With all ages venues like Kilby Court, Whysound, The Beehive, and tons more local music has become a crucial part of almost every teenager’s weekend. With tons of bands coming straight out of our high schools to moving to the big stages like The Backseat Lovers and Choir boy, with other genres like punk bands Narc, Portraits and Love Lace. With one of the best local music scenes in the country, no one from the outside knows that Utah is packed with hidden gem bands. Whether it’s the underground jazz clubs in Salt Lake or a house show in Logan there is always someone playing music to go and see.
From North of Salt Lake a rise in local musicians has surged since Utah based band, The Backseat Lovers skyrocketed from just a small band out of High schools in Ogden to headlining at festivals across the world. I want to focus for a minute on a venue that has house all ages shows for years and has become almost a hub for every teenager diving into their local music scene, Kilby Court.
Kilby Court first opened in 1999 and now is known as the “spring pad,” for local musicians and touring bands. Just small enough that bands from our own high school have played, such as Greenhouse, The Garden Plot, Bittersweet and Angel Street. Every weekend at 7pm the doors swing open and depending on who is playing a different crowd is there for each show. The venue originally started when a carpenter by the name of Phil Sherburne started hosting art shows and small get togethers at an abandoned studio he was working out of in the 90s. The rest of the homes on the street Kilby Ct. sat empty. So as more people started to enjoy a place to go and to hear some music with their friends on the weekends it was officially established as a business in 1999. And now in 2023 it is still running as busy as ever. Now running its own festival series Kilby Court Block Party that takes over Salt Lake City every May with a growing number of guests every year.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, reach out and see who is playing! They might be sitting right next to you in class. Keep supporting the musicians around you and you might even find your own voice doing it.
