ST. GEORGE — Bring your camp chair and your dancing boots for live country music under the stars in Southern Utah.
Due West, a Southern Utah staple band, is coming to Staheli Family Farm in Washington City on Thursday, May 30. Armed with their latest album release, “Unbroken,” they plan to deliver a blend of fresh tunes alongside timeless favorites. The event will also feature food trucks and have a festival atmosphere.
“It’s going to be a really neat outdoor family show,” Due West Lead Singer Tim Gates told St. George News. “People will bring their chairs and blankets and we’re going to play a lot of new music off the new album and a lot of older favorites. It’s going to be a good time.”
The Due West band features Gates, low harmony singer Matthew Lopez and Brad Hull, high harmony singer and guitarist. It’s been approximately three years since the band last performed in Southern Utah; their previous show took place during the last Christmas season.
Hull currently resides in Bryce Canyon, where he entertains audiences with a country show from April through October. He travels back and forth from Southern Utah to Nashville to perform with Due West. He said Due West’s initial performance at Tuacahn dates back to around 2008. Prior to the concert, they showcased their track “Sweet Gravity” during a live appearance on the 99.9 Kony Country morning show alongside hosts Marty Lane and Carl Lamar, and that’s when things took off.
“The ‘Sweet Gravity’ song just pulled everybody to us, and we became pretty strong there,” Hull said. “I remember we showed up at Tuacahn and sold all our albums that we had released. St. George and Kony have been so good to us.”
Gates reflected on their longstanding relationship with Lane over the last 15 years and said he’s been instrumental in inviting the band for numerous shows, even securing them the opening slot for Lady Antebellum.
How the band came together
The band first crossed paths at a house party in Nashville, an event they were invited to by the sister of a member of Diamond Rio, Lopez said.
“We all moved out there separately and she invited us to a jam session, and that was the first time we sang together,” he said. “It has just continued to grow since then, and that was almost 20 years ago. It’s been an amazing experience.”
Their debut performance as a band took place at Nashville’s Alabama Grill, a venue where Gates held a managerial role. Their first single to grace the radio waves, “I Get That All the Time,” was a track collaboratively penned by Lopez and their producer. This song served as their breakthrough into smaller U.S. markets, propelling them to a top 20 record.
Throughout their career, they have had multiple achievements including an independently released “Move Like That” EP that reached No. 8 on the iTunes Country Albums chart, No. 13 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts and landed on the Billboard Top 40 Country Albums chart. In 2012, they released their single “Things You Can’t Do in a Car,” which reached the Top 50 on both the Country Aircheck and Billboard Indicator Chart.
For more information on Due West, visit them on Facebook and Instagram.
Event details
- What: Due West at Staheli Family Farm.
- When: Thursday, May 30, from 7-10 p.m.
- Where: Staheli Family Farm, 3400 S. Washington Fields Road in Washington City.
- Admission: General admission tickets are $35.
- For more information, visit the event page.
After the event, the band will head to Richfield to play at the Severe Valley Center Theater, an 800-seat theater. They will then head to Price to perform their hits at the Carbon County Fairgrounds for the Carbon County Fair. Click here for a full list of upcoming performances.
Photo Gallery
Tim Gates, Matt Lopez and Brad Hull make up the band Due West, Tucson, Arizona, circa 2023 | Photo courtesy of Russ Dixon, St. George News
Tim Gates, Matt Lopez and Brad Hull make up the band Due West, Tucson, Arizona, circa 2023 | Photo courtesy of Russ Dixon, St. George News
Matt Lopez, Brad Hull and Tim Gates make up the band Due West, Tucson, Arizona, circa 2023 | Photo courtesy of Russ Dixon, St. George News
Brad Hull, Tim Gates and Matt Lopez make up the band Due West, Tucson, Arizona, circa 2023 | Photo courtesy of Russ Dixon, St. George News
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