_{By Mike Romero}

Michael Feldman – known to many as “The Deli Man” – is more than the owner of Feldman’s Deli in Salt Lake City. On Friday nights, he often turns his restaurant into a hub for live blues, performing for packed crowds and celebrating local talent. Through the musicians who played at his deli, Michael rediscovered his love of performing and has become a passionate advocate for strengthening Utah’s live music community.

In a recent interview with Utah Stories, Michael outlined some of the key challenges facing Utah’s nascent music industry. According to him, Utah’s music scene is rich with talent but short on infrastructure. This statement about infrastructure echoes the statements made by Provo Music Magazine’s founder, Zach Collier, on the Let’s Talk Local/I Am Salt Lake podcast in 2023.

“If you want to give up your day job and be a musician full-time… that’s hard here in Utah,” Michael says.

Gigging Utah musicians who want to go beyond a few local gigs a month eventually hit a ceiling. Economic realities compound the problem. Festivals and big venues facing rising costs push promoters to book national acts that can draw large audiences, leaving local and indie musicians without opportunity. Meanwhile, younger listeners are gravitating toward clubs and EDM, making it harder for traditional live bands to stay in the spotlight.

Despite these challenges, Michael remains hopeful. He believes Utah can build a thriving, inclusive music ecosystem if fans, venues, and musicians work together. His ideas include creating more family-friendly spaces where young people can experience live music, developing better digital tools to promote shows, and encouraging audiences to actively support local talent.

The Provo music scene is already implementing many of these strategies. ProvoMusicScene.com sprang from The Provo Music Town Hall and is the community’s effort to create a unified shows calendar. New festivals like ALL SAINTS are providing all ages opportunities for the community to engage with local indies in a professional atmosphere. PMM’s parent company, Deseret Noise Co., is leveraging the skills of artists in the scene to land corporate creative work – not only employing artists for those projects, but using profits to pay writers to promote Provo music and distribute it physically to the community in print. They also sponsor events like Fork Fest, Velour’s Battle of the Bands, and Schellraiser.

Michael Feldman’s read on the situation is accurate. As we band together and begin to specialize – by creating complimentary services (studio and rehearsal space, legal counsel, show promotion, marketing services, management, etc.) and actively listening and supporting fellow locals, we can transform the Provo music scene into the Provo music industry.

Together, we can discover increasingly innovative and equitable ways to employ people to make art in our community.

Make sure to follow Utah Stories on Instagram. You can watch the full interview below.