Reading Time: < 1 minute Robert Francis will be live in concert at SHO in Murray August 11, promoting his upcoming album Before Nightfall. This talented singer/songwriter is currently supporting Pricilla Ahn on tour so look for tickets under her name. Francis’ first and only album to date, One by One, landed him steady jobs in Southern California and a national tour with Missy Higgins in 2008.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Glitz, glitter and tie-dye make its way to Orem with the SCERA’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed by recent UVU graduate, Jeremy Showgren. While Joseph has always been a modern presentation of the Biblical story, this production takes it a step further by taking a Las Vegas-style approach.

Reading Time: 2 minutes With a background in classical philosophy and a love of video games, a new author brings an original idea to the overstocked book isles. Bonn Turkington, a recent UVU graduate, was always intrigued by the interactive environments of video games and RPG’s, but also enjoyed the intellectual feasts of Greek and Russian philosophies.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Punk rock summer camp hits the Utah scene August 8. The Vans Warped Tour, in its 15th year, is a summer music staple and includes as diverse a lineup as a punk-based tour can handle. Alongside classics such as Bad Religion, current favorites like 3OH!3 and wildcards like country singer Shooter Jennings, Utah groups will have their share of stage time.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Living in Utah and not visiting the Utah Shakespearean Festival is comparable to living here and never seeing Zion or the Great Salt Lake. The caliber of theater produced there is not only rare for Utah, but for most states. The Festival, now in its 48th season, produces six full-length plays and two pre-show acts which open in the summer, followed by three plays in the fall.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Collin Raye and Restless Heart, two of Utah’s favorite visiting country acts, will share the stage together at the SCERA Shell Amphitheatre on July 24th. Their music has electrified audiences around the world for 25 years. Booth groups have earned their place in country music history with their countless hits.

Reading Time: < 1 minute On July 28, the World Folkfest begins again and the turnout this summer is anticipated to be stronger than it has been for the past five years. Because of airline and other travel restrictions and increasing costs since the tragedy of 9-11, the Folkfest has had issues with drawing the international community.

Reading Time: 2 minutes “Harry Potter rocks!” shouted Draco Malfoy. No, this is not a line from the new Harry Potter movie – rather, it was Bill, a college student dressed as Harry’s rival. Surrounding him, witches and wizards of all ages mingled with muggles at a midnight release for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Reading Time: 4 minutes Ah, the summer road trip. The essence of youthful spontaneity, adventure and insanity all rolled into one. While there are some tips here that might be considered no-brainers, they’re still rather important. And hopefully, with a few dozen road trips under my belt, I can offer some advice on things you may not have thought of.

Reading Time: 1 minute Ancient wisdom speaks to modern times through the dusty annals of long forgotten words of wisdom. Few, however, have been able to adequately bring back one of Asia’s timeless and most insightful classics: the Tao Te Ching (Dow Day Jay-ing, or Jing). A book wholly remarkable, since its first creation by Lao Tzu 2500 years ago, The Way And Its Virtue has been re-written perhaps more than any other book in history.