Utah Band Review

Dia Framton

I know Dia needs little help in regards to promotion these days, but I wish to do whatever possible to throw some Utah love her way this coming week. Dia is part of the final four of The Voice, on NBC, Tuesday nights. It’s a singing competition with the premise of focusing on the “voice” rather than a look or popularity. The show is a bit gimmicky and has some gaping holes in its initial premise, but it’s a step up from American Idol.

Dia and her sister, Meg, played in the local band Meg and Dia. I first saw Meg and Dia in 2005 playing in a vacant strip mall store in West Jordan with Lydia and local artist Larusso. One of our band mates had an association with them through a friend of a friend, so we were all particularly interested when they played. Their set was acoustic at the time, but even then they seemed to be one of the standout bands of the night. They had one song where they broke into an  acappella counter point which I’ve since tried to locate the song, with no success. Since then I’ve always kept a casual interest in Meg and Dia and were excited to see them picked up on Doghouse, Tour on the warped tour under Myspace, and Eventually sign with Warner Brothers. I was equally heartbroken to see them dropped from Warner Brothers early last year. They were both young when they were signed and I sure it was difficult to decide where to go at that point. Likely many of their friends were now finished with school and starting families. While touring for four years is way cool, I could empathize with their disappointments through their updates online, and wouldn’t have been surprised to see the band moving in their own direction.

You can understand my surprise when a co-worker asked if I’d ever heard of Meg and Dia, and that Dia was one of the contestants on the Voice. Since then, I’ve been a die hard fan of the show excited to see Dia on a national talent competition. I thought it was laughable to hear her first song was bubbly by Colbie Caillat, this coming from a girl who spent several summers touring on Warped Tour singing songs like Monster and Black Weeding. Don’t get me wrong Meg and Dia never fit in with the line-up at Warped Tour and their last album was becoming much more Beatlesque and much less Against Me!, but Bubbly seemed like a stretch. Oh well… Who really knows how much of these persona’s are influenced by T.V. producers, or how little we know from someone observed from afar? I understand the shows motivations in downplaying Meg and Dia’s accomplishments, and portraying Dia as a Shy, Children’s Novelist does have a broader appeal. But, any local band formerly signed with Warner Brothers and actively touring nationally is no small accomplishment. Any rate, give some phone in love this week to the girl from St. George. Dia Frampton.