Heber City Americana musician Alicia Stockman was driving home after a horrible house show in Dallas when her engine block cracked and began leaking coolant into the oil, which may as well have been a terminal diagnosis for her car. She “limped” her way to a Kia dealership in Grand Junction, Colorado, where she called her ex-boyfriend and parents, in tears and beside herself. 

“I was 36 at the time. I was not a young kid. I was a full-ass grown adult,” she joked. “My parents came and picked me up, and we towed my car home, and I sold it for salvage. It was this dark window of time when everything was upended, and I didn’t know what to do.”

Stockman had been contemplating a move to Nashville, Tennessee, but at that moment, she realized she wanted nothing more than to be safe at home in Heber City. 

“The whole point of leaving was to run away from my problems. Then, coming home, (I had) no other (option) but to face them head-on and be upset,” she said. 

The experience inspired the title track on her latest album, “Homebound.” The album’s lyrics, which Stockman wrote between 2021 and 2026, explore break-ups, bowling and, most often, place. 

For example, “Jerkwater Town” is an ode to a small town and its residents who refuse to abandon it. Though it mentions a train and “our own Dairy Queen,” bringing local favorites like the Heber Valley Railroad and Dairy Keen to mind, Stockman actually wrote it about an artsy town of 2,000 people in West Texas called Marfa.

“Marfa is a weird word, and no one knew what I was talking about, so I took it out of the song, which, at the end of the day, serves it better. I’ve had people from all over be like, ‘This is my hometown you’re talking about,’” she said.

Meanwhile, “League Night” is indisputably an ode to Heber City’s Holiday Lanes. 

“Growing up in Heber, it was every birthday party, every gathering. … My boyfriend is in the league on Tuesday nights in the winter, which is 34 weeks long. That is almost a human child’s gestation period,” she joked. “I’d spend a lot of time there being like, ‘This is such a vintage vibe. It’s so weird. It’s got so much character.’”

The track’s been a hit at shows, so much so that one family showed up to a concert in Layton in matching bowling shirts. 

“Bowling is like Dolly Parton. It brings everyone together,” Stockman said. 

But “League Night” hasn’t been nearly as much of a crowd-pleaser as the album’s closer, “Crimson Blues.”

“I would not know which song to end a set with, and I’d be like, ‘Do you guys want to hear a song about murder or bowling?’” she said. “You would think there would be more debate, but 98% of the people not requested, screamed the word, ‘Murder!’”

“Crimson Blues,” Stockman explained, is a clapback to bluegrass murder ballads.

“They’re all in major keys, and they’re just fun, upbeat songs about killing women for various reasons that aren’t very compelling,” she said. “This is … my unhinged, slightly psychotic, true crime-loving murder ballad.”

Moving from bowling to a murder ballad in the span of a few tracks is a reflection of Stockman’s growth as a songwriter in the five years since her last album, “These Four Walls.”

“The rule of thumb is you have to write 100 songs before you really have your voice,” she said. 

Stockman feels she finally found that in “September.” She’s particularly proud of the lyric, “The first frost feels like closure, nature’s way of starting over. The woman I’ll be next fall, will I know her?”

Stockman’s voice, she said, is more “pedestrian” than “poetic.” She uses visual imagery to paint scenes of particular moments in her life or conversations she’s had. 

Stockman’s growth in the past five years hasn’t been restricted to her songwriting. She’s also become more comfortable identifying as an artist instead of just “someone who plays music on the weekends.” These days, musicianship is her primary source of income, despite the fact that she doesn’t put too much effort into her social media presence and barely pays attention to her streaming statistics. 

“It’s been a really weird space to navigate, to release a record in this day and age of AI and Ticketmaster and all that stuff,” Stockman said.

Her focus has been playing shows, selling merch and making in-person connections with fans and fellow musicians. 

“(A fan) emailed me to tell me that he had to get an MRI. They asked him what he wanted to listen to, and he picked my music to help calm him while he was there,” she said. “That’s worth all the Spotify streaming numbers.”

Stockman’s work has been especially focused on her hometown. She started a house concert series as an incubator for local and touring musicians and hopes to launch songwriting workshops. 

Stockman’s determination to move to Nashville a few years ago was driven by her desire to be part of its music scene and explore more of the world outside of Utah.

“I live one block from where I went to kindergarten. There were many times when I wrestled with the idea of feeling ashamed about living in my hometown still. It’s a pretty small town, or it was. So, 17-year-old me was really disappointed in mid-30s me for not going anywhere,” she said.

But Stockman has realized she doesn’t need to move to a music mecca; she can create one where she grew up. 

“Once I embraced it, it changed things for me, and I started to build community in a way that I think I had been kind of avoiding,” she said. “I am on a mission to force my friendship any time I meet a new musician in the area. … What those cities have that we don’t have as well is that networking and that cohesiveness.”

Though Stockman has lived in Wasatch and Summit counties her entire life, it wasn’t until the last few years that she finally felt at home.

“The theme that I say about the record is, ‘Home is big enough to hold all the versions of yourself,’” she said. “Coming home, you can be who you were before and who you’ve become now. You don’t have to pick one or the other.”

Stockman’s next local shows are at Heber City Main Street Park on Thursday, and on Aug. 29 and 30, Le Depot Brasserie in Park City on Sept. 4 and St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Heber City on Sept. 12. Learn more at aliciastockman.com.

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Some kids participated in soccer or chess clubs in elementary school, but Ryan Shupe spent his free time recording albums and touring. 

Ryan’s father, Ted, formed the PeeWee Pickers youth band in 1979, inspired by his son’s fiddling talent. As a member of the PeeWee Pickers, Ryan toured Europe and even played before President Ronald Reagan gave an address to the Utah Republican Party in 1982 during a picnic in Hooper.

The band was so prominent in Utah’s bluegrass scene that Shupe, now the frontman of Ogden band Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand, is still recognized as a PeeWee Picker.

“When I got introduced to (Grammy-winning musician Alison Krauss), … she was like, ‘Ryan Shupe from the Peewee Pickers. I know you guys!’” he said.

The PeeWee Pickers was far from the only band Ted organized or mentored. His fingerprints are all over Utah’s bluegrass scene, even in Wallsburg, where the 12th annual TedFest music festival will be held Friday through Sunday in his honor. Ted died in October in West Valley City at the age of 86. This year’s festival will continue, organized by Ryan.

Ted began TedFest in 2014 to celebrate all genres of roots music: Americana, folk, bluegrass, gospel and more. 

“(One year,) we had a Uyghur fellow who was an incredible flamenco guitarist. Every year, we’ve had this Latin band … There are bagpipes sometimes, and rock,” said Jamis Johnson, Ted’s bandmate in swing ensemble Swing Creek. “But it’s all based on acoustic music.”

TedFest, Johnson said, is a way to show that genres that have fallen out of the mainstream are still alive and well.

“I just went recently to the Gallivan Center where Hot House West (Swing Orchestra) was playing. …. There were hundreds of dancers, and I would say they seemed like they were all in their 20s,” Johnson said. “This is an older form of music that’s being rediscovered by kids.”

At this year’s TedFest, each of the roughly 20 performing bands will share some thoughts about Ted during their sets. Johnson remembered Ted as gregarious, even when dealing with the countless issues that can arise as a touring musician.

“(One time,) Ted was driving up to a gig in Park City, and the bass fell off the roof of his car. Somebody picked up the pieces, and Ted had his bass rebuilt,” Johnson said. “It sounded like hell, but he still played that bass all the way up to the end.”

Ted first learned upright bass as a kid so he could play in his mother’s dance band, Merle Shupe and the Star Dusters.

Johnson described Ted’s mother as “a real force.”  Two weeks before she died, Merle visited Johnson’s home. Johnson played “All of Me” on the piano, and, although she couldn’t even walk up the stairs by herself, Merle insisted on getting up when she heard his playing.

“She said, ‘Ted! Ted! Get me up. This guy, he thinks he can play “All of Me.”’ So Ted took her over to the piano, and she sat there and she played ‘All of Me,’ just banging it out,” Johnson said.

Like his mother, Ted was also a musical force of nature. Every day, he would wake his children two hours before school so they’d have time to practice their instruments.

“I wonder, would I be (a professional musician) without my dad? Probably not,” Ryan said. 

He added, “When (the PeeWee Pickers) got older, then he started another kid band for my other siblings. And then, he did that again for another band and another band and another band.”

About 35 musicians Ted mentored attended his funeral. 

“He really liked finding these young musicians and putting them into an ensemble and teaching them how to play and getting them out and playing shows,” Ryan said.

Ryan said Ted’s passion stemmed from wanting to share the “gift of music” with his children and other young people. Now, TedFest carries on that mission — and ensures its namesake will be forever remembered.

“Down the road, people will say, ‘What is this TedFest?’” Ryan said. “It’s started by the guy that they dubbed the father of Utah bluegrass music.”

See the full lineup at tedfestmusic.com. Tickets benefit Vibrant America, the nonprofit Ted founded to preserve folk and roots music.

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Eighteen-year-old Heber City folk singer-songwriter Canyon Cottle’s debut album, “September,” which was released in February, is littered with nods to the Wasatch Back. 

“Kids Up in Kamas,” for example, is an ode to both the eastern Summit County town and Heber City’s agricultural roots.

“I’m almost jealous of the kids up in Kamas for having everything that this town was. … Things (have been) growing exponentially, especially after COVID,” Cottle said. “That entire town just reminds me of what it looked like (in Heber City) before I was born. When I was younger, we’d drive up and go to the swimming pool. It looked almost like a ghost town in certain spots because it was just so quaint.”

The second track, “Pine Canyon,” refers to a scenic drive on the titular Midway road. 

Meanwhile, the title track mentions driving past a tree in front of a house with initials carved into it. This lyric is not based on a specific location. It was, in fact, by Cottle’s grandmother after he showed her the song during a camping trip.

“She was like, ‘Can I write some lyrics for you? It needs to be more preppy and lovely and happy and goo-goo eyes.’ I was like, ‘OK, Grandma, whatever. I’m writing songs about painful crap,’” Cottle joked. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, but what about love and romance?’”

A tree with initials carved into it is something Cottle would brand as cliché. Incorporating the lyric anyway is Cottle’s embrace of the simple, tender aspects of life and a shout-out to both his grandmother and the countless engraved aspens in Heber City.

The album’s structure is based on the progression of the seasons. Cottle wrote “Lovely, Aren’t They” on the banjo in the driveway of his house, taking inspiration from the falling leaves surrounding him. In the song, he likens the arrival of autumn to the death of a relationship.

“For a lot of people, that’s the most heart-wrenching, painful thing to ever experience, watching something wither and die. For me, that’s pretty natural. That’s normal. I watch crops die and disappear in the fall. The corn stalks kind of wither and go away, and you have to clean them up, and leaves, and all the things. That’s life,” he said.

Lead single “Smoke in the Sky” also takes inspiration from a breakup. Cottle’s gravelly growl at the beginning of the acoustic chorus intentionally imitates a chainsmoker’s cadence.

The song’s guttural feeling clearly resonated with listeners. Despite being the first song the teenage songwriter had ever released, it was a breakout hit, with over 175,000 streams on Spotify alone since its release last April. 

The experience inflated Cottle’s ego quite a bit, he joked.

“Spotify has an app where you can check your stats 24/7 and look at things. Not the most healthy thing you could do with your life,” Cottle laughed. “(A few days after the song was released), I’m in the commons of Wasatch (High School), and I flip it up to see if anyone looks over my shoulder to look at the stats with me. And there were 40 people listening to the track at the same time.”

Cottle attributes the song’s popularity to its catchy hook and producer Luke Despain’s placement of the song on official Spotify playlists. On top of that, the stylistic influence of the stratospherically popular folk singer Noah Kahan probably helped.

Having a song with more streams than there are people in the entire Wasatch Back has been surreal for Cottle: getting side-eyed in school hallways, being asked for a few autographs and being recognized in Walmart by a little girl who called him that “singer guy.”

It’s a far cry from Cottle writing his first songs on guitar and piano in his freshman year, often procrastinating math homework at the Wasatch County Library by going down a rabbit hole of live performances by artists like The Backseat Lovers, a Provo-formed rock band, and Billy Joel. Those influences, along with performing in Timpanogos Valley Theatre and High Valley Arts productions as a kid, formed Cottle’s stage presence.

“It was cool to be able to lay my heart out for people to look at — which is the weirdest thing to say — and to have them take pictures,” he said. “It’s exciting because your heart races. You get on stage, and then it’s like the mic disappears because you close your eyes, and then you just play, and it turns into fun.”

Songwriting is fulfilling for an entirely different reason, he said.

“I think songwriting takes in all the different parts of your brain and meshes together what a human sounds like,” he said.

Now that Cottle has graduated from high school, he’s ready to explore whatever challenges the adult world throws at him through songwriting. He plans to move away from the obvious Kahan influence to a raw, emotional indie sound inspired by artists like Phoebe Bridgers or Lizzie McAlpine.

“I want them to feel it more. I feel like there’s a lot of wholesomeness in the music right now,” he explained. “(I want to write) songs with deeper harmonies and melodies that kind of converge, and then build, and then drop and disappear out of nowhere, where it’s just stomach-dropping.”

Cottle hopes to continue writing music throughout his life and to make it a full-time career, whether by opening a recording studio or becoming a professional songwriter.

He’s both excited and concerned by the idea of becoming as famous as someone like Kahan, whose tiny hometown of Strafford, Vermont, has become a bit of a tourist hotspot for superfans because of the lyrical references to it in Kahan’s songwriting. 

As someone who’s experienced more fame than most teenagers, Cottle has had concerns about the same happening to Heber City if he were to become a sensation. For now, Cottle is content with being beloved locally.  

No matter what the future holds for him, Cottle hopes to look back on this season of life with fondness.

“I think I’ll look back (at) now knowing that I tried to embody some sort of positivity or hope,” he said.

Cottle’s next performance will be from 9 to 11 p.m. on Saturday at Jade’s Cafe. He will also be performing at the Heber City Red, White & Blue Festival on Saturday, July 4.

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The self-described crepe king was among the 34 retail shops, 20 food vendors and 14 food trucks set up to sell wares at Heber Market on Main at Main Street Park on Thursday.

Despite being royalty, Kent King of Crepe Factory displayed a humble demeanor and an almost aggressive friendliness with a smile permanently plastered on his face as he waved down friends or asked teenage patrons about how the school year had gone. 

A Southwest Airlines pilot and aviation science professor with Utah State University, King got into the crepe-slinging business 14 years ago as a way to connect with people. The Heber City local has been participating in the annual Market on Main farmer’s market and concert series all that time, making crepes for many of the local kids as they’ve grown up.

King and his litany of employees, many his children or grandchildren, are most often found at Brigham Young University, where the Crepe Factory sets up for games and events. King’s record is 871 crepes sold over a three-day women’s conference.

Other than his friendliness, King’s key to success is his custom-built kiosk. It has a window display so customers can watch their crepe being made — a tactic King picked up from vendors in Paris — and lights installed to attract patrons like hungry moths.

Crepe Factory sells anywhere from 100 to 150 crepes each Thursday during Market on Main, which runs from the beginning of June to mid-August this year. Inevitably, King ends up giving out many of those crepes for free — but don’t tell his paying customers, he joked.

Market on Main has existed in some shape or form since 1998. Local Paul Askins was tired of driving to Park City for outdoor summer concerts and started a concert series of his own in Main Street Park, printing posters with his dot matrix printer and gathering about 25 attendees. 

The event, combined with a Midway farmer’s market in the early 2000s, created the fusion of live music, shopping and dining patrons enjoy today.

The tradition became popular a little over a decade ago, bringing 300 to 400 attendees per night, according to Rachel Kahler, executive director of nonprofit Community Alliance for Main Street. These days the event brings between 600 and 1,000 attendees every Thursday.

This year’s Market on Main is the first organized by Community Alliance for Main Street. It was previously organized by city staff, who took over the responsibility from Askins about six years ago.

Before the event, Kahler was “holding (her) breath and hoping it all works out.” She’d spent weeks making arrangements and putting out fires to ensure permitting, business licenses and the event layout were all in place.

But the attendees wandering through the sea of vendors’ tents, lazing on the lawn or dancing like no one was watching on Thursday were none the wiser to the blood, sweat and tears that had gone into its organization.

Askins, too, is familiar with the headaches that can come from organizing the event.

“When we were first starting out, we didn’t really coordinate well with the parks people, and we had a couple where the sprinklers came on right in the middle of the concert. It was in the summer, so some people appreciated it,” Askins laughed.

There was one summer when bands played in the Heber Valley Rotary Club’s bandstand — which was constructed for the concert series — before it had a roof. Supported by a land donation from the city and financial backing from the Rotary Club, the bandstand was completed around 2003.

Before the bandstand was constructed, Askins found it impossible to convince Parkites and other out-of-towners to make the trek to the Heber Valley for concerts. But “once people got to know that this was a viable venue, I had musicians calling me all year long, wanting to be involved,” he said.

Now, Market on Main’s live acts perform in the much larger, $3.5 million bandshell the city constructed last June, with programming coordinated by Park City’s Mountain Town Music.

“It’s beyond our wildest dreams that the city would put this much effort behind it and build something like this. I mean, this stage can handle big bands,” Askins said.

Although he was a DJ for KPCW for two decades, Askins doesn’t describe himself as a musician. The instruments he plays are the stereo and the radio, he joked.

He is, however, an appreciator of all genres of music, which showed in the types of concerts he put on.

“We’d have a jazz night. We’d have a country night. We’d have a rock night. We’d have a folk night. Everyone of them did really well, except for the jazz night,” he said. “Nobody liked jazz in the valley. Those ones were dead every time. But I think now they could do jazz, and it would be different.”

That’s because of Heber City’s growth in population from about 11,000 in 2010 to nearly 20,000 in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. With that, population growth has increased diversity in many forms, including in music taste, Askins said.

Another symptom of that increased diversity can be found in Market on Main’s beer garden, where Askins spends his Thursday evenings checking IDs.

“There’s no way that I ever thought we’d have a beer garden outside in the Heber Valley,” Askins joked, though he greatly appreciates the addition.

When Askins started his concert series, he had only lived in Heber City for about a year. He didn’t take credit for making Market on Main what it is today, but he did offer advice about how to contribute positively to one’s community: “You get out of it what you put into it.”

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The energy at Wasatch High School Latinos in Action’s celebration of cultures showcase on Friday instantly topped that of many live shows. 

There was no awkward head-bobbing or distracted chatting from the crowd packed into the school auditorium. Instead, there were screams of support from parents holding bouquets, dancing in the audience and cheering that rivaled the Super Bowl. 

When Wasatch High School ninth grader and resident hype man Jafet Farías wandered on stage in a blazer and sunglasses to belt out Don Omar’s 2010 hit “Danza Kuduro” for the first act, the entire auditorium lit up with phone flashlights dancing like a swarm of excited fireflies.

Timpagonos Middle School student Salome Urquijo was a tad more timid than Farías was. 

Wearing a colorful traditional Mexican dress and flower crown, the 12-year-old student danced with the girls in Andres Caceres’ Latinos in Action class. Meanwhile, the boys donned masks resembling elderly men and sombreros, which they twirled on canes like spinning plates during the Michoacán folk dance Danza de los Viejitos (Dance of the Little Old Men).

Urquijo said they planned the dance for a year, but she still had stage fright.

“There are so many people here,” she said beforehand. “It’s people bigger than me, and I feel nervous.”

Wasatch High School Latinos in Action teacher Ana Alejandre said giving students a safe space to share their talents was one of the reasons she founded the cultural showcase four years ago.

“There’s a teacher friend of mine. She said, ‘This, for some kids, is going to be the only time that they really perform in their life on a stage where they have this many people watching them,'” Alejandre said. “Just to see them feeling so proud up there, it’s like, ‘Yes. That’s what we’re here to do.'”

Alejandre also founded the cultural showcase to foster interest in Wasatch High School’s Latinos in Action class.

Latinos in Action is a national program focused on empowering Latino youth through four pillars: leveraging personal and cultural assets, excelling in education, serving the community and developing leadership skills. Wasatch High School’s Latinos in Action class was founded about a decade ago, with Alejandre beginning to teach it four years ago.

“The first year that I taught Latinos in Action, none of this was happening. … Kids didn’t sign up for (Latinos in Action). I had to invite students to join,” Alejandre said. 

But once the group started holding the annual cultural showcase four years ago, kids became interested in the class. The showcase itself became wildly popular, with Alejandre estimating that this year’s crowd was three times the size of the first showcase’s. 

There were a few poetry and vocal performances, like the guitar-strumming and serenading of Wasatch High School senior Yandell Parra’s three-man band, Grupo CLAY, but the bulk of performances were dance numbers.

A standout performance was by a group featuring Wasatch High School alumni Milly Vieyra and Mayra Castro. The group performed a dance popular during July festivities in Guerrero, Mexico, when residents celebrate the saint Sr. Santiago Apostol. 

The group wore heavy, handmade sombreros that looked as if they were made of orange flowers, as well as wooden masks that distort their voices to sound deeper when they yell. They danced to a repetitive flute and drum melody, stomping the ground to represent growing flowers and cracking whips to imitate lightning.

“Every dance has a story behind it,” Castro said. “We’re basically representing the farmers.”

It wasn’t just students and alumni who danced, but school district employees, too.

High school counselor Angie Orjuela-Beltran performed a dance number with her fiance, father and mother. 

“Sometimes resources are not available for (students) because of the language. So, the job that they are doing helping them is amazing. I really love and admire my daughter,” said Angie’s father, Carlos Orjuela. 

Dance became a staple of the Orjuela family as soon as they immigrated to the United States about 20 years ago.

“We were not dancers before, but then, when we came, basically, we realized that dance is something that is joining the family together,” he said. “We enjoy it. So we dance on every occasion that we have the opportunity.”

Assistant High School Principal McKenzie Neiufi also performed a dance number with her family, though they had much less practice, according to her husband, Amoni. He learned about the showcase earlier that evening, when he’d just gotten home from work. The family practiced for about an hour before they were thrust into the spotlight. 

The Neiufis performed a Polynesian dance number to “Mate Ma’a Tonga” by Tupou Loto’aniu and made it through about half of the dance onstage. 

“There’s still more to that dance,” Amoni said. “Maybe next year, we’ll do the whole thing.”

The Neiufis’ performance was an example of how the culture night was for everyone, despite being organized by Latinos in Action. 

Junior Aim Jivon got the crowd clapping along as she sang Thai pop songs, while sophomore Daigh Marshall performed Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in American Sign Language as twelfth grader Avery Green jammed on the piano. 

For Alejandre, the “culture” in culture night refers to Wasatch High School’s culture as well.

She grew up in Ogden after her family immigrated to the United States from Michoacán, Mexico, when she was 8 years old. She estimated that her family was one of five immigrant families in her school district. There certainly wasn’t a cultural showcase back then; her heritage felt like a secret she had to keep. 

When she began teaching in the school district, she was pleasantly surprised by the number of Hispanic students and the variety of cultures students came from.

“You can see that kids are just into it. They want other people to see. They want to show what they know because it’s hard to any other place,” Alejandre said. “That’s part of the school.”

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Addie Dunn, a 12-year-old violinist from Kamas, has the opportunity of a lifetime this spring: a two-week tour in Italy with scheduled performances in historic venues and cathedrals.

Dunn first picked up a violin when she was 3 years old.

“I tell people that if I had started playing violin any later, I probably would have quit just because it’s hard when you’re not very good,” Dunn said. “But since I was so young, I hardly remember not playing violin. It’s just been my life. It’s something I do, and now that I’ve gotten better, it gives me a will to actually do it.”

While very little, she joined Debbie Moench’s studio in Salt Lake City. When Moench retired, Dunn experimented with a few other teachers before sticking with Corine Hart and joining Rocky Mountain Strings, a performing group of around 50 students from different studios.

Founded in 1997 by Moench and Ramona Stirling, Rocky Mountain Strings has participated in multiple overseas tours with its students, including Germany, Argentina and Poland. In March and April 2025, the group will head to Italy, and Dunn hopes to fundraise enough money to make the trip.

“It helps prepare us,” Dunn said about her concerts with Rocky Mountain Strings. “About a month ago, we had a performance at a church for this fundraiser they were doing.”

Dunn and a couple of the girls from Rocky Mountain Strings performed at the Kamas market together, added Janelle Dunn, Addie’s mom.

“She did it once by herself, and they asked her to come back, and she brought two of her friends the other times. She’ll be performing on Nov. 30 at the Kamas Christmas market there, too.”

During her recent performances, Dunn has left open her empty violin case with a sign asking for donations to fund her trip to Italy. Her mom has also been accepting donations through Venmo (@Janelle-Dunn-1) and asks that any donations include the subject line “Italy.”

“She’s been selling things on Poshmark, she’s had bake sales, she’s had several performances,” Janelle Dunn said. “She performs for free and just asks for donations when she performs. She also went knocking on doors and played her violin and asked for donations that way, too.”

In total, Dunn needs to raise $5,000. Her mom says she’s about halfway to her goal and that she’s confident the family will be able to raise the funds to send Dunn to Italy.

“We’re super happy for her. It’s amazing,” Dunn’s mom said. “I remember thinking when she first started, because there were other kids in her studio that were older and at the level that she is now, I just thought when she started, I have no idea how it’s possible to go from her playing at age three and a half, which she still sounded good, but to go from that to playing these difficult Vivaldi pieces and to sound better than if I was listening to a CD. It’s incredible. It’s impressive.”

Dunn, who is home-schooled, said she has other interests outside of violin, like playing volleyball and tennis, but that violin is by far her biggest hobby. She practices for at least 45 minutes every day and sometimes takes multiple lessons in a week, driving all the way to Salt Lake City to meet with her instructor.

“It’s definitely hard, and now I have that knowledge of how far I can go and so I also have something to look forward to,” Dunn said. “It’s really fun also, just hearing myself and making progress, and I have great friends who play violin. Just all of it is really great.”

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The 2024 Latino Arts Festival was held Saturday at Canyons Village. The festival is hosted by the Arts Council for Park City and Summit County.

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The Triple Crown Softball series is back in Park City and opened up the week with a pin trading and parade on lower Main Street Monday afternoon, July 10, 2017. The series, which will last throughout the week, welcomed over 80 teams. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Link to full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-Triple-Crown-Softball-Series-Opening-Festivities/

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The Summit Arts Council hosted the annual Summit Arts Showcase at the Red Barn in Oakley Friday and Saturday. The event featured live music, food, art demos and more. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Link to full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-Summit-Arts-Showcase/

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Park City’s annual Savor The Summit event brought hundreds of locals to Main Street to wine and dine together and enjoy live music, fine cuisine and more. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Link to full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-Savor-The-Summit-2017/

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