Finding ‘The Proper Way’
mUSIC REVIEW
The Proper Way perform at Haglund Ranch, in Northern Utah, September, 2025. Photo by Keicha Christiansen
When you hear The Proper Way for the first time, you might experience some of what I did on an early summer afternoon three years ago while sitting on the grass among the cottonwoods at Fort Buenaventura: buttery three-part harmonies, hypnotic mandolin and banjo counter melodies, and a practiced blend of bittersweet lyrics and lonesome crooning from the best songs. I was smitten that afternoon – by the beautiful woman who had brought me there and by this Ogden band. Perhaps Kerouac’s dusty truth that “music blends with the heartbeat universe and we forget the brain beat," shines a light on The Proper Way’s magic. Either way, I’m a True Believer.
Of course, stalking a band you love and simply being an enthusiastic fan only differ in terms of degree. Keenly aware of the dangers of following a band too closely, I strategically DON’T show up at every Proper Way performance. Sure, I’ve seen them over two dozen times – at the Powder Keg bar near the top of Powder Mountain, in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater behind Ogden’s Own Distillery, on a friend’s Salt Lake City tiny front porch, at a horse ranch in the middle of the suburbs in Murray, and stuffed onto the back of a ‘49 Chevy at Level Crossing Brew Pub. I’ve seen them open for bands at the State Room and entertain large crowds at Snowbasin. In my defense, because I split time living in both Ogden and Salt Lake, the opportunities to see this band are effectively doubled, but still … I might have a problem.
To put this situation into perspective, I saw John Prine, my musical God, live on stage only three times in my entire life.
What is wrong with me?
Maybe I can explain.
This band is a pleasure to listen to. Shane Osguthorpe, Scott Rogers, and Carrie Myers all know how to sing, alone and together. Even without a bass player or drummer, they play in the groove. Song selections are never over-arranged, but instead allow the band to showcase their strengths without showing off. When The Proper Way performs, the songs take center stage while they, bearers of the ark, do the heavy lifting. They share music with their audience, and if Kerouac is right and the only truth is music, they are, like Jake and Elwood Blues, “on a mission from God.”
The Proper Way sings mostly covers of classic rock tunes from the Americana songbook. Some call it alt-country, others folk rock. The name, however, is less important than what their song choices allow them to do with the music. Among the thousands of cover bands scattered across the land, I wonder if many are the sensitive interpreters of the poetics of pop music that these three are. They make every song their own, the art emerging in the retelling of the story. I’ve heard dozens of cover bands, and played in a few myself, and most of them fall short because they try to recreate, note for note, the original song, somehow hoping to channel the famous history a song might possess into an equally dramatic present. And even the best bands fail when they perform a cover of a song that ignores its soul and instead try riding the wave of originality alone. If you have ever heard U2 cover CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” you know what I’m talking about.
The Proper Way threads this needle with care, selecting familiar and well-loved songs that most Boomers and Gen Xers will recognize but reinterpreting them with a Proper Way touch – perhaps slowing the tempo, keeping the instrumental parts as simple and elegant complements to their voices rather than bold overstatements. Shane’s keys provide a steady pulse, a harmonic foundation that is always present but never overpowering, and the thrumming of Scott’s rich and subtle banjo riffs transforms a power ballad like “Purple Rain” into a lush and dreamy elegy. The Rolling Stones’ signature rock classic, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” becomes a harmony-drenched audience sing-along with Carrie’s pitch-perfect voice ascending the octaves. Janis Joplin, eat your heart out.
The first song I remember hearing The Proper Way perform on that early summer afternoon was the Allman Brothers’ “Soulshine.” The woman on the grass next to me held this song close to her heart, fondly remembering the first time she heard Shane sing it at a friend’s memorial. I can’t fully disentangle my love for her from that song as it played in the background that Saturday afternoon. Music works this way, doesn’t it? How often does a song become the emotional marker for our memories – a first date, a birth, a romantic encounter, or the death of a loved one. A great cover band doesn’t just play our favorite songs back to us, but they conjure them, weaving spells, texturing our imagination, bidding us to follow.
Let your soul shine
It's better than sunshine
It's better than moonshine
Damn sure better than rain
I fell in love that afternoon. Was it the woman or the band first? In the end it doesn’t matter. Her favorite local band became mine, and they are all forever linked in my imagination, bound, not incidentally, to Ogden – my birthplace and rechristened hometown. If you listen to The Proper Way, maybe you will fall in love too.
For upcoming shows, or to book, visit theproperwayband.com and follow @theproperwayband on social media.