Iron County Acoustic Music Association presents Mason Cottam and friends
By Jim Howells
The Iron County Acoustic Music Association celebrates its one-year anniversary with its 10th concert, featuring singer-songwriter Mason Cottam and friends in an acoustic performance Jan. 12 at Community Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall in Cedar City. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the music starts at 7. A suggested donation of $5 per person goes to the musicians and helps promote live acoustic music in Iron County.
Cottam is well known in southwest Utah as a musician with an ear for a tight beat and a songwriter with a flair for the metaphorical. His music extends into rock, country, and jazz. Cottam has been on the southern Utah music scene for many years and has performed over 1,000 shows in his career. He has been the frontman for the bands Gradient and Mason’s Jar of Jam and currently leads the Mason Cottam Trio. Cottam is also the stand-up bass player for local gypsy jazz band Wilhelm.
Cottam’s love of music began with piano lessons in his boyhood home of St. George. After discovering the guitar as a teenager, he enrolled at Dixie State College as a music major, later moving to Logan and giving up his major for a degree in geology. Cottam was surprised when his wife entered him in a guitar competition at a local restaurant in Logan. Though he did not win the competition, he came in second and was offered a weekly spot performing at the venue. This experience encouraged him to start writing and performing his own songs.
Cottam moved his family to Cedar City 2003 and began teaching guitar in 2004 at Trouvere School of Music. He won SUU’s Guitars Unplugged competition the same year and recorded his first album with his band Gradient. In 2005, he formed Mason’s Jar of Jam and recorded a second album. Mason owns Gradient Sound & Entertainment, producing music concerts in southern Utah.
Cottam will be joined by Dennis Chavez and Steve Flaig for his performance. Opening acts are new-to-the-scene Dakota Maxwell and the wonderful Kathryn Farver.
Iron County Acoustic Music Association, or ICAMA, strives “To Build Community Through Live Music.” Formed in November 2016 by a group of music lovers in Cedar City, ICAMA presents monthly acoustic concerts on the second or third Friday of the month and features musicians from the local are as well as acts from as far away as Salt Lake City and southern California. The music ranges from singer-songwriter and folk to bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and folk rock.
Community Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall is located at 2279 Wedgewood Lane in Cedar City.
For information on this and other upcoming live music events, check out the ICAMA Facebook page or email icama.music@gmail.com.
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