohlke

Rachael Yamagata has been called 'the troubadour of heartbreak' by the press and fans are drawn to her ability to 'turn emotion into song'. She's got the old soul singer songwriter essence that calls upon Todd Rundgren, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, The Carpenters and Elton John and sonically gravitates towards the darker stylings of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, P.J. Harvey and Danny Elfman.

She hits the road again this fall stripping it down to a more intimate show – expect strings, seated venues and wine – all in support of her 2012 independent release 'Chesapeake' and a new as yet untitled EP of 'darker fair – some lush with strings and others stark with vulnerability'. Guest appearances include Liz Phair and Madi Diaz along with Mike Viola (of the Candy Butchers, 'Get Him to The Greek', 'That Thing You Do').

She's toured with the above as well as The Swell Season, Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, Sara Bareilles, Adam Cohen, opened for David Gray solo at Madison Square Garden, been the guest of Pete Townsend's In the Attic Series, and shared the stage at Carnegie Hall with R.E.M. and Patti Smith. Recently she's played with Steve Earle for a Woody Guthrie tribute show alongside Allen Toussaint and The Wood Brothers after her own headlining tours for the past 8 months throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. Her collaborations have included songs with Jason Mraz, Mandy Moore, Dan Wilson, Katherine McPhee and she's lent vocals to the works of Rhett Miller, Bright Eyes, Dave Matthews, Ray LaMontagne and Ryan Adams etc.

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm