May 22, 2025

From Shady Lady Studio to Noble Hops: Utah Burgess's Musical Journey

Send us a text The hidden musical gems in your own backyard might just be the best-kept secret in entertainment. Utah Burgess, founder of Shady Lady Studio and the American rock/alt country band Noble Hops, joins us to reveal how local music scenes thrive beneath the mainstream radar. Utah's musical journey began with his mother's guitar playing, introducing him to country and bluegrass before he found his own path through saxophone, drums, and eventually guitar. After founding Noble Hops in...

Send us a text

The hidden musical gems in your own backyard might just be the best-kept secret in entertainment. Utah Burgess, founder of Shady Lady Studio and the American rock/alt country band Noble Hops, joins us to reveal how local music scenes thrive beneath the mainstream radar.

Utah's musical journey began with his mother's guitar playing, introducing him to country and bluegrass before he found his own path through saxophone, drums, and eventually guitar. After founding Noble Hops in 2010 as a bar band duo, personal tragedy sparked a creative awakening when he lost fellow musician Mo Nelson in 2020. "He left behind a great catalog of music," Utah reflects, "and it just let me know that I've done nothing with my music. Time is short, life has no guarantees." This pivotal moment transformed his band into a vehicle for original expression rather than cover songs.

Beyond his own musical endeavors, Utah has become a passionate advocate for local talent. His radio show on 97.7 FM has produced over 670 episodes spotlighting regional musicians since 2012. "The talent in this area is incredible," he explains. "People get lucky and get noticed and become superstars, and other people work a job while playing music at night like I do—that doesn't mean the music isn't as good as anything you hear on a national scene." This philosophy extends to his three-day music festival at Cooper's Lake Campground, which draws fans from eight different states to enjoy fishing, camping, and exceptional local performances.

When asked about his influences, Utah cites Led Zeppelin and Neil Diamond, but quickly returns to praising the musicians in his immediate community. "I'm always in awe of the people right here in my neighborhood—they blow me away with their talent and songwriting." His closing message resonates with genuine conviction: "The best value for your entertainment dollar is local music. I don't know why you're dropping two, three hundred bucks on tickets and paying for fifteen-dollar beers when you can see great music right in your own backyard."

Visit noblehopsmusic.com or thebandjam.com to connect with Utah's musical world and discover the thriving scene he champions. Support the artists creating extraordinary music just around the corner from where you live—they might just surprise you with their world-class talent.

Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

00:00 - Welcome to Living the Dream

00:59 - Utah Burgess's Musical Journey

02:38 - Noble Hops Band Origins

04:20 - Local Radio Show Spotlight

05:41 - Shady Lady Studio Beginnings

06:39 - Musical Influences and Collaborations

09:12 - The Band Jam Festival

10:37 - Support Local Music

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Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball, if you believe you can achieve.

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Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.

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I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.

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Today I am joined by Utah Burgess, founder of Shady Lady Studio.

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He co-hosts a local show in his community and he is the founder of the band Noble Hops.

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Noble Hops is an American rock slash alt country band.

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So we're going to be talking to Utah about everything that he's up to, from his studio to his show, to his band.

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So, utah, thank you so much for joining me today.

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Oh, thank you so much for having me.

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Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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Oh wow, I'm just a guy who's trying to make his way through life, right?

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Yeah, just love music.

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Love music a lot, especially the local music scene.

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We have quite a scene here in western Pennsylvania and a big part of that.

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Try to promote it and to a degree, I have my own band as well and enjoy writing music and sharing that with the world.

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Okay, well, tell us how you got into music and you know why you're so passionate about it.

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I remember as a kid my mom would pick on the guitar and was really into, I guess, a lot of that older country and bluegrass kind of stuff.

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So just was always around that and played in the band.

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You know, the high school band started on the alto saxophone, switched to drums and then I bought myself an electric guitar after getting into rock and roll at a young, early age and thinking I was going to be a rock star.

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You know how it goes.

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And then, uh, life happens.

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You know kids, jobs, mortgages, some moves, and uh, now that I'm living in uh dog years, as a friend of mine puts it, I've realized I've got to uh step it up if I I want to do anything with the music I've created.

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Okay, well, tell us about your band Noble Hops, when it was founded and anything else you want the listeners to know about them.

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Yeah, it started back in 2010.

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It was just a bar band duo.

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It's been through a few transformations.

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After a couple of years of you know, a lot of life changes, both good and bad.

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I found myself writing again and a lot of music coming out of me, but it would get a little bit lost in those variations of the bands.

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Then I lost a good friend of mine who was a musician as well, a great great songwriter, mo Nelson, back in 2020.

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And you know he left behind a great catalog of music.

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You can find him online and it just sort of you know, kind of let me know that I've done nothing with my music.

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And time is short, life is no guarantees and I need to do something with what's coming out of me.

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So I put this version of the band together and our focus is on our own music.

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How did you come up with the name Noble Hops?

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did you come up with the name noble hops?

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Well, I wanted something unique and original.

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Uh and I I do enjoy my beer and uh and, and I brew beer myself and just uh and yeah that was like wow, nobody has a band called Noble Hops.

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This is perfect.

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Okay, well, I know in the green room you were telling me about a local program that you host, you know putting a spotlight on local musicians.

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So kind of tell us about that and how you got into that and where listeners can hear it if they're in your area.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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You don't even have to be in the area because we stream it as well, but it broadcasts on 97.7 FM out of Butler, pennsylvania, the rock station.

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You can find it at 977rockscom.

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Our first episode was July 1st 2012.

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Dot com Our first episode was July 1st 2012.

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And I just approached the radio station about this concept of doing a local music show because, as I stated earlier, the talent in this area is incredible and you know, people get lucky and get noticed and they become superstars and other people work a job while playing music at night, like I do, and that doesn't mean the music isn't as good as anything you hear, you know on a national scene.

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So I convinced them to do it and they put me with a great partner, bob Cup, who is a on-air personality at the station, and uh, so yeah, we're at about 670 episodes now and going strong, just trying to put a spotlight on the great talent in this area.

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Okay, well, tell us about that studio, shady lady you know.

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Tell us, uh, what you guys do and how you got that started.

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Yeah, that actually started back in my high school days.

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It was the very first song I ever wrote, called Shady Lady, and it's about a woman we won't discuss here tonight, but it's just something I kind of packed around with me for years and years.

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But it's just something I kind of packed around with me for years and years and as I started getting more and more into the local music scene, I decided to get serious about it.

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So, you know, turned it into a legit company and for 20 years now we've just been doing all kinds of yourelated events, everything from local to regional to national shows or community, private public events, you name it.

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We can help you out with it.

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Okay, well, talk about some of your big musical influences.

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You know who influences you to do what you do.

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I believe, the people around me, this local music scene, as much as anything.

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I just I'm always in awe by the people.

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I know the people right here in my neighborhood.

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They blow me away all the time with their talent and their songwriting.

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You know, that's kind of the fuel on a daily basis.

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You know, going back through my life, though, I know I had an aunt that gave me some music early on Aunt Mary, and it was, you know, kind of some Beach Boys stuff and some Beatles, and she gave me an album I still have to this day, Neil Diamond's Double Gold, which was just that thing is.

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That thing is an incredible album.

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You Trick, and then Led Zeppelin and on from there, and I just I've gotten into just about every genre of music from there on.

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Okay, well, talk about some of the artists you know, big or small, that you've had the privilege to work with through the years, and some artists that you would like to work with in the future.

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I mean, I've worked with the uh, a lot of the local artists that I admire as much as anybody, um, but uh, you know, on a national scale, we've brought in, you know, a lot of great acts from, oh geez, who we had in, uh, blackstone cherry not too long ago and casey donahue he's I'm a big fan of his and I normally don't book the people I'm fans of that one just kind of.

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You know that's not a smart move by a promoter, but uh, uh, that just kind of lined up and uh, we've just we've had a lot of great acts in, um, oh, paul thorne, another one.

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That was a.

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That was a great show I brought to the little tiny community I live in here, um, but just yeah, getting to play with the people in my life, I'm just surrounded by so much talent and they're just genuine people, they're real people and I love them all.

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Well, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.

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Yeah, we do.

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Based around the radio show that I have, we decided to put together a music festival.

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It's a three-day music festival.

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This sort of puts a spotlight on the local music scene that we talk about every Sunday night at 7 pm on the Grassroots Show and it's just sort of a live setting and give you know three days and we try to fill all three days with just some of the best music from this area.

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And you know we've had people come from as many as eight different states to come and check this out.

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We have a really great venue.

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It's called Cooper's Lake Campground.

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It's 450 plus acres of just fun and they let us do our music festival there.

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You can come out and fish and canoe and camp and let the kids run wild and and we're just have this great backdrop of of local music and you can check that out at the band jamcom.

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All right.

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Any other websites throw out your contact info so listeners can keep up with everything that you're up to.

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Yeah.

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I mean you can find us at noblehopsmusiccom for the band stuff, or shadyladiestudiocom, shadyladyproductionscom, shadyladyrecordscom All points kind of the same area, but those are the primary websites and then the bandjamcom as well close us out with some final thoughts.

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Maybe, if that was something I forgot to talk about, that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners something I say very often on our radio program.

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You know as in my opinion, the best value for your entertainment dollar is local music.

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It's right in your backyard.

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You can find it anywhere and everywhere.

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The talent is really good.

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I don't know why you're dropping two, three hundred bucks on the tickets and thirty forty dollars for parking and paying for fifteen dollar beers when you can see great music right in your own backyard.

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That's right.

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Ladies and gentlemen, noblehopsmusiccom, Please be sure to check out everything that Utah and his band and his studio is up to.

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If you get a chance, please be sure to check out his show, Follow, rate, review, share this episode to all of the American rock and outcountry fans out there.

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Follow us on your favorite podcast platform.

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Visit wwwcurveball337.com for more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast.

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Thank you for listening and supporting the show and Utah.

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Thank you and your band for bringing us this great music and thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining me.

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Thank you very much.

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I appreciate the invite.

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For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit wwwcurveball337.com.

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Until next time, keep living the dream.