Leland Sundries to headline free show at Vertical Diner

As a high-level publicist in New York City, Nick Loss-Eaton worked with artists including Bruce Springtseen, Son Volt, Ry Cooder, Tom Morello, Todd Snider and the late Levon Helm — "all inspirations of mine," Loss-Eaton said in a Tribune interview. But as his indie-folk project Leland Sundries began attracting more and more attention, he left his job to follow his bliss. "It was a pretty hard decision," he said. "It was decision about following my heart." With a group of guys in Brooklyn that are coalescing as the newest incarnation of the band, Loss-Eaton will be performing for the first time in Utah with only one guitarist backing him. But whatever the line-up, Loss-Eaton's music revives the spirit of the band's name, taken from a trip to the South when he met the olds bluesman Eddie Cusic — who taught Little Milton — in Leland, Miss. When traveling throughout Memphis, he noticed the word "Sundries" on a number of signs — something you don't often see as a Yankee. It seems fitting that his first instrument was a harmonica, inspired by Bob Dylan — another hero whose time in the South influenced him for the rest of his life.

When • Saturday, June 2 at 8:30 p.m.

Where • Vertical Diner, 2280 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City

Tickets • Free