KCPW continues to keep its ear to the ground of the local music scene with April’s Sounds from the Lounge and the month’s featured artist, singer-songwriter Joel Brown.---

Sounds from the Lounge is modeled after NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series. “It’s an opportunity to see bands broken down a little bit. The idea is that there is no razzle dazzle -- no lights, no sound effects. It’s an opportunity to reveal true talent, especially in this day and age of auto-tune and reverb,” Sounds from the Lounge producer Erin Haley says. And watching a band perform acoustic songs in a small lounge adds to the effect of how organic the music is.

“Salt Lake City has such a bubbling, awesome music scene. I thought it was a great opportunity to expose that,” Haley says, adding that it took quite some time before the first performance with Triggers & Slips launched in January 2012.

Triggers & Slips performing for the series’ launch.

“I had brought it up at meetings, and everyone kept being, like, whatever. So I just decided to do it myself as a way of throwing the baby in the pool,” she says. Haley shot and edited the video -- one straight-on shot like in the Tiny Desk Series -- and she acknowledges it wasn’t the best quality. But it got attention from some key players who now help her: The shoots are filmed and edited by Tyler Ford, with sound engineered by Jesse Ellis.

Each month there is a featured artist with a different song posted each week. The second performance was David Williams, followed by The Trappers.

David Williams performing “Sunday Morning” featuring David Payne on theremin.

The Trappers performing “Waterloo.”

More Sounds from the Lounge videos can be found here.

Singer-songwriter Joel Brown is April’s featured artist. His first video launched last week, and he was interviewed on City Views with Jennifer Napier-Pearce yesterday.

To stream the podcast, go here.

‘Saying Love’ by Joel Brown from his Sounds From The Lounge Session.

Brown ‘s second album, From the Dance Studio, will be released on April 28 on local label HeyHay Records. His music is self-described as “incredibly personal, autobiographical, and honest.”

“The thing that separates him from other songwriters is that he is shamelessly forthright. He is also funny and dry. My favorite song, “Mrs. Brown,” [which will be posted later this month] captures his honesty. It’s got a Ben Folds or Frank Zappa vibe. And it’s just a great pop song,” Haley says.

"Lullaby.”

Here’s a list of future featured Sounds from the Lounge artists:

May - The Devil Whale
June - Folka Dots
July - Fat Apollo & the Cellulites
August - Bullets & Belles

Follow City Weekly music editor Austen Diamond on Twitter: @AustenDiamond