MUSIC PICKS: JUN 2 - 8 

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311 @ Sandy Amphitheatre
Perfect for warm-weather touring, the veteran Omaha, Neb. band 311 is built for serving up summer jams of the nü metal, funk rock and lite-reggae variety. They've been doing so since the late '80s, while a run of major label albums in the early '90s cemented their reputation as a group that brought the party to concerts, even if they never achieved widespread critical acclaim. Instead, the band's pumped out records for years, at the pace they wish, with a lineup that's been intact since 1991—an incredible feat for any band, never mind the genre and popularity of the act. 311 play the Sandy Amphitheatre (1245 E. 9400 South) on Thursday, June 2 with support from Teenage Wrist. Tickets at various price points can be found at sandyamp.com.

Homephone @ Kilby Court
The SLC-based Homephone offered up a fantastic album via Bandcamp (and cassette) in late May, just ahead of this Friday, June 3 show at Kilby Court (741 South Kilby Court) and following a small handful of singles and compilation appearances. The 10 songs of Mellon Collie are lovely indeed, all songs written, recorded, and mixed by Ysabelle Stepp and Joseph Sandholtz. Listed as support acts for the show are 26Fix, Toothpicks and Adult Prom. Ten-dollar tickets for this all-ages show are available via kilbycourt.com.

Tomberlin @ The Urban Lounge
Sarah Beth Tomberlin's music is both beautiful and a bit spooky. Her latest album i don't know who needs to hear this... is the type of album that'll reignite a career that was on the cusp of something special just prior to the pandemic. "My first record, I made it without knowing I was making it," she says via bio. "I was writing songs to process stuff from my personal life as it was happening, and then suddenly everything was happening really fast. Record label, tour, press, all this momentum and a lot of advice about my career, which, you know, I never even expected to have. So I think when I started to write the second record, I felt a lot of pressure to make it sound collected and profound, almost like a book—chapters, a narrative, everything nicely wrapped up." Tremendous voice; smart, understated lyrics; tasteful, spare instrumentation. So much here to love. Tomberlin plays the Urban Lounge (241 S. 500 East) with Jana Horn on Saturday, June 4. Ticket info can be found at theurbanloungeslc.com.

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Carolyn Wonderland @ The Ogden Music Festival
Carolyn Wonderland is stacking up an impressive series of awards, honors and firsts. She's been the lead guitarist of John Mayall's Blues Breakers, the first woman to hold that slot. She's won plaudits in the extremely-competitive Austin Music Awards over the past two years. She's got Bob Dylan's stamp of approval. And she's got a 2021 album, Tempting Fate (Alligator Records), that's scored fine reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Giving a broader sense of her work, we check in on her bio to read: "Wonderland has been performing professionally since the age of 15. Her music is a bold mix of timeless original songs and reinventions of some of her favorites, ranging from blistering electric blues to deep, heartfelt ballads to cosmic country to soulful Tex-Mex." Wonderland appears at the Ogden Music Festival (Fort Buenaventura, 2450 A Ave., Ogden) on Saturday, June 4, with a 4:30 p.m. performance. Ticketing information can be found at ofoam.org.

Orville Peck @ Sandy Amphitheatre
A breakthrough, crossover hit in the just-prior-to-COVID lifetime, Orville Peck has released his second album and first on a major label, Bronco. That album, as well its predecessor, Pony, provide the spine of the Bronco Tour that arrives in Utah this week. The Nashville Scene caught his show just last month at the historic Ryman, and noted that "the hour-plus performance built up at all the right points, wound down when it felt natural to, and altogether hit the mark. Rejoicing in the pews spilled into the aisles, and young, queer attendees all around had what appeared to be religious experiences. For the time being, questions about the mileage Peck can ultimately get out of being a masked balladeer felt irrelevant—this evening was one that'll live on." Orville Peck and The Nude Party appear at Sandy Amphitheatre (1245 E. 9400 South) on Wednesday, June 8, with doors at 6:30 and the show starting at 7:30. Tickets are available at sandy.ticketsales.com.

Blackwater Holylight @ Metro Music Hall
If it's possible, the band Blackwater Holylight can completely satisfy the needs of fans of both heavy metal and shoegaze, creating an intoxicating blend of droning rock wedded to quality, hummable hooks. Sometimes going out as a four-piece, other times as a quintet, the band's latest album, Silence/Motion, is a marvel. As good a source of metal news as any, Metal Injection says that "As the name suggests, Blackwater Holylight employs stark contrasts in sound throughout their entire body of work and manages to be brutally heavy, without being all together musically heavy at all. Silence/Motion is an emotionally devastating dark divergence for the Portland, Ore.-based outfit that embodies grief and recovery both throughout the world and personally." We'll add that the moody, black-and-white video for the same song is on YouTube, and it has the potential to make you a convert. Blackwater Holylight appears at the Metro Music Hall (615 W. 100 South) on Wednesday, June 8 with Spirit Mothers. Tickets are $15 and available through metromusichall.com.