Bumbleberry Theater keeps the summer soundtrack rolling Saturday, July 11, at 7 PM, when The Mighty Steelheads bring Vern Monnett and a boatload of road-tested musicianship to Springdale for a Saturday night concert just outside Zion National Park.
Led by Monnett, a LaVerkin-grown guitarist, pedal steel player and bandleader, The Mighty Steelheads deliver the kind of show that can wander happily from rock standards to country-flavored licks without needing a permission slip from anyone. It’s local roots with a well-traveled engine under the hood, and for southern Utah audiences, Monnett’s return to the canyon country stage adds a nice hometown spark to the evening.
Monnett’s résumé has some serious mileage on it. He began working as pedal steel guitarist for Tex-Mex legend Freddy Fender in 1993 and continued with Fender until 2005, a run that included two albums and touring across Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States. He also has film and television work to his name, including an on-screen cameo in The Beverly Hillbillies, where he can be seen playing guitar behind Dolly Parton. Not a bad little footnote for a homegrown LaVerkin musician.
The Steelheads themselves are built for audiences who like players who can actually play. Expect guitars, pedal steel, familiar grooves, and the kind of seasoned stage confidence that comes from musicians who have spent years figuring out how to make a room come alive. In other words, this is not background music for checking your phone. This is a “grab a seat, bring a friend, and let the band do the driving” kind of night.
Bumbleberry Theater has become one of Springdale’s sneaky-good live entertainment spots, with an intimate setting at 897 Zion Park Blvd. and the red rock glow of Zion Canyon doing its usual unfair amount of scenic heavy lifting. It is close enough to the park entrance to make a full Springdale evening out of it, and yes, pairing live music with Bumbleberry pie remains a perfectly reasonable life choice.
The Mighty Steelheads perform Saturday, July 11, at 7 PM at Bumbleberry Theater, 897 Zion Park Blvd. in Springdale. Tickets are available through Stride Events at https://www.strideevents.com/events/bumbleberry-theater/2026/tickets# and event information is available at Bumbleberry.com under the theater listings. Save the date, round up the crew, and let a little homegrown southern Utah steel ring through the canyon.
