This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City is a hot spot when it comes to karaoke.
"There's a lot more people into it here," said Darrin Sheppard, the general manager of Entourage Entertainment, which hosts 11 local karaoke shows. "There's a lot more variety. You travel outside of the state, even to Las Vegas, you won't find shows the way you do in Salt Lake."
Philadelphia's population is almost five times that of Salt Lake City's, but Utah's capital has more weekly karaoke shows (153) than the City of Brotherly Love (125), according to Entourage president Sam Spenlove.
"This is one of the strongest spots in the country for karaoke," Spendlove said. (See box.)
For singers, Salt Lake City offers a variety of karaoke nights weekly, in contrast to other metro areas, such as Atlanta, where Jimmy Martin was raised. "When I go home, I say, 'Let's do karaoke,' and there's one place on the other side of town," Martin said. "Here, there's four or five places every day of the week."
Karaoke, as practiced in Salt Lake City, cuts across age and cultural lines. "It's different people every week," said Adam Long, who DJs on Saturday nights at Cruzrs. "One week we'll get the prepsters, and the next week we'll get a bunch of dark goth people. The following week we'll get the jocks."
It's a lot of different people who have one thing in common: "Alcohol," Long said with a laugh.
He thinks karaoke is popular locally because "There's not a whole lot to do in Utah [other than] go to the bar and drink with your friends. Or stay home and drink with your friends and play video games. There's not a lot of dancing, so karaoke is just what people do."
And local bars are restricted in what entertainment they can offer. No beer pong tournaments, for example. That may account, in part, for the proliferation of karaoke.
Other scene experts speculate that it's not just the lack of something — like dance clubs — but what Utahns have a lot of, and that's singers.
The local culture is full of people who like to sing and have been trained in church about how to carry a tune. "There's a lot of talented people here," Martin said. "And people want to show off their skills."
Sheppard, of Entourage, agreed: "There are people who take it very seriously," he said. "They want to perfect a song. And then you've also got the people who've got a few drinks in them and don't care if they're butchering the song or not."
Which makes karaoke in Utah pretty much like karaoke everywhere else in America. Long said the entertainment value comes from laughing at the drunk people trying to sing.
"We have a friend who is awful," said Kat Martin, Jimmy's wife. "He's the worst singer in the world. But he has the time of his life. And he actually helps other people realize that you don't have to be Josh Groban to go up there."
Twitter: @ScottDPierce —
Karaoke bars
Here's where to go, and when:
5 Monkeys • 7 East 4800 South, Murray; 801-266-1885 (Monday, Wednesday)
A Bar Named Sue • 3928 S. Highland, 801-274-5578 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)
Allure • 8925 S. 255 West, Sandy; 801-255-2078 (Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday)
Area 51 • 451 S. 400 West, Salt Lake City; 801-534-0819 (Wednesday)
Burts Tiki Lounge • 726 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-521-0572 (Sunday)
Cheers to You • 7642 S. State St., Midvale; 801-566-0871 (Wednesday, Saturday)
Cheers to You • 315 S. Main, Salt Lake City; 801-575-6400 (Friday)
Club 48 • 16 W. 4800 South, Murray; 801-262-7555 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday)
Club 90 • 9065 S. 150 West, Sandy; 801-566-3254 (Thursday)
Club DJ's • 3849 W. 5400 South, Taylorsville; 801-964-8575 (Tuesday)
Club Lone Star • 3153 W. 2100 South, West Valley; 801-972-0506 (Friday, Sunday)
Copper King • 9071 W. 2700 South, Magna; 801-252-0561 (Thursday)
Cruzrs • 3939 S. Highland, Holladay; 801-272-1903 (Sunday)
Devil's Daughter • 533 S. 500 West; 801-532-1610 (Wednesday)
Donkey Tails • 136 E. 12300 South, Draper; 801-571-8134 (Wednesday, Saturday)
Fox Hole Pub • 7078 S. Redwood, West Jordan; 801-566-4653 (Friday)
Gino's • 3556 S. State St., South Salt Lake; 801-268-1811 (nightly)
Good Spirits Club • 999 W. 3300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-263-0411 (nightly)
Habits • 832 E. 3900 South; 801-268-2228 (Thursday)
Henry's Inn • 2645 S. State, South Salt Lake; 801-486-4196 (nightly)
Highlander • 6194 S. Highland, Holladay; 801-277-8251 (nightly)
Jam • 751 N. 300 West, Salt Lake City; 801-891-1162 (Wednesday)
Keys On Main • 242 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-363-3638 (Monday, Tuesday)
Lazy Dog Saloon • 12755 S. Redwood, Riverton; 801-302-5584 (Saturday)
Loftes • 2106 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City; 801-741-1188 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Lumpy's Downtown • 145 Pierpont Ave., Salt Lake City; 801-883-8714 (Sunday, Thursday)
Lumpy's Highland • 3000 S. Highland, Salt Lake City; 801-484-5597 (Tuesday)
Maggie McGee's • 6253 S. Highland, Salt Lake City; 801-273-9899 (nightly)
Manny's Too • 1704 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-755-8000 (Friday, Saturday)
Metro Bar • 540 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City; 801-580-2491 (Monday)
Olde Town Tavern • 7662 S. Main St., Midvale; 801-566-3172 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Oscar's Social Club • 8136 S. State St., Midvale; 801-467-6289 (Friday, Saturday)
Paper Moon • 3737 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-713-0678 (Tuesday, Thursday)
Piper Down • 1492 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-468-1492 (Sunday, Wednesday)
Point After • 5445 S. 900 East, Murray; 801-266-9552 (Wednesday)
Poplar Street Pub • 242 S. 200 West, Salt Lake City; 801-532-2715 (Monday)
Rendezvous • 4100 S. 1900 West, West Valley City; 801-972-4264 (Tuesday, Friday, Saturday)
Saints and Sinners • 3040 S. State St., South Salt Lake; 801-604-0869 (Friday, Saturday)
South Shore • 2827 S. State St., South Salt Lake; 801-484-6499 (Sunday)
Studio 27 • 100 S. 615 West, Salt Lake City; 801-363-5648 (Thursday)
Studio 600 • 26 E. 600 South, Salt Lake City; 801-355-9860 (Wednesday)
Tavernacle • 201 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-519-8900 (Sunday, Thursday)
Three Alarm Saloon • 7273 S. State, Midvale; 801-562-5252 (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday)
Tony's • 3165 S. 1300 East, Salt Lake City; 801-466-0838; (Wednesday)
Uncle Bart's • 837 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-532-9068 (Tuesday, Thursday)
Willie's Lounge • 1716 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 866-612-2920 (Friday, Saturday)
The Woodshed • 60 W. 800 South; 801-364-0805 (Sunday, Tuesday) —
Crazy for karaoke
According to information on Entourage Entertainment's Karaoke Loop, an app for iPhone and a mobile optimized web site (karaokeloop.com) for smart phones that allows users to search for karaoke clubs, the Salt Lake area has more karaoke shows per capita than many major American cities.
Here's some numbers:
• New York (metro population 19.7 million) — 446 weekly shows
• Los Angeles (9.8 million) — 339 weekly shows
• Chicago (9.8 million) — 206 weekly shows
• San Francisco (7.1 million) — 164 weekly shows
• Dallas-Fort Worth (6.8 million) —191 weekly shows
• Salt Lake City (1.2 million) — 153 weekly shows
• Philadelphia (5.1 million) — 125 weekly shows