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Check out Real Audio samples from the complete 15-song album Comfort for the Traveler here: Utah Carol song samples.

Buy Rodeo Queen, Comfort for the Traveler and Wonderwheel direct from Utah Carol. Utah Carol albums can now be purchased securely online with your American Express, MasterCard or Visa through PayPal BUY NOW with PayPal. Utah Carol merchandise can also be purchased securely by visiting the "Goods" section in the Flash version of the web site.

December 2006: Utah Carol's third album release Rodeo Queen is available for pre-order

Utah Carol's third incredibly beautiful full-length album release, is filled with the duo's signature rich, woven vocal harmonies combined with layered horns, keyboard, slide guitars and orchestral samples. Haunting songs like "The Golden West," "Twilight Time" and "Whisper To Me Sweetly" are perfect companions for an evening at the cabin. "Rodeo Queen" creates an expansive soundtrack for one great, lonesome western where everything is golden or sparkles like the sequins on a cowboy shirt or the stars up in a boney cowboy sky. The album contains 13 songs, a 12-page, full-color booklet with lyrics, liner notes and fresh design, art and photography from Birkdesign Inc., Heather Culp and Hayley Murphy.

Buy Rodeo Queen at Amazon.com

Buy Rodeo Queen at Miles Of Music

Gapers Block Reviews Rodeo Queen and Interviews Utah Carol!

Read the first interview with Utah Carol about their third new release Rodeo Queen.

Exclusive Utah Carol interview with Matt Dufek, Gapers Block

Check out Three Utah Carol Videos on YouTube.com

Utah Carol on YouTube.com

November 2006: Hope Springs Eternal!

The US voting system is still working after all.

End The War In Iraq Now!

October 2006: Utah Carol @ myspace.com/utahcarol

The third Utah Carol album will be mastered at The Lodge and is just about ready to release in the U.S. It's been a while, so thanks to all of our fans keeping in touch. Send an email to hello at utah carol dot com to receive an email about the release date or visit myspace.com/utahcarol to hear two brand new songs.

The Lodge

Utah Carol @ MySpace.com

November 2004

www.michaelmoore.com

January 2005: It's time to read a great book!

Acclaimed rock critic Sylvie Simmons chronicles the transcendent weirdness of the music world in her debut fiction collection of short stories.

Too Wierd For Ziggy by Sylvie Simmons

November 2004

www.michaelmoore.com

October 2004: Calling on all citizens of the U.S.A.: Vote on November 2, 2004!!!

Get out and vote, vote early, and don't forget your ID. Whatever type of voting machines are being used, there's no excuse for not getting out and casting your ballot. If your state allows early voting, take advantage of it.

www.pfaw.org

If you have any problems at the polling place, you should call the Election Protection hotline at (866) OUR-VOTE. Election Protection is a nationwide program to safeguard your right to cast a ballot on Election Day.

http://action.moveonpac.org/vfc/

April 2004: "Like You Used To," a new, unreleased track from Utah Carol appears on ParkinSong, a benefit compilation compact disc.

"ParkinSong, Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope" is a two-CD Who's Who of contemporary singer-songwriters--through the ParkinSong Foundation, Inc., the New Jersey non-profit organization. Set for release May 11 through Ryko Distribution and produced by Lloyd Maines (Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jerry Jeff Walker), who is also the father of Dixie Chick Natalie and producer of their No. 1 Grammy-winning smash, Home, the double-disc set features previously unreleased selections by Steve Forbert, Chuck Prophet, Dave Alvin, Last Train Home, Utah Carol and Little Pink among its 38 tracks. The ParkinSong Foundation, Inc. (www.parkinsong.com) uses music to raise awareness and money to research new and innovative therapies for Parkinson's treatment, including stem cell research. A primary goal is to encourage the U.S. government to back off its opposition to stem cell research. Read more about the cd and the foundation here.

January 2004: Download "Like You Used To," a new, unreleased track from Utah Carol's upcoming release.

A version of this song will appear on their new album scheduled for release in March 2004. Download Like You Used To here.

Setpember, 19 2003: Upcoming show at The Abbey in Chicago opening for Handsome Family and Jim White

Come out and see Utah Carol for a rare, live acoustic show at The Abbey in Chicago. Utah Carol will be performing songs from "Comfort for the Traveler" as well as some new songs from their upcoming album. The band is opening for Handsome Family and Jim White! Don't miss this show, Saturday, October 18, 2003 Abbey Pub, Chicago. Doors open at 9:00 PM. Utah Carol goes on at 10:00 PM www.abbeypub.com.

September 2003: Utah Carol is back in the studio!

New songs are in the works for a new record...so...Utah Carol will be layin' low for a while. In the meantime, please support this very important site: www.moveon.org.

Utah Carol performs at 22nd Annual Tropical Heatwave in Tampa

May 3, 2003, Tampa Bay, Florida. Visit www.tropicalheatwave.org for more information.

Tropical Heatwave is WMNF's (www.wmnf.org) huge annual eclectic music festival, and the Tampa Bay area's biggest summer party, a multi-stage event featuring several dozen musical acts. Heatwave attracts thousands of music lovers to Tampa's historic Latin quarter, Ybor City, for a day of cutting-edge musical acts and old favorites from an unusually wide variety of genres. Tropical Heatwave proceeds benefit the station.

Utah Carol appears on new compilation "Flirt!"

Included are some old-fashioned love songs, indie rock style. All but two are previously unreleased, and most are brand new recordings made especially for this compilation. Visit www.excellentonline.com for free downloads from this excellent 2-cd set.

All The Real Girls WINS at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival!

"All The Real Girls," the new film by David Gordon Green and an Official Sundance Film Selection, wins the Sundance Jury Prize for Emotional Truth by the Sundance Film Festival. "Mabel Custer" a track from Utah Carol's debut "Wonderwheel" can be heard during the film's drag car race scene.

(Did you know that "All The Real Girls" is the second independent film in a row that contains a song by Utah Carol that also happened to premier at the Sundance Film Festival? The first film was "Anna Is Being Stalked," a 2002 Official Sundance Selection by Gabe Rhodes that's in regular rotation on the Sundance Channel.)

The beautiful, lyrical film will release in New York and Los Angeles on Valentine's day, February 14, 2003 and will be widely released in late February. Visit the Sony Pictures Classics web site for more details about the extraordinary film: www.sonyclassics.com.

Roger Ebert's review: David Gordon Green's "George Washington" was one of the best films of 2000. Now just 27, he's back with the stylistically similar "All the Real Girls," set in the industrial landscapes of a North Carolina mill town, and watching and listening with a special lyrical intensity to the love affair between Paul (Paul Schneider) and Noel (Zooey Deschanel), who feel their love is special and yet are doomed to test it. Green has a gift for moments of acute observation, for dialogue both naturalistic and uninflected, for mood over plot, for poetry over prose. It's a lovely film.

15th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference Help us spread the word that Utah Carol will be at the Folk Alliance Conference this year in Nashville! 15th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference Thursday, February 6, 2003, 5:30 P.M. Friday, February 7, 2003, Midnight Renaissance Nashville Hotel/Nashville Convention Center www.folkalliance.com Utah Carol will be represented by Cameron/Rose Management (CRM) at the Folk Alliance Conference. Visit CRM at www.crmmusic.com.

Utah Carol European Tour Diary with photos! Utah Carol took George Zahora's Touring Test Diary on SplendidEzine. Read JinJa's diary entries and see photos of Utah Carol that document their time on the road in Europe.

Part I at www.splendidezine.com.

Part II at www.splendidezine.com.

Part III at www.splendidezine.com.

The beautiful photos were taken by Hayley Murphy Photography (www.hayleymurphyphotography.com). Visit her web site for more information.

November 3, 2002
Utah Carol is in Europe playing to wonderfully receptive audiences. So far: Brussel, Barcelona and Madrid. France and Italy have unfortunately been cancelled due to logistics. To read about the tour and to see photos of the band visit Utah Carol's tour diary at George Zahora's Splendid Ezine at (www.splendidezine.com). Scroll and look for "The Touring Test" section. The beautiful photos were taken by Hayley Murphy Photography (www.hayleymurphyphotography.com).

Utah Carol's next stop: Berlin!! For complete updated tour information, visit the band's booking agency web site Paperclip Agency at www.paperclip-agency.com.

October 12, 2002
Utah Carol will be in Europe for the first time! The band will be promoting their latest album "Comfort for the Traveler" in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and UK. The new album was released and is being distributed by Munich Records (www.munichrecords.com) in all of the countries in which the band is touring.

For complete updated tour information, visit the band's booking agency web site Paperclip Agency at www.paperclip-agency.com. Paperclip Agency is an independent talent agency based in the Netherlands. With Europe as the company's main territory, Paperclip Agency operates internationally throughout the world. The artists represented are from all over the world and their musical scopes range from rock to dance, from world to alternative, from roots to avant garde.

Utah Carol (JinJa Davis and Grant Birkenbeuel) will be playing at good clubs all around Europe and will also be visiting different radio stations and appearing on national television shows. Traveling with the Utah Carol will be David Kemper (bassist) and Greg Wyser-Pratte (drummer).

Utah Carol's song "See The Sun" about a trapped coal miner
Did you know that Utah Carol's song "See the Sun" from their new album "Comfort for the Traveler" is about a man trapped in a coal mine who is writing a letter to his loved ones while waiting to be rescued? Here's a lyric from the song:

So much left to do it won't end this way
When they find me I'll never waste a day
The smell of fresh air and all the simple things
Oh to see the sun what will tomorrow bring.

Listen to a :30 Real Audio soundbite here REAL AUDIO.

July 21, 2002 News Alert!
Utah Carol's whimisical song "Mabel Custer" from "Wonderwheel" will be in the new David Gordon Green Film "All The Real Girls." From David about All The Real Girls: "...it's about a young guy who falls in love with his best friend's little sister. But it's hard for me to leave it at that, because it's also about the way the sun sets, the way the trees blow in the wind." The film is planned to be released by Sony Picture Classics in the first quarter of 2003. Read an interview with the director about his new film at Interview with David Gordon Green.

David Gordon Green is the award-winning writer and director of "George Washington" (George Washington Awards). His debut "...is the captivating and beautifully shot story of a group of children on the verge of adulthood during one long, hot summer. Set in a rural town in North Carolina, the group of youngsters find themselves caught in a tragic lie after an innocent game goes wrong. Forced to confront a tangle of difficult choices they struggle to be true to themselves and discover what it takes to make a modern American hero.

News Alert!
"My Fear" from "Wonderwheel" appears on Gabriel Rhodes and Scott Prendergast critically acclaimed short film "Anna is Being Stalked." According to David Germain, AP movie writer, "A hilarious twist on the knife-wielding maniac, the film presents a strong heroine who ends up as mother hen for her absolutely toothless stalker." The actor Robin Williams was seen on E! Television saying it was the most hilarious 7 minutes he saw at Sundance this year.

See for yourself! View the short at Anna is Being Stalked.

July Update
crazy elephants, crazy tigers
run, run away
It'll all be over soon
It's the greatest show on earth -- Utah Carol, 2002

Three-week European Tour Planned for Fall 2002!
Utah Carol will appear at the Tenth Annual Crossing Border Festival in Amsterdam, November, 2002! Utah Carol has been invited to perform at the Crossing Border Festival (www.crossingborder.nl) in Holland in November and is planning a short European tour around the appearance. The band will also appear at "The Club" booked by AB Concerts (www.abconcerts.be) on Sunday, October 27, 2002! "The Club" is a breeding-ground for both international and local up-and-coming talent like David Poe, Pieter-Jan Desmet, Stephen Malkmus, Grandaddy, Groove Armada, Victoria Williams.

This will be Utah Carol's debut performance in Europe where they will be performing as a duo. Chicago-based drummer Gerald Dowd who performed on "Comfort for the Traveler" and an as-of-yet-unnamed bass player will accompany the band for part of the tour.

More territories may be announced at a later date. Visit the Utah Carol Live Shows Calendar for updates.

"Silver Space Rocket" is on French compilation POPvolume No. 3
"Silver Space Rocket" from Utah Carol's second album appears on the French compilation POPvolume No. 3. "Silver Space Rocket," the first track on the compilation, was mixed by Brian Deck at Clava Studios. Visit POPnews to buy the compilation and check out the other bands on the new cd.

Brand New Reviews: by Rob Hughes, Uncut Magazine, U.K ("Comfort for the Traveler" Four Stars)
"Grant Birkenbeuel and JinJa Davis have been making sweet music under the Utah Carol banner since 1997. Debut LP, "Wonderwheel," was a corker, but "Comfort..." raises the bar several notches. Amid the waterfalls of soft harmonies, glistening arpeggios and goosepimply string arrangemennts beats the heart of classic Eighties pop, from Orange Juice and It's Immaterial to The Lilac Time and, however improbably, Timbuk 3. Hard to pick a standout, but "Misfits" and "See the Sun" will have you groping for the repeat button. Imagine Belle and Sebastian ditching the knowing smugness for teeth and decent tunes." Uncut.

Fish Records, U.K
"'Comfort for the Traveler' is a wonderfully diverse album, it mixes genres seamlessly, and has a cohesive feel thanks to the constantly upbeat melodies andimaginative vocals. Contemporary yet familiar, pop-like but with real depth - this is a disc that deserves success, both critically and commercially. A perfect album for the summer." Read the complete review at www.fishrecords.co.uk.

ChicagoGigs.com, by Darryl Cater, Chicago
The magic of Utah Carol's truly original sound lies primarily in the strength and inventiveness of its dreamy arrangements, which layer strings, flutes, orchestral chimes, clarinet, tuba, organs and pedal steel over a bedrock of folksy guitar. The arrangements are layered, varied and evocative without being outlandishly complex. Reminiscent, in that respect, of Brian Wilson's eight track magic on songs like the similarly dreamy instrumental "Let's Go Away For A While." Read the complete review at www.chicagogigs.com.

Inrockuptibles, France
"(Comfort for the Traveler) ...recalls to the occasion The Sea And Cake, Yo Tengo, Speed The Plough, Belle And Sebastian or Papas Fritas - the clear and quiet line of pop intelligentsia. The more remote influences of Utah Carol are in black and white (Beach Boys, the Family Casing, Phil Spector), but their music is colors, between the green of grass and the blue of the sky." For the rest go to www1.lesinrocks.com.

Comes With a Smile, by Matt Dornan, UK
"Anyone approaching Utah Carol expecting to discover another Handsome Family (and the traditional cowboy song origin of the name, Mojo Americana Album of the Month for previous offering 'Wonderwheel,' and the inclusion of songs titled Cowboy Pop Song and The Way of the Buffalo might just lead you to that conclusion) may be disappointed to find 'Comfort for the Traveler' is as steeped in dreamy boy/girl pop as 'Twilight' is in gothic neo-country." For the rest go to Comes With a Smile.

Illinois Entertainer, by Jeff Berkwits, Chicago
"The 15 mellow melodies on Comfort For The Traveler, the new CD from duo Utah Carol, marvelously recall those warm summer nights when everything in life seemed just right." For the rest go to www.illinoisentertainer.com.

More reviews
Dockland; Pick of the Chick; Music Dish; www.todaslasnovedades.com; www.sefronia.com.

Italian Magazine "Vinile" Interview:
Vinile: Voi vivete a Chicago. Per molti, in Italia, Chicago e anche la citta che ha dato origine alla cosiddetta scena "post rock," Tortoise, Joan of arc etc.etc... Cosa potete dirmi al riguardo? Magari siete amici, collaboratori di alcune di queste bands... Utah Carol: Se gli Utah Carol fanno parte o meno della scena post rock, non sono in grado di dirtelo...Ci piace l'idea di far parte della comunita musicale locale, ma in realta siamo dei veri e propri outsiders. Come ti ho gia detto, abbiamo entrambi dei lavori a tempo pieno e questo limita la nostra possibilita di esibirci dal vivo, sia in citta che con dei tour nazionali o regionali, come invece accade per gran parte delle altre bands. Certe volte tutto questo e frustrante, ma allo stesso tempo crediamo che lavorare sotto pressione e con poco tempo a disposizione possa esser una specie di stimolo. Magari, se avessimo piu tempo a disposizione meno creativi...Non credi? For the rest, go to Vinile.com

Web stuff:
Here's a site by someone who was inspired by Utah Carol; check out the teacher teachin' a UtahCarol.com class!

The Three R's: Read (The Nation)! Resist (Loudly)! Revolt (Peacefully)!
Here's how: www.thenation.com

Remember to check the new Live Shows Calendar feature above to find out when and where Utah Carol will be performing live.

Buy Comfort for the Traveler and Wonderwheel online, by mail or by phone at: www.milesofmusic.com or www.villagerecords.com or www.cdbaby.com or www.awarestore.com or www.plaatboef.com. Stop by Rock Records at 175 W. Washington, Chicago, IL USA; 312.346.3489 or Sounds Record Shop, Parade 66, 5911 CE Venlo, 31-77-3510625. Visit Utah Carol's music licensor for Europe: www.munichrecords.com.

Listen to Utah Carol's WXRT Radio Interview
(Streaming Real Audio)
JinJa and Grant talk about Utah Carol and Comfort for the Traveler with WXRT's Richard Milne.

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