Shades of Blue 

• Kari Finstad

Megan Blue isn't a newbie to performance, having fronted bands in the musical hotbeds of Austin and New Orleans, as well as in Salt Lake City, which she's called home during several periods of her life. That includes the present—a time when her musical career is seeing growth across several disciplines.

March, in fact, has become something of "her" month as a live performer. First came a turn as an opening act for Robert Earl Keen at The State Room, where she and guitarist Dylan Baker got to spend two evenings warming up the crowd in a guitar duo setting. Later this month, on Friday, March 25th, she and her full band (including the veteran rhythm section of drummer Mark Chaney and bassist Kevin Stout) will offer up a five-song EP called From the Soul at the Garage on Beck (1199 N. Beck Street).

The style of the EP that she's written stretches across a few genres—which was the plan. "I don't like to fit myself into one style of music," Blue says. "We play some country, funk, blues. What we're really heading into now is country and blues. Blues is definitely my strongest, as far as vocals go. I have a huge voice."

It's not bragging if it's true. And Blue's been perfecting her primary instrument—her voice—since she went away to Loyola University in New Orleans as a 17-year-old, soaking in that city's music culture for four years.

"After bouncing around a bit," she says, she landed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she received a master's degree, much of her studies involving opera. "After that," she recalls, "I moved to Austin, Texas, for four years, and got into the blues and singer-songwriter stuff, all of that. That's when I started my first band, a country-blues band, and had a full-on blues band there for a while. I felt the call to go back to New Orleans, moving back there in 2010 for another three years. I had a band there called The Blue Trees, doing all-original music. That was a great experience."

Unfortunately, after a band member from that group began to experience some addiction issues, Blue had decided to leave the Crescent City a second time, decamping for Salt Lake City and resetting herself in a familiar situation. "I wasn't planning on staying, but I met my husband here," she recalls. "We were able to buy a house. I teach voice for a living, and have been building up the studio that's in the front of my house."

Along with the responsibilities of parenting a four-year-old, Blue's able to keep her work life close, with a group of students able to work on their skills at her home. "My students are basically anybody who wants to learn how to sing better," she says simply. "I am to the point of not taking people who can't hold pitch. But if you can do that, I can usually help you. I have all kinds of different students. Most sing pop, or some type of musical theater. I have a huge variety of ages. The youngest is probably about eight, and I teach adults into their 50s. I've been teaching for over 20 years, and it's a passion of mine."

As is working with "musicians who are trying to sing better. I really love helping people who are passionate about singing get to the next level. It's a great gig for me, and a great thing to do while still being a performer. It's just about impossible to make a living just gigging, unless you're at the highest level."

For the balance of 2022, Blue hopes to expand her reach in the region, exploring gigs in places like Provo, where she's typically not performed, as well as homebases like the unlikely location of Stanley, Idaho, where she's come to find a receptive audience in a beautiful setting.

"I want to get this EP going," she says, "and try to get into all the good and great places that I can, to connect with people as much as I can through the music. I feel that things were ramping up before the pandemic. But I was able to keep tracking, keep the studio going, write and record this EP and still do the things I love through this crazy time. And I'm looking forward to getting out more."

As for this release, "We always try to put on the best show. I practice every day. We'll be ready for it. As a musician, it's always about what's next. But I'm not thinking about writing right now. Once we get past this month, that's the next step: Keep writing, keep producing songs."

To find Blue's most-recent album, a bio and other information, visit her site at reverbnation.com/meganblue/songs.