_{Words and Photography by Joe Vickrey}

All week I was excited for my first Provo Music Scene Town Hall meeting. While the event is public, I’ve missed the first two and had a small amount of natural anxiety about going to a social event where I may not know anyone. I got to 3hive early enough to reward myself with some crate digging for being brave and going. After finding both Lee Fields & Fela Kuti records, I felt the excitement for a chance to meet some new people in the music scene return as I was directed towards the Town Hall meeting room. 

As I settled in to my seat, the reception was warm and welcoming. I could feel all anxiety dissolve away as everyone began welcoming me and others to the meeting. After a few minutes of laughter and chatter, the meeting began by asking if anyone had anything they wanted to share. 

Free Synth Class and Jams

Starting with a wave, electronic musician Ram Kalo said hello, and introduced himself as someone who had moved to Provo back in July. He was hoping to start up a group class to teach people how to use synthesizers and have classes that would end with jam sessions. “I’m planning on bringing some of my synthesizers and drum machines for others to use and showing people that you can learn synth for free.” Ram continued by mentioning there are free apps you can get to start playing with synthesizers on your phone to reiterate that learning shouldn’t break the bank.

As someone who is a self-taught keyboardist, I couldn’t be more excited for this. I spoke with Ram after, and he emphasized that there was no minimum requirement for prerequisite knowledge, so leave your inhibitions at the door. I hope I’ll see you there! The first meet up is planned for Wednesday October 15, with tentatively one to two classes per month going forward. For anyone interested in joining the meet up, reach out to @ramkalomusic on Instagram for more information.

All Saints Fest

With the absence of Buzzards & Bees this year, some of our community’s heroes have stepped up to make sure there’s still a festival going on for spooky season! 

While the lineup is still being rolled out, the festival promises to showcase over 40 local bands with a “no headliners” mentality. This means that bigger bands will be placed all throughout the evening instead of a traditional “biggest acts play last” format. 

For anyone who wants to be a part of the fun and not just an attendee, ThriftRx will be hosting an open mic the whole evening. Rugged Grounds Coffee will be hosting a jazz jam as well. Tickets will be $20 for all access to the festival, and you can follow @allsaints_musicfest on Instagram for more updates. 

Provo Music Scene Event Calendar

Next up was an exciting announcement from the scene’s own Darcie Roy. If you don’t know Darcie, she co-founded the venue Muse Music in Provo. Muse was a wonderful and welcoming venue open to all genres, and it was at the location where The Rise is now. Darcie’s one of our scene’s most unsung heroes and she’s probably already mortified with how much I’ve hyped her up.

Darcie has been working on a site called provomusicscene.com which will allow the community to source together an artist registry as well as a calendar for upcoming shows in the scene. This means anyone can add to the calendar and anyone can see all of the scene’s happenings in one convenient spot.

I hear you asking, “Doesn’t PMM already have a ‘Shows This Week‘ article that I look forward to? Is this different?” And the answer to both is yes! Our weekly shows posts are designed to be a quick look at all the music happening in Utah County (and a little beyond) each week, including venues, universities, house shows, and major events as well as a collection of resources to find tickets and more information. This new calendar will focus more on the DIY scene, give fans a look further ahead to see what’s coming up, and be a quick visual tool for what’s going on in the scene. Odds are you’ll see a lot of the same shows in both spots, but we’ll be working together to help promote all the local talent.

Currently, Darcie is looking for someone with experience in web design/development or someone who is great with Excel Spreadsheets to help flesh out the site. This is a great chance to use your office skills to help our scene, and you too can be a hero when you reach out on the contact section of provomusicscene.com or at @provomusicscene on Instagram. 

Hi-Fi Listening Parties coming to 3hive

Lastly, @bsidehifi on Instagram is preparing to start small listening parties on a hi-fi vinyl stereo setup in November. The upper room of 3hive’s new location has been built out to be the ultimate listening room to enjoy a record in its highest fidelity. While I know nothing about hi-fi systems, I do know that matched sets of vacuum tubes for these systems can cost thousands of dollars. It’s promising to be a beautiful opportunity to hear the music in its purest form. 

It was also mentioned if a local band had an album coming out on vinyl, they would love to host the listening party there! Tickets for events will be available on Eventbrite with more information coming soon. Follow @bsidehifi on Instagram for updates. 

The Afterparty

At the close of the meeting, everyone was encouraged to mingle. This was a great no-pressure way to introduce yourself to everyone else in the room and make some new friends which is EXACTLY why I wanted to come. For anyone who may be on the fence about coming to one of the Town Hall meetings, it’s a great vibe and a fun hang. I had a blast, and I hope I’ll see you there on the first Tuesday of November!