In its third year and second since finding its home in Canyons Village, you could sense that Utah’s Park City Song Summit was coming to terms with its own duality. It’s a difficult balance, trying to present a world-class musical “retreat” in a mountain resort town while also serving as a holistic wellness experience that promotes inclusivity. However, it seemed like lessons from the past year had been learned, and both its mission and execution were better served as a result.
This was most evident when attending the daytime workshops featuring artists who would later put on evening shows. The conference room itself received a major upgrade: a cozy array of seating facing a well-equipped stage and flanked by large screens. It was far more elegant and comfortable than the hotel conference room, with rows of folding chairs setting the mood of the previous incarnation, and speakers seemed to respond with even more open discussion about how to address their traumas and create their art.
Get my Morning Jacket tickets here
In a conversation with rock photographer Danny Clinch, My Morning Jacket's Jim James spoke generously about his mental health journey, revealing how he'd spent most of his life “not wanting to be here” and how a self-care routine (15 minutes of yoga every morning, daily walks, finding the right therapist) and staying sober helped him shift his perspective.
“One issue that hits close to home for me is that we’re really losing the opportunity to love each other as people,” he said. “I’m sick of this divide-and-conquer nonsense, it’s the oldest trick in the world… I think it’s our job as loving human beings to say, ‘Enough. I don’t want to hear about this. ’ And something I think about a lot is that music is a great reminder and I want to try to remind people to love as best they can.”
Now, that’s classic Jim James language. However, it comes with a heightened seriousness when spoken to a room full of fans rather than in a media interview, and then is followed later that night by a joyous, energetic set from My Morning Jacket. James seemed to be at his most playful onstage, turning Tai Chi moves into dance for “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1,” singing to the “birds putting their babies to bed… deer nesting under some trees” during “Golden,” shouting out to the “beautiful people of Park City” on “Spring (Among the Living).” MMJ has been operating with renewed vigor since the shutdown years, but this show felt especially buoyant; while I can’t speak for James and say his Labrador influenced the performance, it’s something the founders of Park City Song Summit would no doubt be proud to hear.
Jim James and Danny Clinch from My Morning Jacket, photo by Ben Kaye
The same goes for fellow headliner Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (who, perhaps not coincidentally, are touring alongside My Morning Jacket in September). Get tickets here). Rateliff’s lab was moderated by Jay Sweet, executive producer of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, with whom he spoke about the struggles of his early career and addiction, and how he found both the sound and voice of The Night Sweats. He discussed the meaning of tracks like “Heartless” and his personal feelings about “SOB” (“I don’t think it’s my best writing”); just hours later, he performed both songs in front of the weekend’s largest crowd.
The Night Sweats’ setup is comparatively stripped down, with the band forming an arch at the back of the stage and completely open in the middle for Rateliff to strut his stuff. That arrangement highlights Rateliff’s powerful performance any day, but hearing him talk about his life and career before the show changed the way it was perceived. You saw the person behind the artist, and that’s at the core of PCSS’s mission.
That's why hearing the Larkin Poe sisters explore their lives as harmonizing bandmates elevated the experience of their heart-wrenching blues rock onstage. That's why hearing trombonist Natalie Cressman and trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick dive into their love of music alongside the challenges of the industry made each performance at the festival seem that much more like a miracle. During their panel (which, like Larkin Poe's, was moderated by No depression's Hilary Saunders), Hartswick took the time to applaud Park City Song Summit for “recognizing how difficult it is to tour and putting on an event that focuses on that.”
Larkin Poe, photography by Ben Kaye
That’s not to say that only the Labs-related performances were worth seeing. Mavis Staples and Cimafunk delivered big, intimate sets at Thursday’s welcome dinner in the Foundation Tent. Staples’ renditions of “For What It’s Worth” and “Friendship” (which, she noted, was Pa Staples’ last song) moved the audience, embodying the key PCSS tenet of music’s emotional resonance. Watching her tearfully embrace her backup singers after they, too, cried while singing “Far Celestial Shore” proved that, even at 85, the iconic singer can still find healing in her craft. Cimafunk, meanwhile, proved that her Tribe can be one of the best live bands in the industry, turning the tent into a dance hall as she closed out opening night.
Cimafunk also brought Primera Línea from Havana, Cuba, a youth band whose members range in age from 12 to 18. Joined by Trombone Shorty Academy graduates, the young musicians became the weekend’s ever-present stars, leading second lines, performing on the Foundation Stage, joining Krasno’s set, and collaborating with Run-DMC’s Darryl “DMC” McDaniels. Both groups represented Park City Song Summit’s commitment to real impact, as having them as part of the event not only gave them the opportunity to perform, but also to learn from the very artists they aspire to be.
Primera Linea and The Trombone Shorty Academy, photo by Ben Kaye
In fact, there were numerous small moments that underlined how vital events like PCSS can be. Jason Hann, percussionist for String Cheese Incident/Krasno & Friends, sat around the campfire all night with members of the Trombone Shorty Academy, exchanging stories and insights. There were audience Q&As that included praise for artists who share their inspiration with the next generation of musicians. There was a PCSS staff member sitting with a woman outside the labs, getting advice on how to help a friend struggling with addiction and even the offer to drive her to meetings.
All of this exemplifies the true mission of Park City Song Summit: not just to showcase amazing live music, but to provide consideration and care to the people who make those shows possible. With some changes, such as shrinking the space to center activities on the Foundation Stage rather than treating it as a drive-through experience, the focus on the Song Summit Foundation’s efforts to “support the well-being of the people who make music happen and those who come to enjoy it” was significantly strengthened. There was even a general reduction of the “luxury festival experience,” though PCSS still attracts a predominantly well-heeled and connected crowd. But if the discussions and causes at the heart of the event are to make a real impact, perhaps that’s not the place for cynical analysis.
Despite the entry threshold, PCSS proved its value as a third space. A full house meant more people participated in sound baths and yoga sessions, enjoyed the Foundation Stage, and filled the Listening Ear Labs. More people connected through the value and The cost of music allowed conversations about care and support to spread further. More direct actions and diversified lineups could continue to solidify its message, but in its third year, Park City Song Summit made strides to better connect the threads of its mission for both musicians and audiences; let’s hope that growth continues.
Park City Song Summit, photo by Ben Kaye
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