The Utah Kid - Eagle Ridge

Location: Salt Lake City
Year: 1973
Label: N/A
Catalog Number: N/A

Style: Country, Folk

This sounds like a record written by a Utah kid in the best way. There’s songs about the desert, mountains, spirituality, Jesus, nature, and of course white horses ascending into space. Mission Of Love is a stand out track for me. It’s all sung in a beautifully off key and sometimes gruff voice over a style of music somewhere between rock and roll and honky tonk with bits of psychedelia sprinkled in. It reminds me of the best version of your dad’s band that plays sets of half originals and half Grateful Dead tunes. You could literally dance all night at one of their shows and be happy doing so the whole time.

My favorite part of this album (other than the lap steel so heavily featured) is the Utah Kid himself. Kevin Lynman AKA the Utah Kid lived his whole life in Utah and was a pioneer in the Utah psychedelic scene. He started a light show company with a filmmaker friend in 1967 called Rainbow Jam. They toured extensively with the Grateful Dead and other bands providing light shows. With Rainbow Jam Kevin also designed psychedelic show posters that are highly collectible today. You can see his design talent in the beautiful collage artwork for this album as well. 

Sadly Kevin passed away in 2011 due to an accident sustained at his home in the Avenues but this album lives on as a cosmic testament of what it feels like being a Utah kid.

-Jackson Hogge