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The Ten O’ One Band plays a house show in Bear Lake. From left: John Barber, Van Novak, Chip Novak, Liam Haworth and Carver Novak.

Photo supplied

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The Ten O’ One Band plays a house show in Bear Lake. From left: Chip Novak, Van Novak and Liam Haworth.

Photo supplied

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The Ten O’ One Band plays a house show in Bear Lake. From left: John Barber, Van Novak, Chip Novak and Liam Haworth.

Photo supplied

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Utah “is the best state in the world: greatest snow, greatest trees” — and now, greatest music, according to Daniel McNally, keyboardist for Theoretical Blonde, a Salt Lake City-based five-piece bluegrass band.

“The best thing about the music scene in Salt Lake right now is that it is small and growing; it isn’t saturated yet,” the musician said.

McNally, who grew up in Emigration Canyon, understands the significance of a tight-knit music community. When detailing what making music is about for him, he said, “At the end of the day, it’s always been about creating things that are authentic to your experience. Utah facilitates that by being a small and loving community.”

This adoring community is apparent in both the audiences listening and the bands themselves. While competition runs rampant in larger music cities, McNally believes “A big fish in a small pond help(s) others — rising tides float all boats. Any band’s success (in Utah is) highly influential on other bands.”

Carver Novak, drummer for the Ten O’ One Band, said, “Big names are rolling through; there will be a time pretty soon when big names are coming out of Salt Lake.”

The Ten O’ One Band’s name was inspired by the address where three Iowan brothers wandering cross-country first met and jammed with a group of New Mexican friends who grew up on the slopes of Taos together. In numerology, 1001 translates to “new beginnings.” It felt like an omen for the band’s future.

This seven-person band has a varied outlook on genre, playing anything from rock ‘n’ roll to psychedelic Latin to blues to jams — all things soulful. Or, as its bassist Liam Haworth sums it up, “Music that makes you want to dance.”

While its music scene may not be what initially drew the Ten O’ One Band or members of Theoretical Blonde to Utah, both bands have certainly carved out a place for themselves here where they can keep bringing music and rhythm to the state.

For Theoretical Blonde’s members, whose lively bluegrass tunes have secured them several shows at Red Butte Gardens and festivals, including Desert Reverie in Southern Utah, it is more than the community that makes the Utah music scene magnetic. McNally smiled as he said, “Outdoor venues are significantly more fun than indoor venues. (Being outside) makes you feel part of the world around you, especially Moab. We’re just out there in the red rocks playing bluegrass, a Westerny kind of music … and you are one with nature.”

Red Butte is especially sentimental for McNally, who was originally subbing in for Theoretical Blonde when, as he said, “They got down on their knees at the Red Butte show, they put the microphone up to my mouth and said, ‘Would you join the band?'” The rest was history.

Like McNally, Chip Novak, guitarist for the Ten O’ One Band, feels this intrinsic connection between music and nature. “Music and nature go one and one … playing outside is (the) peak, especially if your feet are in the grass.”

Another band member, Leo Schor, who plays percussion, piped up, “Do you hear the crickets now?” He began snapping along with the chirping critters circling the yard around him. “It’s like a swing,” he said.

McNally compared the feeling of playing music with his close friends to nature. “You are so in the moment and so content, and you feel at one with yourself, and it goes into being part of nature,” he said. “When you play music with people, and you can read other people’s minds, you are so in the moment and the zone, it’s just magical.”

Bluegrass originated in the Appalachians and carries the musical manifestation of rock faces, trees and snowmelt-fed streams in its tunes, making this nature-evoking genre especially suitable for Utah with its sprawling mountains. “It depends what your goal is, but there is a serious art in creating something simple and amazing,” McNally said while explaining why bluegrass is so special. “(Bluegrass) is the culmination of so many different genres, specifically base genres like classical music and jazz.”

This duality makes bluegrass fantastic dancing music, but it’s more than that. “If you are in a big bluegrass band and people are very technically skilled, analytical musicians can appreciate (the music), and your average Joes love dancing to (it). You capture both ends of the spectrum,” McNally said.

For the Ten O’ One Band, music is a potent force of change and unity. The band believes that its art form elevates activism. One cause close to their hearts is working with Save Our Canyons, a nonprofit focused on preserving the Wasatch’s wildlife and beauty. According to Haworth, “(Music) unites people; it brings people together no matter what language they speak or what belief they believe — everyone speaks music.”

Van Novak, vocalist and guitarist in the band, similarly asserts a message is “better spread through a fun, uplifting experience.”

Both Theoretical Blonde and the Ten O’ One Band have leveraged the enticing pull of music to throw support behind charities and causes. Beyond that, the Ten O’ One Band’s passion for music helped band members, friends and family express a shared mourning.

Rory Swimm, a close and treasured friend of the band, was tragically shot and killed in downtown Salt Lake last October (Reckless Beauty Foundation). The band reflected on Swimm’s funeral when asked about their most memorable performance. Swimm would jokingly beg the band to play Lynyrd Skynyrd’s hit song at each of their concerts, shouting from the back of the room, “Play Free Bird!” After months of refusing to play the song, the Ten O’ One Band learned it in mere days and played it in honor of Swimm and his weighty legacy.

Schor explained how, in the moment they played, “the music was leading us.” It revived the bereaved crowd, capturing Swimm’s spunky and upbeat spirit. Van Novak said, “You can get inspired by anything.” And in this moment of communal grief, the Ten O’ One delivered some much-needed inspiration.

Novak continued, “Rory solidified the band. … It was almost like you could play anything in that moment, and you’d just know, there was no messing up, so much love and so much good energy, it doesn’t matter what happens.”

That was the moment when Haworth realized, “This is what it’s all about.”

These bands have dedicated their talent and hearts to the Utah community, whether they were drawn here by old friends, ski hills, Little Cottonwood Canyon, an over-insulated van or family.

Listen to their songs if you want to support them and learn more about Utah’s budding music scene. The Ten O’ One Band’s “Many Miles” and Theoretical Blonde’s “Miles From Home” share a common theme about finding homes away from home — which Utah has become for many of the musicians. Both songs are available on Spotify and Apple Music. You can also support the bands by following them on social media, going to their concerts, exploring new genres, buying their shirts (self-produced and designed by Haworth and guitarist Roland Danemann) and telling your friends.

As Novak generously put it, “We’ll play for however (many) doughnuts you want to give us.”

Another band member chimed in: “Or no doughnuts!”