SLUG Contributor Limelight
August 1, 2019
Contributor Limelight: Paige Zuckerman
Senior Staff Writer Paige Zuckerman has told the stories of various local people. With a knack for amplifying interviewees’ voices, Zuckerman crafts her features with simultaneous care and panache. You can find her cover story about this month’s cover artist and 11th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons artisan Ashley Love on pg. 20. Zuckerman finds joy in SLUG’s community stewardship, from the onset of story assignments to interviewing the subjects of her pieces. She also writes music reviews of releases and shows, some of her favorite content to make. She traces SLUG’s local focus through the communities of artists, musicians and business owners, as well as via our own programming of our local-music showcase, Localized, and CLC’s DIY Festival. It’s with ardent writers like Zuckerman that we’re able to foster community connection, and SLUG is lucky to have her!
Articles by contributor
Bold & Beautiful: Nancy Raygun
Standing out in the scene can be tricky, yet Nancy Raygun has accomplished that in spades, not merely for their cheeky and rather topical moniker. … read more
Local Music Singles Roundup: October 2023
All Hollow’s Eve is creeping in on us foolish mortals once again. SLUG is ditching the tricks and dishing out some raving treats in the October edition of our Local Music Singles Roundup! … read more
Local Review: Pale Dream – Curse
Pale Dream = Sigur Rós + The Cure + Pale Waves … read more
Charming Rodentia: Scrat Pack Rattery’s Tiny Best Friends
Aislynn and Julie Smith started Scrat Pack Rattery in 2020 with the goal of rehabilitating rats’ bad raps and sharing some of nature’s most clever creatures.
Woodbine Food Hall & Rooftop Bar
The brand new Woodbine Food Hall & Rooftop Bar lives adjacent to Salt Lake’s downtown, yet far enough away to give a quiet and quaint atmosphere. … read more
Review: Bring Her – Comfort in the Shame
Bring Her = Skeletal Family + Siouxsie Sioux + a pinch of John Carpenter for good measure … read more
Sweet Streets: Making Movement Safer for Salt Lake City
In late 2019, a few Salt Lake citizens enacted systemic changes in the ways we roam with Sweet Streets, a local people-first city planning advocacy group. … read more
Strangelove Bring So Much to Love
Strangelove warm the heart and thrill the spines of longtime Depeche Mode lovers and fair-weather fans alike. … read more
Viva La Vida: Celebrate the Season of Cozy with Vidas...
More than just a tidy, smoke-free burn, Vidas Wax Works candles and wax melts are a mélange of beautiful and heartwarming scent combinations. … read more
St. Vincent @ Twilight Concert Series 09.18
Tulsa’s own indie-rocker Annie Clark aka St. Vincent gave The Gallivan Center a gorgeous early-autumn night on the town last Saturday. … read more
Noah Cyrus w/ Ant Clemons @ Ogden Twilight 09.04
It feels like we are all pretty damn glad to get back to the gigs. Ogden Twilight is doing a pretty damn fine job making that happen. … read more
Desert Edge Brewery is Home to the Canned-Beer Comeback Kids
Desert Edge’s new canning operation aims to maintain the highly personal and intricate aspects of the brewery’s general modus operandi. … read more
Queer and Now: How the Queer Spectra Arts Festival Captures...
Three years into its youthful tenure, Salt Lake City’s Queer Spectra Arts Festival has danced, swayed and spoken to the strange shifts of our world in more ways than the originators had imagined. Begun by modern dance graduates Dat Nguyen and Emma Sargent alongside Max Barnewitz and Aileen Norris, the collective decided that an interdisciplinary
Local Review: Sculpture Club – Worth
There’s simultaneously a youthful curiosity and a dour bewilderment entwined in the narrative of Sculpture Club’s Worth. … read more
Local Review: Cassette Drift – A Stateless Dark
Cassette Drift = Depeche Mode + Slowdive … read more
Old Cuss Coffee Gives A Dang
Brent’Lee K Williams’ eclectic touches make Old Cuss Coffee truck a roving charm in our city that we’re happy to see stick around. … read more
Finding a Wilder Flow with Rocky Lavoie
WildFlow’s mission is all about deep integration and reconnection with our most native human truths, such as community, grief and relaxation. … read more
Three Pines Coffee and District Coffee Co.: Preserving Community in...
Three Pines Coffee and District Coffee Co. are among the many local businesses that have found creative ways to weather the pandemic. … read more
Review: Pale Waves – My Mind Makes Noises
Pale Waves = The Cure + The Aces … read more
Review: The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Manchester pop band The 1975 have made the rounds in the past few years, with their sophomore album having solidified their placement as rebellious influencers on the indie scene. However, they have arguably transcended this persona as of late. … read more
Review: Them Are Us Too – Amends
Them Are Us Too = Kate Bush + Alvvays … read more
Review: The Drums – Brutalism
The Drums = Architecture In Helsinki + Interpol … read more
Review: Talos – Wild Alee (Deluxe Edition)
Talos = James Blake + Bon Iver
… read more
Review: Nilüfer Yanya – Miss Universe
Nilüfer Yanya = Le Tigre + Toro Y Moi + Sonic Youth … read more
Local Review: The Wicked Notions – I Love You, but...
The Wicked Notions = Nine Inch Nails + Placebo + The Neighbourhood … read more
Local Review: The Signal Sound – Broken Homes
The Signal Sound = Green Day + The All-American Rejects + Yellowcard … read more
Local Review: The National Parks – Places
The National Parks = The Lumineers + Avicii … read more
Local Review: The Gontiks
The Gontiks = Deerhunter + Explosions In The Sky … read more
Local Review: The Dream Tapes – Dead Ends and All...
The Dream Tapes = Two Door Cinema Club + Weezer … read more
Local Review: TelePathiQ – Transformation
TelePathiQ = Rival Consoles + Massive Attack + VCMG … read more
Local Review: The Aces – When My Heart Felt Volcanic
The Aces = HAIM + Tegan & Sara + The Go-Go’s
… read more
Local Review: Sulane – Ad Astra
Sulane = Brand New + Modern Lovers + Dinosaur Jr … read more
Local Review: Sister Adolescent – I Am Not So Far
Sister Adolescent = Beach House + Unknown Mortal Orchestra … read more
Local Review: Sammy Brue – I Am Nice
Sammy Brue = Bob Dylan + Woody Guthrie … read more
Local Review: Robyn Cage – Slow The Devil (Deluxe Digital)
Robyn Cage = Florence & The Machine + Lana Del Rey … read more
Local Review: Psychology – Self-titled
Psychology = Sigur Rós + The 1975 + Tycho … read more
Local Review: Patrick Robinson – Untitled
Patrick Robinson = Sun Kil Moon + Butthole Surfers … read more
Local Review: Noble Bodies – It’s OK It’s Hell
It’s OK It’s Hell is a worthy listen, especially for fans of the late ’90s, early ’00s alternative era. Noble Bodies’ music is familiar to the genre and decade yet chock full of contemporary millennial narratives, making it a solid conduit for the old and the new in amalgam. … read more
Local Review: OSITO – Sal
OSITO = The Weeknd + 4FRNT … read more
Local Review: Nick Passey – Just Working Thru Some Shit
Nick Passey = Tom Waits + Johnny Cash + Folk Hogan … read more
Local Review: New Hollywood – Shell Shock
Local indie rock quartet New Hollywood offer charming, up-tempo punk and lilting indie rock with delightful retro sensibilities in their fresh new 11-track album, Shell Shock. … read more
Local Review: Mome Wrath – Open Letter to Mars pt....
Mome Wrath = Coheed & Cambria + The Mars Volta … read more
Local Review: Martian Cult – Cheater’s Wave
Martian Cult = Sonic Youth + Gary Numan + David Bowie … read more
Local Review: Michael Barrow & the Tourists – Juneau
Michael Barrow & the Tourists = Rufus Wainwright + John Mayer … read more
Local Review: Larusso – if this is the way
Larusso = Angels & Airwaves + The Used … read more
Local Review: Fur Foxen – The Death Of
Fur Foxen = Elliot Smith + The Swampers … read more
Local Review: Eichlers – Bedroom Communities
Eichlers = Sparklehorse + Weezer … read more
Local Review: Derk Boss – Elegy of Spring
Derk Boss = Elliott Smith + John Denver + Donova … read more
Local Review: Daniel Murtaugh – The Daze of Irie
Daniel Murtaugh = Jason Mraz + Sublime … read more
Local Review: Booyah Moon – Landing
Booyah Moon = Sonic Youth + Dinosaur Jr. … read more
Local Review: Able Caine – Doxology
Able Caine = Radiohead + Nirvana … read more
Local Music Review: No Mañana
No Mañana = Zedd + Calvin Harris … read more
Review: The 1975 – Notes on a Conditional Form
The 1975 = Tears For Fears + a dash of Post Malone + Brian Eno … read more
Review: Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose
Dirty Projectors = David Byrne + Yes + a pinch of Frank Zappa … read more
Review: Depeche Mode – Spirit
Depeche Mode = Fad Gadget + Red Flag + NIN + themselves … read more
Review: Beach House – 7
Beach House = Alvvays + Slowdive … read more
Jaclyn Wright’s Multi-Media Metaphor Leaves a Deep Mark
Jaclyn Wright’s Marked contains multiple components that broaden and build upon each other to create a body in themselves. … read more
Review: Oh, Rose – While My Father Sleeps
Oh, Rose = The Julie Ruin + Hole … read more
Local Review: Ritt Momney – Her And All Of My...
Ritt Momney = The National + Vancouver Sleep Clinic … read more
Review: Cigarettes After Sex – Cry
Cigarettes After Sex = Lord Huron + Mazzy Star … read more
Local Review: DeelanZ – War Within
Deelanz = Green Day + RHCP + Modest Mouse … read more
Local Review: Snowtown – Ghost
Snowtown = The Streets + Twenty One Pilots … read more
Local Review: The Waldron Brothers – VCR
The Waldron Brothers = The Police + Two Door Cinema Club … read more
Local Review: Stephan and the Pachyderm – Gasoline
Stephan and the Pachyderm = Death Cab for Cutie + Lord Huron … read more
Review: Torres – Silver Tongue
Torres = The Japanese House + Tori Amos … read more
Local Review: Ophelia – Like a Lover
Ophelia = Kate Bush + Grimes … read more
Local Review: Harts & Moon – Welcome Home
Harts & Moon = Tori Amos + Tove Lo … read more
Book Review: Fallible
Fallible is a profoundly personal narrative on the ails of an industry and culture with respect to the experienced intersections of its author. … read more
Bewilder Brewing: How One of Salt Lake’s Newest Breweries is...
Bewilder Brewing exists right in the heart of the city, and Co-Founder Ross Metzger attests to his hopes for how they will thrive in the coming year. … read more
Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience with Electric Duke @ Metro...
Strangelove is one of those rare and refined tribute bands that rejuvenates one’s faith in the power of professional imitation. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Sanzaru
The disorienting and claustrophobic thirller Sanzaru shows a solid potential for director Xia Magnus in their thematic concepts, visuals and soundscapes. … read more
Lighting Lanterns in the Dark: The Rape Recovery Center and...
For 45 years the Rape Recovery Center has been the flagship trauma-informed and multiculturally conscious sexual-violence safe space in Salt Lake. … read more
Funky, Quirky, Cute: Nicole LaRue Designs a Charming Rebellion
Designer, illustrator and author Nicole LaRue embodies her art. One of LaRue’s most impactful designs came alive with the Washington Women’s March. … read more
The Japanese House @ The Complex 10.19 w/ Overcoats
The Japanese House played a fairly clipped set—especially in comparison to their springtime visit. Much to the chagrin of the crowd, the set had no encore. … read more
ABS is Making a Dent For Your Zen
ABS purports the healing and wholesome benefits of their products, a claim being further validated over the past few years in the science of CBD as a whole. … read more
Harmons Hands-on Cooking Experience: The Harmons Cooking Class Program
Seven of Harmons’ many locations partner in a particularly pointed offering to the Utah foodie scene: the Harmons’ Cooking Class Program. … read more
The Book of Mormon @ The Eccles Theater 08.24
Per the usual Matt Stone & Trey Parker brand, The Book of Mormon is crass, fearless, utterly lacking in political correctness and ultimately full of heart. … read more
Phantogram @ Ogden Twilight 08.17 w/ Bob Moses, Palace of...
A Saturday night Phantogram show at Ogden Twilight is a truly special treat, with only a few of the season’s awesome offerings occurring on the weekend. … read more
Ashley Love Loves Her Craft
Though her works often defy genre, Ashley Love identifies a sort of realm in which she plays as an illustrator and what inspired her to land within it. … read more
Art | Art and Fashion | LGBTQ+
Washed Out @ Ogden Twilight 07.12 w/ Deerhunter, Le Voir
As a midpoint for 2019’s Ogden Twilight Concert Series, Washed Out & Deerhunter were downright fantastic and funky. … read more
Yeasayer @ Urban Lounge 06.23 w/ Oh, Rose
Known for big, sprawling and beautiful bridges, Sunday’s set was a solid, albeit quick, sampling of Yeasayer’s weird and wonderful world. … read more
WASI Brings Colorful and Queer Sounds of Love and Acceptance...
Ahead of their stop at Gold Blood Collective in Utah during Pride month, SLUG spoke with WASI about the big, rainbow picture of the tour. … read more
Capturing Home, Visibility and Stillness: Denae Shanidiin and Indigenous Images
Denae Shanidiin’s images often center around the simple yet sacred human moments in Indigenous experience, including painful and raw realities. … read more
Review: The Japanese House @ The Complex w/ Art School...
Although The Japanese House is perhaps less probable to fill some of the clownishly large shoes of her Dirty Hit originating brethren, she’s clearly destined for her own fashion of greatness. … read more
Review: The 1975 @ UCCU W/ Pale Waves, No Rome...
For their third run-in with Utah audiences, the bombastic and ever ballooning indie pop foursome The 1975 graced the UCCU Events Center making for a wonderfully unusual Monday evening … read more
SLC Staycation: Bike Edition
Luckily, there are many bikeable local amenities to enhance your tour of downtown SLC. … read more
Rolling in the Red Rocks: The St. George Bicycle Collective
Since October 2017, Utah bike culture has experienced a whole new space for community growth and collaboration at the St. George Bicycle Collective. … read more
These Boots Were Made For Women: Pink Boots Society Grows...
Pink Boots Society’s Collaboration Brew Day encourages collegiality to create a beer, the sales proceeds of which go to a scholarship fund. … read more
Invisible Eulogy: Gregg Deal Brings Native Visibility to the Transcontinental...
Gregg Deal’s exhibition will depict Native erasure and the effects of the railroad and other related developments on indigenous populations. … read more
Review: Talos – Far Out Dust
Talos = James Blake + Bon Iver … read more
Slamdance Film Review: We Are Thankful
We Are Thankful and its protagonist are genuine, real and undeniably lovely in their authenticity. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Cat Sticks
Cat Sticks delves into the desperate, nightly endeavors of several addicts maneuvering their torturous jones and unglamorously careening through the sad underground of their city. … read more
Slamdance 2019 Film – Desolation Center and the Birth of...
This year, the Slamdance Film Festival will debut Desolation Center, the story of the early iconoclasts of DIY culture and the roots of modern, outdoor music and performing-arts festivals. … read more
Pale Waves @ In The Venue 11.28.18 w/ The Candescents...
Fans of teenage nostalgia with a few sharp edges will enjoy the sounds of Pale Waves, as displayed with “Eighteen” and “New Years Eve,” all of which were played to perfection live. Mid-set, the anthemic “Drive” was a delight to hear—being arguably the grandest track of their debut album. … read more
Dueling in Duality: Amy Irvine’s Call to Cabal
Amy Irvine is indeed seeking to drum up a different dialogue and practice around the patriarchal origins of being in and fighting for the wild—and the often grossly individualistic entitlement to wild spaces and resources. … read more
Of Montreal @ Metro Music Hall 11.02 w/ Reptaliens
Of Montreal’s bombastic music and equally theatric (yet charmingly indie) stage performance made for a gleefully, fun gig. Their Friday night onstage may have been one of the most colorful performances Metro has seen in a while. … read more
A Spirited Brew: Moab Distillery
Moab Distillery is in a growing phase, with new offerings on the horizon—and you can find them and Moab Brewery at SLUG Mag’s Brewstillery Nov. 17 at the Union Event Center. … read more
Good Standing: Designing a Native Story of Faith and Love
Matthew Greene’s Good Standing is a creative take on the traditional, single-performer method with an unusual set design, intensely personal character portrayal and a story with roots that run deep for its collaborators and community. … read more
Making Meaning in What You’re Eating: Eat Local Week
Alison Einerson was an early cultivator of Utah’s strongly sprouting Eat Local program, with a mission to make local food a sustained extension of the larger cultural and personal narrative. … read more
DeelanZ: CLC Performer
In November 2013, Dylan Lewman (soundcloud.com/deelanZ) found himself in an enveloping darkness, being medically induced into a month-long coma. … read more
Andrea Burggraf: CLC Performer
Andrea Burggraf is Utah’s nomadic child, having lived the folkloric life traveling the world and discovering her troubadour soul. … read more
House of Tenebris: CLC Artisan
Adrian and Rachel Prazen’s relationship and craftsmanship were forged from dark and intricate places. After coming in and out of the tempering fire, they channeled their struggles and strengths into a thriving jewelry business. … read more
Ogden Twilight 2018: Sylvan Esso 07.17
Durham, North Carolina’s, electro pop duo Sylvan Esso became an especially compelling cohort among the stellar 2018 Ogden Twilight Concert Series lineup Tuesday night. … read more
A Place of Power: Russel Albert Daniels and the Authentic...
Russel Albert Daniels is a quiet, pensive artist who contains an expansive river within him, much like the spaces and stories his work reflects. His photographs have captured the complexity of the modern Native experience intersecting with nature and contemporary political struggle. … read more
Kimbra @ Metro 05.23 with Son Lux
Australia and New Zealand pop-Motown-R&B phenom Kimbra Lee Johnson and New York indie-electronic trio Son Lux made an odd yet delightful bill for the Metro stage Wednesday night. … read more
Shifting Gears: SLC Bike Collective’s Women, Trans, Femme Program
WTF is the SLCBC’s weekly women-, trans- and femme-affirmative offering. Every Wednesday, the shop closes to regular business and opens to anyone who identifies on the WTF spectrum, with a loving yet firm reminder to cis-male-identified patrons to please make space for these oft underrepresented customers. … read more
Cigarettes After Sex @ Urban 04.21
Cigarettes After Sex provide a beautiful soundtrack for a cultivated, classy yet ever-so-slightly racy date-night, as their Urban Lounge set proved. Whether imbibed in the background of private late-night moments or onstage with a sold-out crowd, Cigarettes make for a most luscious, velvety auditory torte. … read more
Localized: Sonnei
Sonnei is an artist whose expression has shape-shifted sonically and aesthetically. From school programs in second grade to the typical national anthem stint to singing with local dynamos, their career has been one of transformation. … read more
Localized: Stephanie Mabey
Mabey’s most recent EP, I Still Taste Fire, released in September 2016, yet her older catalog is concurrently carving a path for her expanding potential. Having no management or outside art direction, Mabey is honing her sonic and aesthetic identity in a wholly organic process, from the roots up. … read more
Kiitos Brewing Crafts the Conscious and Delicious
“Always look local,” says Clay Turnbow, the congenial home brewer–turned–Head Brewer at Kiitos Brewing. A minimalist, unpretentious yet ultra-cool oasis nestled amid a semi-dilapidated industrial park, Kiitos offers a cheerful gathering space for the love of the suds. … read more
Finding a Home: Art Makes an Impact at the Rio...
The brainchild of local professional artist and curator Clinton Whiting, Art In The Home is a meditation on the powerful impact that owning original works can sustain for families who might not otherwise access them. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End
The best of art comes from the creation that follows destruction. Mr. Fish: Cartooning From The Deep End is a documentary full of raw, ugly, animated humanity that respects that tension. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Human Affairs
Genevieve, a young French expat living a quiet Vermont life, travels to New York to make the first personal contact with Sidney and Lucinda, the couple for whom she is three months into surrogacy. … read more
Two Sides of the Self: M/M at Slamdance
M/M is a beautifully shot, modern and stylish film by director Drew Lint, and will show at the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival. … read more
Art | Art and Fashion | LGBTQ+
Pale Waves @ Kilby Court with The Candescents 11.24
Pale Waves come onstage with a sophisticated air of taut professionalism. “Goth Mum” Barron-Gracie immediately serves her perplexingly dark vibes with smart, delicious bubblegum hooks. … read more
The Third Space: The Printed Garden’s Good Reads and Grounding
Comfortable, quiet and safe are more than descriptors of the books neatly lining The Printed Garden’s shelves. They are also the central spirit of the store itself; the “third space” Cance has crafted with heaps of heart. … read more
Perturbator, Visigoth, Darklord @ Metro 09.06
The show Kent provides is an energizing blend of madness and melodic trance worth the ringing ears and mechanized nightmares. … read more
Cultivating Resilience: Wasatch Community Garden’s GREEN TEAM Farm
The mission of the GREEN TEAM was threefold: to support permanent housing and work for homeless women, to provide produce to Head Start—a program to give quality food to local schools—and to cultivate a shared community space that would thrive in an oft ignored area of the city. … read more
Mew w/ Monakr @ The State Room 08.16
There’s no rock-star energy in Mew’s performance, yet their talent is unmistakable. The set was pleasantly varied with early tunes and recent tracks. … read more
Review: Beautiful Bipolar
Utah-based writer Danielle Workman’s Beautiful Bipolar is an oddly charming glimpse into veering fear, resignation and radical hope. … read more
Modern 8: Emotive by Design
For 16 years, modern8—a small collection of brand-scape architects—have been bent on pondering the deeper meanings of their community. It is their mission to market a more attachment-informed process. … read more
History in the Making: Strap Tank Brewing Co.
Strap Tank’s beer menu is replete with nuanced, flavorful brews with unique profiles and no undesired or unintentional artifacts. The complex boutique beers run the gamut from fruity, sparkly saisons to daringly hazy, hoppy pale ales … read more
The 1975 @ Saltair with Colouring, Pale Waves
Droves of trendy teenage millennials converged on Saltair on May 5, and when the doors opened, the screaming diaspora flooded into the venue oddly juxtaposed with a soothing oceanic odor in the air. My self-imposed mission entailed chasing the night’s act—burgeoning genre-bending pop masters The 1975. … read more
Caffe Ibis: Magic Beans & the Elevation of Utah Coffee...
Utah enjoys a vibrant coffee community, and Caffe Ibis is a harbinger of the best that the brown bean of brilliance has to offer. … read more
Project Service is Service
Jessica Rodriguez is the president of Latinos in Action at Cyprus High School, a local chapter of the national organization that empowers young Latino students toward educational and career success. When Rodriguez saw that some of her peers were denied the Presidential Service Award due to their undocumented status, Project Service is Service was born. … read more