By McKinsleigh Smith
Hosted by realtor and impassioned Utah resident Chris Holifield, Let’s Talk Local is a long form podcast that focuses on Utah locals, professionals, and everyday people. Formerly I Am Salt Lake, the podcast began under that name in 2017 and ran for 575 episodes before rebranding and expanding its focus to encompass all of the Beehive State.
As part of that shift of focus, Holifield welcomed Provo Music Magazine co-founder and editor Zach Collier to talk all things music in Utah County. Together, they discussed what factors are contributing to a massive talent pool in Utah County; how Mormon culture provides basic systematic music education on a massive scale; how local universities like BYU and UVU attract national talent while impeding the development of cultural infrastructure with their four-year focus; and how personal tragedy and isolation inspired the founding of Provo Music Magazine.
“When I was finishing school at BYU, my wife got really sick our first year of marriage – almost died,” Collier explains. “It was just a really formative experience.” He goes on to state that after getting married, his first college band broke up, his wife got sick, and half of his old band formed a new one without him – humorously adding that their punk band had no use for an organ player.
“So they were off touring, and I’m not able to get out,” he continues. At 23, he was a full-time caregiver. “I was just really isolated, and I just wanted to listen to local music. I had become friends with a lot of these bands and I didn’t know what they were up to. And the only way that I could do that was to watch everybody’s social media like a hawk.”
He found himself wishing someone would aggregate all of their press releases and posts so he didn’t have to scour the internet for info on the local scene. Then he had an epiphany. He was that guy. “Nobody is doing what I’m doing,” he remembers thinking to himself. “I’m weird. I’m a hermit who is living the music scene vicariously through the internet. So I might as well do it.”
Provo Music Magazine began as ReachProvo.com in 2015. Collier sold it at the end of 2016 to finish his degree, and took it back in 2020. Under his direction, the publication acquired the content from every defunct publication on Provo music. With content dating back to 2010, Provo Music Magazine features over 13 years of articles and is the largest extant record of Provo music history.
Podcasts are great because they allow people to go off the rails a bit. And boy does Collier go off the rails. Notable tangents include singing Elton John’s “Rocket Man” around a campfire during year 2 of the zombie apocalypse; an impending crisis surrounding streaming residuals after the first generation of indie artists die without setting up trusts; how population growth projections predict that St. George will be the size of present-day Chicago by 2050; and emerging technologies and the philosophy of transhumanism.
He also discusses successful local artists like The National Parks, The Aces, The Moss, The Backseat Lovers, JTM, Cinders, and wonders why the h*ck MASN doesn’t get more press even though he has half a billion streams.
Let’s Talk Local has built a vibrant community and fanbase of over 12,000 followers and is a great resource for connecting with fellow Utahns. Make sure to follow Let’s Talk Local, Chris Holifield, and Zach Collier on Instagram. You can check out the full episode below.