From Shady Lady Studio to Noble Hops: Utah Burgess's Musical Journey

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The hidden musical gems in your own backyard might just be the best-kept secret in entertainment. Utah Burgess, founder of Shady Lady Studio and the American rock/alt country band Noble Hops, joins us to reveal how local music scenes thrive beneath the mainstream radar.

Utah's musical journey began with his mother's guitar playing, introducing him to country and bluegrass before he found his own path through saxophone, drums, and eventually guitar. After founding Noble Hops in 2010 as a bar band duo, personal tragedy sparked a creative awakening when he lost fellow musician Mo Nelson in 2020. "He left behind a great catalog of music," Utah reflects, "and it just let me know that I've done nothing with my music. Time is short, life has no guarantees." This pivotal moment transformed his band into a vehicle for original expression rather than cover songs.

Beyond his own musical endeavors, Utah has become a passionate advocate for local talent. His radio show on 97.7 FM has produced over 670 episodes spotlighting regional musicians since 2012. "The talent in this area is incredible," he explains. "People get lucky and get noticed and become superstars, and other people work a job while playing music at night like I do—that doesn't mean the music isn't as good as anything you hear on a national scene." This philosophy extends to his three-day music festival at Cooper's Lake Campground, which draws fans from eight different states to enjoy fishing, camping, and exceptional local performances.

When asked about his influences, Utah cites Led Zeppelin and Neil Diamond, but quickly returns to praising the musicians in his immediate community. "I'm always in awe of the people right here in my neighborhood—they blow me away with their talent and songwriting." His closing message resonates with genuine conviction: "The best value for your entertainment dollar is local music. I don't know why you're dropping two, three hundred bucks on tickets and paying for fifteen-dollar beers when you can see great music right in your own backyard."

Visit noblehopsmusic.com or thebandjam.com to connect with Utah's musical world and discover the thriving scene he champions. Support the artists creating extraordinary music just around the corner from where you live—they might just surprise you with their world-class talent.

Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.

(00:20):
I interview guests that teach,motivate and inspire.
Today I am joined by UtahBurgess, founder of Shady Lady
Studio.
He co-hosts a local show in hiscommunity and he is the founder
of the band Noble Hops.

(00:41):
Noble Hops is an American rockslash alt country band.
So we're going to be talking toUtah about everything that he's
up to, from his studio to hisshow, to his band.
So, utah, thank you so much forjoining me today.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Why don't you start off by telling everybody a
little bit about yourself?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh wow, I'm just a guy who's trying to make his way
through life, right?
Yeah, just love music.
Love music a lot, especiallythe local music scene.
We have quite a scene here inwestern Pennsylvania and a big
part of that.
Try to promote it and to adegree, I have my own band as

(01:25):
well and enjoy writing music andsharing that with the world.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Okay, well, tell us how you got into music and you
know why you're so passionateabout it.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I remember as a kid my mom would pick on the guitar
and was really into, I guess, alot of that older country and
bluegrass kind of stuff.
So just was always around thatand played in the band.
You know, the high school bandstarted on the alto saxophone,
switched to drums and then Ibought myself an electric guitar

(02:01):
after getting into rock androll at a young, early age and
thinking I was going to be arock star.
You know how it goes.
And then, uh, life happens.
You know kids, jobs, mortgages,some moves, and uh, now that
I'm living in uh dog years, as afriend of mine puts it, I've

(02:21):
realized I've got to uh step itup if I I want to do anything
with the music I've created.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Okay, well, tell us about your band Noble Hops, when
it was founded and anythingelse you want the listeners to
know about them.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, it started back in 2010.
It was just a bar band duo.
It's been through a fewtransformations.
After a couple of years of youknow, a lot of life changes,
both good and bad.

(02:58):
I found myself writing againand a lot of music coming out of
me, but it would get a littlebit lost in those variations of
the bands.
Then I lost a good friend ofmine who was a musician as well,
a great great songwriter, moNelson, back in 2020.
And you know he left behind agreat catalog of music.
You can find him online and itjust sort of you know, kind of

(03:22):
let me know that I've donenothing with my music.
And time is short, life is noguarantees and I need to do
something with what's coming outof me.
So I put this version of theband together and our focus is
on our own music.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
How did you come up with the name Noble Hops?

Speaker 2 (03:46):
did you come up with the name noble hops?
Well, I wanted something uniqueand original.
Uh and I I do enjoy my beer anduh and, and I brew beer myself
and just uh and yeah that waslike wow, nobody has a band
called Noble Hops.
This is perfect.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Okay, well, I know in the green room you were telling
me about a local program thatyou host, you know putting a
spotlight on local musicians.
So kind of tell us about thatand how you got into that and
where listeners can hear it ifthey're in your area.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
You don't even have to be inthe area because we stream it as
well, but it broadcasts on 97.7FM out of Butler, pennsylvania,
the rock station.
You can find it at 977rockscom.
Our first episode was July 1st2012.
Dot com Our first episode wasJuly 1st 2012.

(04:45):
And I just approached the radiostation about this concept of
doing a local music show because, as I stated earlier, the
talent in this area isincredible and you know, people
get lucky and get noticed andthey become superstars and other
people work a job while playingmusic at night, like I do, and
that doesn't mean the musicisn't as good as anything you

(05:08):
hear, you know on a nationalscene.
So I convinced them to do itand they put me with a great
partner, bob Cup, who is aon-air personality at the
station, and uh, so yeah, we'reat about 670 episodes now and
going strong, just trying to puta spotlight on the great talent

(05:29):
in this area.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Okay, well, tell us about that studio, shady lady
you know.
Tell us, uh, what you guys doand how you got that started.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, that actually started back in my high school
days.
It was the very first song Iever wrote, called Shady Lady,
and it's about a woman we won'tdiscuss here tonight, but it's
just something I kind of packedaround with me for years and
years.
But it's just something I kindof packed around with me for

(06:03):
years and years and as I startedgetting more and more into the
local music scene, I decided toget serious about it.
So, you know, turned it into alegit company and for 20 years
now we've just been doing allkinds of yourelated events,
everything from local toregional to national shows or

(06:23):
community, private public events, you name it.
We can help you out with it.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Okay, well, talk about some of your big musical
influences.
You know who influences you todo what you do.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
I believe, the people around me, this local music
scene, as much as anything.
I just I'm always in awe by thepeople.
I know the people right here inmy neighborhood.
They blow me away all the timewith their talent and their
songwriting.
You know, that's kind of thefuel on a daily basis.

(07:00):
You know, going back through mylife, though, I know I had an
aunt that gave me some musicearly on Aunt Mary, and it was,
you know, kind of some BeachBoys stuff and some Beatles, and
she gave me an album I stillhave to this day, Neil Diamond's
Double Gold, which was justthat thing is.

(07:21):
That thing is an incrediblealbum.
You Trick, and then LedZeppelin and on from there, and

(07:41):
I just I've gotten into justabout every genre of music from
there on.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Okay, well, talk about some of the artists you
know, big or small, that you'vehad the privilege to work with
through the years, and someartists that you would like to
work with in the future.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
I mean, I've worked with the uh, a lot of the local
artists that I admire as much asanybody, um, but uh, you know,
on a national scale, we'vebrought in, you know, a lot of
great acts from, oh geez, who wehad in, uh, blackstone cherry

(08:22):
not too long ago and caseydonahue he's I'm a big fan of
his and I normally don't bookthe people I'm fans of that one
just kind of.
You know that's not a smartmove by a promoter, but uh, uh,
that just kind of lined up anduh, we've just we've had a lot
of great acts in, um, oh, paulthorne, another one.
That was a.

(08:43):
That was a great show I broughtto the little tiny community I
live in here, um, but just yeah,getting to play with the people
in my life, I'm just surroundedby so much talent and they're
just genuine people, they'rereal people and I love them all.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, tell us about any upcoming projects that
you're working on that listenersneed to be aware of.
Yeah, we do.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Based around the radio show that I have, we
decided to put together a musicfestival.
It's a three-day music festival.
This sort of puts a spotlighton the local music scene that we
talk about every Sunday nightat 7 pm on the Grassroots Show
and it's just sort of a livesetting and give you know three
days and we try to fill allthree days with just some of the

(09:35):
best music from this area.
And you know we've had peoplecome from as many as eight
different states to come andcheck this out.
We have a really great venue.
It's called Cooper's LakeCampground.
It's 450 plus acres of just funand they let us do our music
festival there.
You can come out and fish andcanoe and camp and let the kids

(09:59):
run wild and and we're just havethis great backdrop of of local
music and you can check thatout at the band jamcom.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
All right.
Any other websites throw outyour contact info so listeners
can keep up with everything thatyou're up to.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
I mean you can find us at noblehopsmusiccom for the
band stuff, orshadyladiestudiocom,
shadyladyproductionscom,shadyladyrecordscom All points
kind of the same area, but thoseare the primary websites and
then the bandjamcom as wellclose us out with some final

(10:36):
thoughts.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Maybe, if that was something I forgot to talk about
, that you would like to touchon, or any final thoughts you
have for the listeners somethingI say very often on our radio
program.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
You know as in my opinion, the best value for your
entertainment dollar is localmusic.
It's right in your backyard.
You can find it anywhere andeverywhere.
The talent is really good.
I don't know why you'redropping two, three hundred
bucks on the tickets and thirtyforty dollars for parking and

(11:10):
paying for fifteen dollar beerswhen you can see great music
right in your own backyard.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's right.
Ladies and gentlemen,noblehopsmusiccom, Please be
sure to check out everythingthat Utah and his band and his
studio is up to.
If you get a chance, please besure to check out his show,
Follow, rate, review, share thisepisode to all of the American
rock and outcountry fans outthere.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast platform.

(11:41):
Visit wwwcurveball337.com formore information on the Living
the Dream with Curveball podcast.
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show and Utah.
Thank you and your band forbringing us this great music and
thank you for all that you doand thank you for joining me.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Thank you very much.
I appreciate the invite.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball Podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.