Blooming in the Big Agg Show

Cardinal Bloom is a local Utah band that played at Utah State University’s Big Agg Show on Thursday, Aug. 31. This was Cardinal Bloom’s second time playing for the students of USU, and they are always a fan favorite with the crowd. 

Cardinal Bloom features the musical talents of Joey St. John on vocals and guitar, Jacob Silvester on bass and vocals, Josh Thomas on guitar and Nathan Adair on drums. 

“The crowd gave us so much energy and it was very fun to experience that amount of people locked in together on the same thing,” the band said in a written response. 

Cardinal Bloom officially started in Ephraim five years ago at Snow College. However, their current lineup was developed in the last three years. 

The band originally had a difficult time thinking of a fitting name.

They said they wanted “something that didn’t really make sense but has some sort of meaning for the band,” and cardinal most represented the music they were making at the time. 

“After thinking about Cardinal for a while, I randomly matched bloom to it in my mind and thought it flowed,” wrote St. John. “It slowly developed a meaning of blooming in the middle part of life because that’s where I was at and what the color tends to mean to me – not happy, not sad… just content.”

Cardinal Bloom is able to capture the human experience through the band name and their music, which tries to help the audience remember to live and have fun because life is short. These messages can be easily seen in their musical influences.

“It’s safe to say that we’re all Beatles fans, we really are still living in that beatlemania mindset,” the band wrote. “I believe we have a multitude of influences but the songwriting that the Beatles have is something we reflect on.” 

Old main shines bright into the sky as Cardinal Bloom performs at the 2023 Big Agg Show Thursday Aug. 31, 2023.

The band had a few tips for aspiring artists and musicians trying to make it in the music scene. 

“Don’t stop, it’s cliche but it’s true,” they wrote. “If you want to do something or play somewhere then keep trying until it happens.” 

As a band, Cardinal Bloom is always working to get new music to their audiences. Using their five years of songwriting experience, they are always working hard to turn the smallest idea into a catchy beat.

“Every song has had a different way about it, but more than not Joey brings in a really small idea whether it be a riff/chord progression/or melody and then the band hashes things out together until a foundation of the song begins and starts to form,” they wrote.

Check out Cardinal Bloom on social media, Spotify and Apple Music for more information. 

“We are in the midst of writing/recording our first album. It’s something we’ve talked about for a while and we’re actually getting it done,” the band wrote. “Can’t give a specific date for anything but do expect more singles very soon that will be coming off of the album!”