While some Main Street businesses will rent out their entire space during the Sundance Film Festival, The Cabin, located at 427 Main Street, has found a nice balance.
“Our whole thing with Sundance is being the best of both worlds, we always say,” said Junior Richard who helps with programming. “We want to host everything and anything Sundance, and we want to support the people who come to town that first weekend. But we also want to make a place where locals can come and enjoy some of the festivities and see great shows and experience entertainment during the second part of the week. And when that second week comes up, you can still feel the Sundance vibe and see the other entertainment we offer.”
During the first weekend of the film festival, Richard tries to create a mix of public events, private, invitation-only movie parties and special events.
At this time, the den downstairs will be busy with movie parties for the feature film “By Design,” the documentary short “Hoops Hopes and Dreams” and the feature documentary “It’s Never Over: The Jeff Buckley Movie,” according to Richard.
“During the party for ‘It’s Never Over,’ on Friday night, we’ll have a performance by Ben Harper,” he said.
In addition, The Cabin has set aside three days for events programmed by Producer Ericka Nicole Malone, Richard said.
“Ericka sets up a by-invitation-only multicultural filmmakers lounge,” he said. “We’ve worked with her for several years, and this is such a good event. It’s different and cool, especially in Utah, where you wouldn’t usually get all of that diversity.”
Malone will host an array of panel discussions during the day and bring in musical talent during the evening, Richard said.
“We’ll have Anderson .Paak and (his alter-ego) DJ Pee .Wee,” He said. “Since The Cabin is small, we are known for hosting cool and intimate performances. So these performances will probably be among our Top 5.”
The Cabin’s lodge, located upstairs — which has recently been remodeled — will be open to the public next Friday and Saturday, according to Richard.
“We’ll host a special Haus Music brunch, with the Waffle Haus, a brand we’ve been working with for a few years,” he said. “So, when you come up to Main Street to see some star during the day on Friday and Saturday, you can stop in for a cool brunch that is driven by some cool house music. And we’ll feature Simba Sax every night up there. So people can stop by and see him during the first weekend.”
The Cabin has already scheduled a bunch of shows during the festival’s second week.
“We have confirmed Dirtwire on Jan. 30 and Whitey Morgan on Jan. 31,” Richard said. “And my favorite thing every year is a thing we call Collab. I put together concerts where I bring in musicians from other bands to play together. Since my career has touched a lot of different circles, I have a lot of friends. I call them up and create cool collaborations.”
This year’s Collab will feature drummer Jeff Franca from Thievery Corporation, keyboardist Holly Bowling from Greensky Bluegrass and Phil Lesh and Friends, bassist Nate Edgar from Nth Power and guitarist Mark Joseph, who was in the band called the Big Wu, Richard said.
“We have those musicians, and we’ll sprinkle the lineup with local musicians who play regularly at The Cabin,” he said. “We’ve asked Dana Williams to come down, along with Preston Creed and Kate Chanson and Jeremy Whitesides — hopefully they’ll ask me to play, too.”
Another event is the Access Film Music Showcase, which is now in its 20th year, a platform that gives musicians time to perform in front of audiences composed of festival-goers, local residents and film and industry insiders, Richard said.
“We try to do things that are out of the ordinary that people don’t usually see,” he said. “We’ll announce other shows this week. We’re still working on some of them.”
In keeping with the film-festival vibe, The Cabin has also fired up Peak Perspectives, its own series of movie screenings, Richard said.
“We show action-sports movies every Tuesday throughout the winter,” he said.
The idea to spotlight The Cabin during film-festival week has always been Richard’s priority.
“We used to be on the lower part of Main Street during the first year we were in business, and Sundance used to buy it out and take over the space,” he said. “So when we moved to where we are now, it has been a goal to continue working with the festival.”
Richard’s own career also has ties with Sundance.
“My first job was working camera assistance with the festival and the Sundance Channel,” he said. “So I wanted to get our brand, known for hosting events, to get connected with Sundance, which is something that I’ve done for 25 years. I like to think The Cabin prevails and tries to be a leader in entertainment and fun. We like to have fun.”
For information about The Cabin and events during and after film-festival week, visit facebook.com/TheCabinParkCity.