By Zach Collier
It’s been 18 years. Millions of streams. Over 100,000 independent records sold. Both as a solo musician and with his band Allred, John Allred has accomplished a lot in nearly two decades of active artistry, opening for acts like AJR, Judah & The Lion, and Ben Folds. He’s returning to Provo tomorrow, June 10, to celebrate with a show at Velour Live Music Gallery.
John got his start playing music in Connecticut and is now based out of Las Vegas. So why is he celebrating this important milestone in Provo? To explain, he fondly describes playing an all ages venue in Manchester, CT called The Equator. “I shared the stage with my best friend for years in a band,” he says. “It became a sacred place to us. Then I moved to Provo in 2004, and Muse Music had that same vibe but on such another level.”
Corey Fox, Velour’s founder and owner, ran sound at Muse Music at the time, and let John run open mics and practice in the back. “He later moved two spaces over but there’s so much of the old Muse Music in there at Velour. It just evolved. And it’s still evolving. Every time I come back he makes some slight addition.”
Velour has left a real mark on John. Out of everything that’s changed for him over the years, it has remained a constant. “That place is one of the only things that’s still standing after all this time and I think that says a lot,” he says. “It’s a part of history. Not only for me, but for so many other bands, musicians, and fans. This is this closest thing to home I have and there aren’t any other original venues like Velour anywhere.”
John is reuniting with legacy members of Allred circa 2006 for the show. The group entered the studio ahead of the show to record a new song – inspired by the story of a long-time friend. When asked what it was like reuniting with his old band mates, John says, “We’ve always talked about making music again. The time apart has changed the way we approach writing, but we still have the same instincts. We used to practice a few times a week for 5 years. Now it’s almost like a mature version of how we approached things in 2005.”
The song, called “The Other Side,” drops tomorrow. You can catch Allred at Velour Live Music Gallery on June 10 alongside Blindlove and Trey Warner. Doors open at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $12 online here. Listen to Allred’s song “Spark” below.