The State Room | A Live Music Theatre | Salt Lake City, Utah

Acoustic Tour with special guest Katie Herzig

Brandi Carlile's third album, Give Up The Ghost, unveils her talents in their truest form. After two albums and non-stop touring, she has let her guard down and offers her most candid recording to date. If the phrase "give up the ghost" most often refers to death or dying, it can also be used to describe the passing of stages in life, of transformation.

Doors 7pm | Music 8pm

This show is sold out...Thanks for supporting the show...

with special guest TBA

Tab Benoit is a Cajun man who's definitely got the blues. Born November 17, 1967, he grew up in Houma, Louisiana. A guitar player since his teenage years, he hung out at the Blues Box, a ramshackle music club and cultural center in nearby Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Cory Mon & The Starlight Gospel

From gritty funk to contemplative country soul, JJ Grey's music is in a class by itself, at once contemporary and classic. Grey comes from a long tradition of Southern musical storytellers and, like the best of the great Southern writers, he fills his songs with details that are at once vivid and personal, political and universal.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guests Aslyn and Roy Jay

Look no further than the title track of their new Vanguard debut album The Bear to understand Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. As the band sings passionately, “Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. Sometimes you’re gonna win, sometimes you’re gonna lose…but you know in the end – there's no apologies!”

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 8:30 pm

An Evening with ...

In the Olympic tradition, when the torch gets passed on, the flame transfers from one sure hand to the next -- keeping it burning, while at the same time moving forward.  It's a fitting image for young Chicago guitar hero RONNIE BAKER BROOKS on his aptly titled third release, THE TORCH.  Not only does he sing with soulful fire and play with a white-hot intensity; he's also carrying the torch from the previous generation of soul and blues greats and moving the music into the future. We are thrilled to be welcoming RBB back to The State Room...

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

With special guest Larry & His Flask

There aren’t a lot of Warped Tour vets who can claim proficiency in the use of washboards, bottleneck slides and five-gallon buckets. Most didn’t spend their teens playing along to Charlie Patton and Bukka White albums. And just about none are fronted by a commissioned member of the Honorary Order of Kentucky Colonels.  But the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, who appeared for two weeks on the 2009 Warped Tour and will be on the entire 2010 tour, are all that and more. With wild sing-a-longs and flaming washboards, their live shows have been converting skeptics left and right.

Doors 7pm | Music 8pm

An Evening with...

Jimmy Knobs has been a fixture at The State Room dating back to well before we were open...He has graced the stage on a number of occasions - public and private - and we are excited to have him back for another night of great rock and roll...

This will be a sweet night of songs you will be able to sing along to in a way that only Mr. Knobs can deliver...

We love you Morsi!

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with special guest The Coalmen

“He mixes bluegrass roots with a mainstream pop streak, easily holding the spotlight, thanks to his restrained virtuosity on acoustic and slide guitar and a warmly engaging voice reminiscent of
T Bone Burnett, sans preachiness.” — PASTE Magazine

“It’s blues, folk, and a touch of new age that dominate, making this music shimmer with richly muted beauty. Deep Water is a disc for a rainy day, although one that knows a sunny horizon lies just around the bend.” — Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

An Evening with...

This will be a very special treat as Richard Thompson has not performed as the Richard Thompson Band in a long time. He will be touring in support of his new release which will be out August 31...

"A PERENNIAL DARK-HORSE CONTENDER FOR THE TITLE OF GREATEST LIVING ROCK GUITARIST"....Rolling Stone, August 2009

No artist to emerge in the second half of the '60s-a remarkably bountiful period-has gone on to have a more productive and vital career than singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Thompson. While still a teenager, he founded and led Fairport Convention, which was to British folk-rock what the Byrds were to the idiom's American equivalent-meaning more Childe ballads and less sunshine. Richard Thompson, who was recently described in Rolling Stone as the "Thinking Man's Guitar God", is among the most distinctive of guitar virtuosos, capable of breathtaking drama and sublime delicacy, depending on the song and the amp setting.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Jonny Burke

On Just Us Kids, James McMurtry follows up his critically acclaimed Childish Things with a dozen new, sharply drawn illuminations as he continues to hone and expand his considerable gifts. And the self-produced opus (James’ fourth venture pulling strings on both sides of the glass) unquestionably represents his most ambitious, accomplished and ass-kicking presentation to date.

The Texas native long has been known as an astute, clear-eyed observer and concise, no-holds-barred chronicler of the human condition, but a growing socio-political edge fairly exploded just prior to the 2004 elections when his scathing, palace-rattling “We Can’t Make It Here” was made available online as a free download. The seven-plus-minute diatribe against social injustice and the Administration’s hypocrisy and deceptions repercussed wildly across the Internet and the airwaves, igniting a grassroots firestorm that has brought legions of new fans to the singer/songwriter’s work. As of this writing, fan-made videos of “We Can’t Make It Here” have been viewed more than 150,000 times on YouTube.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Jessica Lea Mayfield

Justin Townes Earle is an anomaly. He's tall as the day is long, all angles and elbows and a hard stare, both welcoming and deadly serious. He's Nashville North, all set up in lower Manhattan now, just like his hero Woody Guthrie, with twang and charm intact. And he has crushed it twice at The State Room...including a Sold Out show in February...

Doors 7 pm | Music 8pm

with special guest Cornmeal

The State Room is thrilled to be welcoming back The Devil Makes Three after a electrfying sold out show in November. That was quite a night and there is no doubt this will be too.

With a slightly punky perspective on vintage American blues, The Devil Makes Three is a breath of fresh musical air on its eponymous Milan debut. Laced with elements of ragtime, country, folk and rockabilly, the critically praised, drummer-less trio – consisting of guitarist/frontman Pete Bernhard, stand-up bassist Lucia Turino and guitarist Cooper McBean – brings forth a genuine approach to acoustic music that is deeply steeped in rhythm.

“The rhythm is what our band is about,” Bernard enthuses. “We write with rhythm and dancing in mind.” Launched with the “The Plank,” an ode to meeting one’s maker, The DMT’s infectious amalgam of styles talks the talk and it walks the walk right out of the starting gate.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

Special Guest Reckless In Vegas

Sixteen years is a long time, especially for rock bands. Most either disband in that many years, or resign to the occasional gig and mediocre record every few years. However, some things get better with age, and Portland, Oregon-by-way-of-Eugene, Oregon trio Floater is undoubtedly a band that gets better with age, writing more sophisticated, well-crafted songs with each release.

Doors 8 pm | Show 9 pm

with special guest Adam Haworth Stephens

The Felice Brothers and their long time friends and band mates Greg Farley and Christmas Clapton, come to us from the Catskill Mountains, where a homegrown sound has been working its way through the bloodlines for generations. Their rambling journey so far has brought them from busking in New York City subway stations, to tours across the world that have included enthusiastically received performances at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, All Points West, Outside Lands, and Langerado.

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with special guest TBA

The Nighthawks sought not so much to reinvent rock and roll, but simply to have it reinvent itself by taking the original ingredients and following—if somewhat loosely—the original recipe. And like good cooks, the individual personalities involved ultimately affected the outcome. The band was over 10 years old and had baffled the mainstream industry before the term “roots rock” was coined to explain the likes of West Coasters like Los Lobos and The Blasters. By then, the affiliation with many of the living blues greats seemed to brand The Nighthawks a “blues band,” despite the fact that they played with Carl Perkins as well as Muddy Waters.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest TBA

“Time hangs heavy on the vine/Let’s make wine,” Ryan Montbleau sings in the lulling, sensual verse that gives his group’s new album its title. Ryan Montbleau Band has been tending its own musical vineyard for a few years, on the patient cusp of a breakthrough. Their distinctive, long-fermenting blend of neo-folk, classic soul, and kick-out-the-jams Americana finally comes to full fruition in Heavy on the Vine. It’s an album that represents the product of — and further promise of — a very good year.

Doors 7pm | Music 8 pm

Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing.com. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of target market, so when they have the need, they choose you, That’s UN-Marketing.

Over 60,000 people follow his daily rantings on Twitter and was voted one of the top influencer’s on the site with over 100 million users . His recent Tweet-a-thon raised over $16,000 for child hunger, in less than 12 hours.

Doors 4:30 pm  |  5:30 pm Scott presents  |  6:30 pm Scott signs books

with special guest TBA

The Dead Kenny Gs is a duo started by Skerik and Mike Dillon in 2004. In 2005 they started adding Brian Haas, keyboard genius, for special shows, and a tour in 2006. Brad Houser, bass god from Critters Buggin, was the third member for an October midwest tour. Rotating members join the duo for necessary outings. The priority is for the name, The Dead Kenny Gs, to continue fighting injustice and dishonesty in music, and society.

The Dead Kenny G’s is what happens when people are influenced by Art Ensemble of Chicago and Bad Brains, and are also sick of the greed and commercial lies of the music world.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Sahara Smith

The State Room is very pleased to be welcoming Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real back. “This new band... is something else, man,” raves Oregon Music News of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, the four-man rock and roots music powerhouse that has rapidly made a name for themselves since early last year.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Lukas Nelson was born in Austin, Texas, raised on his father Willie Nelson’s famed Honeysuckle Rose bus, and now based out of Venice Beach, California, the 21-year-old Nelson is no stranger to the road, with his first trip on the bus at 5 weeks old on a tour by The Highwaymen (the supergroup featuring his father, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson).

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies

The Legendary Shack Shakers’ hell-for-leather roadshow has earned quite a name for itself with its unique brand of Southern Gothic that is all-at-once irreverent, revisionist, dangerous, and fun. Led by their wildly charismatic, rail-thin frontman/blues-harpist, J.D. Wilkes, the Shack Shakers are a four-man wrecking crew from the South whose explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country have made fans, critics and legions of potential converts into true believers.

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with special guest Joe Pug

Since they met in a Cambridge folk club 9 years ago, The Weepies have progressed from an indie duo playing house concerts, to ranks on the Billboard Charts. Though they now have sales in the hundreds of thousands, the Weepies have kept a surprisingly low profile; they haven't toured at all since 2006.

Doors 8pm | Music 9pm

with special guest Fol Chen

The shiny pop centerpiece of the famed Elephant 6 collective, The Apples in stereo was born of Robert Schneider's infatuation with recording and his near-pathological compulsion to write the perfect pop song. Citing "Pet Sounds-era" Beach Boys as their root text a decade before it was en vogue, Schneider and former and future band members Hilarie Sidney, Jim McIntyre, Chris Parfitt, John Hill, Eric Allen, Chris McDuffie, Bill Doss, John Ferguson, John Dufilho, and others used their basement-D.I.Y. beginnings as a launching pad into a kaleidoscopic galaxy of sound.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Rakaa

Amongst the dusty records of UC Davis’ KDVS college radio station, Tom Shimura, who currently makes records as Lyrics Born, found too much to love. Sandwiched between gatefold LPs, 12-inch singles, dub versions and white-labels was a reservoir of inspiration that he would draw on for the following decades. That was then. This is now. Since his college days, Bay Area-native Lyrics Born’s raw, authentic talent has been polished to a gleaming beacon of originality in a time when it’s needed most, and it’s release marks a new era of label relations. “The old model is dead, you cant just put it out and expect people to get it”, explains LB, and the statement could easily be applied to his sound or his approach to marketing the finished product.

Doors 7 pm  |  Rakaa 8 pm | Chali 2na 9pm | Lyrics Born 10 pm

with special guest Tim Fite & James Husband

It’s been nearly seven years since celebrated duo Azure Ray released their critically acclaimed album Hold On Love. It’s been a long wait for music fans, but thankfully that wait is about to come to an end. The highly anticipated full-length from Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor is a sublime future classic titled Drawing Down the Moon, set for release on Saddle Creek in September. 

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with special guest Mux Mool

The swelling beats of a non-stop dance party and the soaring guitar and melodic triumphs of a cathartic rock experience - equal elements to the live instrumental dance rock of LOTUS. Sending huge crowds into a sweat-drenched euphoria at festivals such as Bonnaroo, Ultra, Rothbury, Nocturnal, All Good and Nateva, the band has become a sought after late-night act. And word has spread as Lotus has packed the country's finest clubs and theaters during their busy touring schedule.

Doors 7 pm | Music 8:30 pm

An Evening with...

Over the past decade, Mike Gordon has become an increasingly prolific solo artist, and Moss is an exciting addition to his growing catalog. It is the third solo album from the Phish bassist, following Inside In (2003) and The Green Sparrow (2008). During this same time frame, he also cut a highly entertaining pair of albums - Clone (2002) and Sixty Six Steps (2005) - with guitarist extraordinaire Leo Kottke. In other words, Gordon's cup is overflowing with music on many different fronts.

He is touring in support of his new album - Moss - that will be released on October 19th...

Pre-sale fan club tickets are now on sale at:  http://mikegordontickets.rlc.net/MikeGordon/calendar.aspx

Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, September 17 at 10 am...

Doors 8 pm  |  Show 9 pm

with special guests The Moondoggies

"And now the only piece of advice that continues to help
is anyone that's making anything new only breaks something else"
- “When My Time Comes”

It was just about the last song Taylor Goldsmith wrote before Dawes hit the studio: “When My Times Comes,” a rousing declaration of his hunger to be better, wiser, sharper—as a writer, as a person, as the singer in a band. But now that Dawes' debut album has arrived, it's fair to say that Goldsmith's time is coming sooner than he'd planned.
A graceful and poetic set of Southern-tinged yet firmly El Lay rock'n'roll, the Jonathan Wilson-produced NORTH HILLS is an electrifying and accomplished freshman effort. From the ruminative opener “That Western Skyline” to the joyous twang of “When You Call My Name” to the harmony-soaked “Take Me Out of the City,” NORTH HILLS makes it easy to hear why Daytrotter's Sean Moeller has already called it “hands down one of the finest records of 2009... Dawes is a perfect band.”

Doors 7 pm | Music 8pm

with special guest TBA

The interplay between Allison Russell, Awna Teixeira, Benny Sidelinger, and Mikey "Lightning" August is truly something to behold. They are distinct voices with incredible harmonies; multiple instrumentalists who bring the perfect sound to each song and songwriters who pen poetic tunes you’ll find yourself humming.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm

with special guest Stoll Vaughan

Known for blazing innovative trails with the release of several past projects, the white-hot foursome known as Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers is at it again with the web-only release of Glow In The Dark, a spectacularly sparkling live recording taped at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, New Jersey in 2008. The project concept debuted February 2, 2009, and continues for 14 weeks at the band's website - www.azpeacemakers.com, where fans can hear and watch an entire live show that captures the true spirit and vigor of RCPM. A new song (audio and video) debuts each of the 14 weeks.

Doors 7 pm  |  Show 8 pm