See You Later, SLC 

• Thomas Crone

When my partner and I moved to Salt Lake City in early January, the skies were that grim shade known to locals during the winter inversion. And the next day, driving down I-15 at rush hour for a panic trip to IKEA, the skies opened up for one of the most harrowing drives I can remember. Between us, we had no furniture, one job (hers), one case of COVID (hers), one entire-youth-and-young-adulthood spent in SLC (also hers). My days, meanwhile, were spent walking around Liberty Wells, wondering what type of job a stranger should pursue in this strange land, having traveled down a few different career paths through life.

Music journalism was a big part of my 20s and early 30s, but that time was confined not only to a different decade, but a different century. Cold-calling on the City Weekly, I learned that the music editor position had recently opened up. Opportunity met availability, and I signed on within a week. It was a highlight, for sure, and I thank my immediate editors—Scott Renshaw, Benjamin Wood, Jerre Wroble—for the confidence in assigning me stories both inside and outside the music beat. Also, huge thanks to many members of the Saltas family, who collectively provide backbone, heart and purse of City Weekly.

If this reads as if written in past-tense, that's intentional. My tenure as a writer/editor at the CW is ending fairly early, and this'll be my last week filing stories regularly (though a few more pieces will hit the website in the near future). A family member's been diagnosed with a fast-moving form of terminal cancer, and my presence is needed in the city we left a half-year back, St. Louis. For the past few weeks, I've been juggling time and responsibilities between the two cities, and that situation's become really untenable. Over the past six (or so) issues, I've gotten my work done, but often at the last second, or without a lot of snap, crackle and pop.

Sometimes, you just know when it's time. And right now, it's time.

I'll allow the paper to announce next steps in music coverage, but I'll sign off today by offering a few thoughts:

Since moving here, I've seen more music at RoHa Brewing (30 E. Kensington) than anywhere else, and Hopkins Brewing (1048 E. 2100 South) is a close second. The reason for this goes beyond my love of beer. It's that these places have music on set nights of the week. You know that there's music at RoHa on Thursday and Saturday, with a variety of booked sounds. And Hopkins is a spot that features jazz regularly, making that a must for a jazz fix. Having a lively music scene means a bunch of places offer set, weekly gigs, be they accompanied by a low cover or offered free. That said, the outdoor music booking here is stellar, varied and interesting. I never would've imagined how many shows I'd catch within a few feet of a dumpster.

Seems there's room for more labels, though there's an impressive amount of music being released, especially singles. Seems there's room for more fests, especially those that mix genres. Seems there's room for more music journalism in more outlets, via more voices.

As for this outlet, I'm once again of the mind to thank the folks who worked with me over the past few months; this is a cool paper owned and operated by cool people. While I'm an introvert by nature, this job forced me to meet the people of this community in a way I would've otherwise missed. My time in Salt Lake City has been a fascinating learning experience, and I'm thankful to have had the time here. If you've read to this point: Thank you, be well, rock on.