HERRIMAN, Utah, June 5, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) -- Singer/songwriter Jordan Discus grew up listening to classic country with a western flair, from the likes of Marty Robbins and Waylon Jennings.
On Friday, Discus brings his band, Buckshot, to Redemption Bar & Grill before moving on to gigs in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.
"And we're playing at Night in the Country, which is a pretty big music festival here in Nevada," said Discus, based in Reno. "We got some different little gigs lined up this summer."
But on Friday, during the GATS Entertainment concert, the country/western/outlaw music will flow in the basement venue of Redemption, where Buckshot opened for Jake Jacobson in November. The band was touring with Jacobson at the time.
"Redemption is a cool spot," Discus said. "The food is really good, then down in the basement you have a spot for music. It's cool to be able to come back there."
Discus, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, will be there with bandmates Julio Giraldo on lead guitar, Vince Keller on bass, Patrick Klekas on keyboard and guitar, and Greg Lucero on drums.
Discus is Buckshot's songwriter.
"Each song tells a story, you know, whether that be gun fighting ballads or heartache or mistakes," he said. "There's good tunes that are more upbeat and kind of party music, but you know, a lot of it has to do with just the struggles of life, the joys, and, you know, real stuff like these old country artists did. It's not just the cliche beer, trucks and girls."
The song styles vary, Discus said.
"It's not going to be cookie cutter. Each song is a little different. Each (band members') style is a little different. So I think everyone's unique part helps sort of give us that unique sound."
Discus was a music fan from a young age, but took a meandering path to being frontman for a band.
He spent about a year in a seminary, studying and trying to determine if he was meant for the priesthood, he said.
"I was in seminary for about a year, and it was during COVID. So I was living with monks. We couldn't even go to the gas station. So I had a pretty strict routine of pray, do my studies, work out and do music and stuff."
After he left the seminary, he began working on a maintenance crew for a University of Nevada dorm, he said. That's where he met his guitarist, Giraldo.
"And Julio heard one of the songs I wrote, and he goes, 'We should start a country band.' And I said, 'All right, I'm down.' So we got our bass player and, you know, picked up our drummer and our keyboard player."
Discus didn't have big dreams.
"In the back of my mind, I didn't think it was going to be like anything serious. I thought we'd get together in the gym and whatnot. Before you know it, we started booking shows, and it kind of just took off."
Discus, who says he now teaches at a Catholic school, said Buckshot has now been together two or three years. The band has toured the region, opened for larger touring acts, and has regular gigs in Reno.
And Pat Swenson, Buckshot's opening act at Redemption, is already a fan.
"We follow each other on social media, so I'm looking forward to the chance to just get to connect and network with other artists as well and enjoy what they do," said Swenson, a Utah artist from the Salem/Spanish Fork area.
"They're staying really busy. It look likes they're back in the studio recording some stuff now. That's always inspirational, just to see somebody that's really out there chasing it and doing what they love."
Swenson also fell for country music at a young age.
"I can't remember the exact age, but I want to say it was between 12 and 14 years old, I heard a song by an old timer by the name of Don Williams.
"The song was called 'Good Ole Boys Like Me,' and that song, even as a kid, struck something in me, and I remember thinking, that's amazing. Who wrote that? How did they write that? How do they make people feel that way through a song? That's what I want to do."
Swenson got his inspiration a couple years later.
"Going through a kind of first heartbreak situation with a girlfriend in high school, I sat down and wrote my first song. That was kind of it. I guess that's really the passion for me."
It even won back his girlfriend.
"We got back together for a while," Swenson said. "We had a pretty good run after that. So that's the power of music."
Swenson got hired to perform at weddings and events, and about 10 years ago, he performed at a local songwriter's night at a Utah venue.
"And there was a guy there that had a small independent record label and paid me the biggest compliment. He said, 'Hey, I don't even like country music, but there's something about your songs and your lyrics that speak to me. And I think that there's an audience there. I'd love to take you on as an artist and produce your stuff and kind of help you get this out there.'
"So that was when I got more into the recording and performing and from there, that afforded me a lot of opportunities."
Swenson released some songs, and "I got a chance to start playing in front of some of my heroes, some of the people that I grew up listening to. So artists like Billy Dean and Ty Herndon, yeah, Black Hawk, several other bands that kind of were big in the '90s when I was in high school, really kind of cued in and really living on country music. I've had a chance to meet and play in front of a lot of those guys, and so that's been a great opportunity, and just a kind of a blessing in my life."
The chance to write songs and perform them for audiences has been a gift, he said.
"It's a chance for me to sit down and just authentically be true to myself and pour out whatever it is. There's a lot of vulnerability there, because you're taking your deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings and sharing them instead of keeping them private, like most people do.
"You're writing them down. You're crafting them, and constructing in a way that hopefully other people can can feel and get something from and maybe help them process whatever they're going through, and you just put it out there in the world, and so puts you in kind of a cool, scary, vulnerable place sometimes, but also make some real connections.
"A lot of the deepest relationships and friendships that I've forged in my life have been because of those songs and people that come up afterwards and talk and say, 'Hey, I'm going through that, or I've been through that, or I feel that exactly. Tell me more about that. How did you get through this experience,' that kind of thing.
"So it's just a great way to connect with people, and that's truly what it's about for me."
Sample some of Swenson's music at the link below.
Redemption Bar & Grill is a 21 and older venue at 3517 W. Maradona Drive, Herriman. Drinks, appetizers and entrees are available. For advance show tickets, scan the link on the poster below or click here.
Redemption Bar & Grill is a proud sponsor of Gephardt Daily and supporter of independent local journalism in Utah.
