Beloved Seattle band The Head and The Heart have embarked on tour in support of the 15-year anniversary of their RIAA Certified Platinum self-titled debut album. They are playing Sandy Amphitheater on August 22. We had the opportunity to talk with Kenny Hensley (Piano) earlier in the week. We discuss how he met the other members of the band, celebrating the first album, and much more.
UCR Interview • Josh Lovelace of NEEDTOBREATHE • August 14, 2026
Photo Credit: Alysse Gajken
GRAMMY-nominated rock band NEEDTOBREATHE is set to play Sandy Amphitheater on August 15. The band recently released their powerful new album, The Long Surrender.
Known for fan favorites including “Brother” (feat. Gavin DeGraw), “Who Am I,” my personal favorite, “The State I’m In,” and many more, NEEDTOBREATHE continues to blend rock, Americana, Soul, and Gospel into songs that resonate through themes of hope, resilience, and redemption. Their electrifying live performances have built a passionate global following and continue to sell out venues across the country.
Utah Concert Review had the opportunity to visit with keyboard player and backing vocalist Josh Lovelace as the band was gearing up to begin the tour. Lovelace talks about the new album, the tour, his origins with the band, how people interpret NEEDTOBREATHE’s music, and more. Enjoy!
UCR Interview • Emilee Petersmark & Kate Pillsbury of The Crane Wives
After an expansive run of 2025 tour dates, indie rock band The Crane Wives (1.3m Spotify monthly listeners, 763.5k TikTok likes) are showing no signs of slowing down. The Crane Wives will bring their dynamic live show back to stages nationwide, delighting audiences in cities including Los Angeles, Portland, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and beyond. They will be here in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 26th, at The Complex.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury of The Crane Wives on a tour stop in Portland, leading up to their second visit to Salt Lake City. They were so fun to talk to, and there is no doubt that their show is going to be amazing. Enjoy!
Marie Bradshaw is a vocalist in the American Supergroup, The Lower Lights. They will be performing a run of concerts at Kingsbury Hall from December 11-13. I’ve had the opportunity to see Marie perform not only in The Lower Lights but with her band, The Hollering Pines. She has an incredible voice. These shows are not to be missed. And she is a huge reason for that. Marie took the time to visit with me during what is no doubt a busy week of rehearsals and preparation for these shows. I enjoyed our conversation and hope you do as well!
Interviewed by Kevin Rolfe
Utah Concert Review: This is an exciting week. There are so many people that are anticipating this time of year, and it just doesn’t feel like the holiday season without seeing a Lower Lights concert. How has it been for you preparing and leading up to this week?
We here at Utah Concert Review have been Debra Fotheringham fans for quite some time. Most of our history with Debra and her music has been seeing her perform as one of the many singers in the Salt Lake City-based Americana supergroup, The Lower Lights. Despite the multitude of vocalists in that group, Debra stands out every time we’ve seen her.
Debra has released three solo albums. With her last LP, The Darkness and The Sun, being released in 2017, there has been much anticipation for a fourth album. Well, the wait is finally over. On Oct 24, 2025, Debra Fotheringham will be releasing her fourth album, Valley of Annihilation. Here is some information about the upcoming album…
UCR Interview • Crystal Lariza & Kaden Hurst of Never Come Down
Interviewed by Kevin Rolfe
Award-winning, Portland-based, Bluegrass/Americana band, Never Come Down will be playing the Egyptian Theater in Park City on April 11 and 12.
Never Come Down have toured internationally and found acclaim at festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Iceland Airwaves, Americanafest, FreshGrass, and RockyGrass.
We had the opportunity to visit with Crystal and Kaden leading up to this show. It was one of the more enjoyable interviews I’ve ever done. I particularly loved hearing about one of the best shows they’ve ever played. Enjoy!
Utah Concert Review: I’ve only been in cover bands myself, and it’s a fun hobby. But even in that, there’s nothing like that moment where you just gel as a band. So I can only imagine what that’s like when you’re making original music, coming up with your own stuff, your own style, or what you’re doing on your own instrument. Give me a sense of what that was like for you guys when you started just to feel that feeling as a band. Â
Cherie Call is a singer-songwriter and a member of the great Americana supergroup, The Lower Lights. It’s that time of year again when The Lower Lights begin their residency of holiday concerts at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah. Ticket information for these concerts and Cherie’s upcoming solo show will be provided at the end of this interview.
Two years ago, I witnessed Broadway star, Jessica Vosk captivate a capacity crowd at The Noorda Center For The Performing Arts on the campus of Utah Valley University. Vosk starred as Elphaba in Wicked, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Lincoln Center, and re-created the role of Fruma Sarah in the most recent Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
She has also starred in productions of Waitress and a personal favorite, Chess (Jessica permitted me to share that she will be singing a song from this show! A reason in itself to attend!!!). at the amazing 12,000-capacity Muny in St. Louis. Jessica Vosk is returning to The Noorda on Saturday, September 21 at 7 PM. For tickets to the show, go to the link at the end of this interview. We had a chance to chat with her this week leading up to the show. Enjoy!
Cera Gibson will be headlining the opening night of the Mind the Gap Festival in Salt Lake City. She’s not only playing Soundwell on Friday night, August 22, but she’ll be debuting her new single, “Eclipse”. We had the opportunity to chat with Cera leading up to the show and release. Enjoy!
San Diego-based band, almost monday is currently on tour supporting AJR. They recently played two action-packed nights at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. I was fortunate enough to watch both of their sets and let me tell you these guys are a fun band to watch live. Opening the night in a big arena can be a large undertaking. But almost monday was up to the talk on both nights. By the end of both sets they had the crowd excited. Not only about what was to come with AJR, but about what they had just seen in almost monday.
I had the opportunity to interview the guys at the Delta Center before their night 2 performance. We talked about some of their experiences playing in Utah and what it’s like. to open an arena show. I really enjoyed chatting with the band and I’m excited for their future. Enjoy!
