MUSIC PICKS: JUN 10 - 16 

Concerts from the Couch Spends Summer at The Gateway
The Mundi Project and Discovery Gateway Children's Museum are teaming up to bring their virtual concert series to the real world starting this month, for a series that will appear monthly through August. While the series started out as indeed "from the couch" of the featured artists, it's now—as are many other pandemic-born traditions—continuing in the outdoors of the post-ish pandemic world. It kicks off On the Plaza at The Gateway on Friday, June 11 with Jazzy Olivo, at 6:30 p.m. Olivo is a well-established jazz and soul queen around town, known for her bilingual singing talents and distinctive flare. She'll be followed by the sounds of Puerto Rican Bomba music by way of local group Momba Marilé on June 31 at 2 p.m., as part of Discovery Health's health fair that day. The summer series rounds out on Aug. 13 with the winds-focused chamber group Aspen Winds at 6:30 p.m. All shows are $5 per person, and $20 per family (up to eight people from the same household.) Visit discoverygateway.org for tickets and more info on all of these events.

Happy Valley Rockers Arts & Crafts Fair
There's certainly something for everyone coming up on June 12 at Orem's Boardwalk Sound, advertising with the motto "everything goes." In addition to handmade clothing, art, jewelry and vintage goodies to peruse between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the small local venue, there's of course tons of music to look forward to. Among the artists playing are several greats of the Utah County region, including folks like Little Moon, who released her debut album last year and also nabbed an appearance on an NPR list of "Best 2020 Tiny Desk Contest Entries." The over-the-top whimsy of Little Moon will be met by Nicole Canaan's altogether different brand of magic-making music. Canaan's 2020 singles include two slices of stripped-back dream pop and one (the excellent "Nobody Wants Honesty") Americana-tinged Sharon Van Etten-ish track complete with harmonica. Alongside these two artists are Fake Nice, Refried Jeans, The Djinn, plus KJ Ward and Jonas Swanson both of The Backseat Lovers, Tucker Davis and Isaac Archuletta (both of Commander Salamander), Joshua Harmon and Connor Wolfley. Music starts at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $12 presale, $15 day of show. Visit @happyvalleyrockers on Instagram for more details.

• 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks

Utah Film Center Presents Amazing Grace
Last year, after the tragic death of George Floyd sparked a summer of protest and widespread dialogue on racism in America, the Utah Film Center developed their own response, teaming up with KRCL and Utahn Convos to launch their Black, Bold, & Brilliant film event series. Curated by Black Utahns, the series aims to illuminate the experience of being Black in America, including all the "beauty, strength and brilliance" there is and also all the exasperation that Black Americans often feel living in this country. This year, they've hosted events like Black, Bold, & Brilliant: Black Joy Edition, an event they held last month in May. Up next for June is Amazing Grace, a documentary film that centers around the recording of Aretha Franklin's best-selling live album of the same name. For fans of Franklin, this is an exciting chance to see an equally exciting and rather recent release. Though all the footage was filmed in 1972, the documentary took 46 years to be seen by audiences, when it was finished by director Alan Elliott and released in 2018. Shot at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, Franklin's family was present, along with the modest company of people like Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones. When it opened, NPR called it "a transcendent, spine-tingling, uplifting, utterly joyous experience" to watch, and anyone who's heard Franklin's unmistakable voice will doubtless agree. This event, like all Black, Bold, & Brilliant events, is free, online and accessible to all residents of Salt Lake City and beyond. Tune in Wednesday, June 16 - Tuesday, June 20 at 10 p.m. by visiting utahfilmcenter.org/event/amazing-grace.

• Lelanie Foster

PUBLIQuartet at The Monarch
Ogden's The Monarch—a space that opened up for multi-use performance, art and other community functions a few months before the pandemic—this week hosts some very prestigious music. It comes by way of PUBLIQuartet, a modern chamber music power group who've been taking names and collecting awards for their original compositions over the past decade since they burst onto the scene in 2010. They've been recipients of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, WESTAF (the Western States Arts Federation), and the National Endowment of the Arts. They'll bring their innovative strings-heavy programming to the Royal Room at The Monarch this Thursday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. While The Monarch building is a multi-faceted one with many uses, the Royal Room is usually reserved for special occasions and larger events, making this a somewhat rare chance to enjoy (some very fitting) music in the large space. The audience is limited to 130 people, seats will be spaced according to CDC guidelines, but with special provisions for groups comfortable sitting within six feet of one another. The mask mandate stands, and all tickets must be purchased online at bit.ly/PUBLIQuartetinOgden or at The Monarch's box office before the concert date. General admission tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students and children under 12. Visit facebook.com/TheMonarchOgden for more event info.

Song of the Week, "Fold Ya' Up Like a Blanket" by Enjoy
Half of the actual twin super-duo The Garden, Wyatt Shears's side project Enjoy is as prolific as The Garden, or as his brother Fletcher's solo project Puzzle. All things Shears are oddball galore, and that definitely includes Enjoy. Of the seven Enjoy albums that exist—two of them "deep cut" releases—2020's Sessions With a Nasty Old Tree has a song on it called "Fold Ya' Up Like a Blanket" that's particularly infectious. Like on much of Enjoy's work, familiar indie songwriting processes are scrambled, obscuring their usual contexts to create more interesting structures that still manage to be catchy and cool. "Fold Ya' Up Like a Blanket" stands out as a spazzily energetic track, though Wyatt Shears actually also expresses some angst on it, singing "for a long while, I pretended I was all smiles / sitting there bitter." There's a deranged energy to the track, one that is both sporty and spooky thanks to plucky, beachy guitar strums combined with playfully weird drums, bass and synth parts; the song concludes with a cartoonish ping! that recalls '90s R&B pop motifs. When Shears sings about how he wants to "fold you up like a blanket and put you away" it seems both totally mad and appealing, like some weird act of care. Is this my inner baby talking, eager for a good swaddle? If so, Wyatt Shears, if you see this, please fold me up like a blanket and put me away. For readers, go listen to this distinctly innovative artist wherever you find your music online.