Opinion: Let’s award the first annual Brophy Trophy
Honoring a Utah legend
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – I witnessed an era and was lucky to be in proximity to greatness when, for about 10 years, I was a regular fixture at the Dead Goat Saloon during its heyday as the best blues bar this side of the Mississippi under the leadership of John Paul Brophy Jr.
Brophy is in hospice care and his health is rapidly deteriorating, according to an emotional announcement on social media by Brad Wheeler. Wheeler stated that he appealed to Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall on April 21 to acknowledge Brophy’s contributions to the Utah music and media scenes.
“John Paul helped give Salt Lake grit, soul, and swing in a city that has often grappled with its cultural identity. His contributions to our city extend beyond music. He has been a mentor, an advocate, and a storyteller—always more interested in amplifying the voices of others than seeking the spotlight for himself. Now, with time of the essence, we have an opportunity to direct that spotlight toward him,” Wheeler stated in his letter to the mayor.
Today, Mendenhall proclaimed April 23, 2025 as John Paul Brophy Jr. Day.
I am unqualified on many levels to honor Brophy in writing. You will find much better tributes – very soon, I’m sure – on sites such as Salt Lake City Weekly, The Salt Lake Tribune and KRCL, where Brophy has had presence for decades as a writer, editor, and often subject of articles himself.
My contribution comes from gratitude and respect for a man who, though I can only claim peripheral proximity, had a profound influence on my young adulthood.
I was already a Dead Goat regular when Brophy bought the club in about 1990. He was a bit of an enigma to me because I never saw him drink alcohol, he was never judgmental, grandiose or authoritative. He had a kind, gentle demeanor and worked hard side-by-side with his staff.
This sounds trite today, but he let me help refurbish the tables and chairs, teaching me how to sand and stain. I was impressed at how proficient he was with tools, considering his injuries from a motorcycle accident many years before.
I got to know him a little better over time, learning that he was a journalist long before I ever knew I had the bug. I loved (and still love) everything about the music industry. I loved Brophy’s stories of writing about musicians, about his dream to make the Dead Goat an icon. Indeed, he added many photographs to the existing wall of famous musicians who played or just visited the venue.
Thanks to Brophy, I took country artist Daryle Singletary for $40 in pool, drank two pitchers of beer with Iggy Pop, and partied with ZZ Top and their entourage after a concert.
Thanks to Brophy, I was also smack in the middle of what was arguably Salt Lake’s greatest local music era. I always said it could have been the next Seattle, a loose reference to the grunge explosion, given the unbelievable talent of local bands such as The Obvious, Stone Pony, House of Cards, Backwash, The Tempo Timers, Disco Drippers, Big Leg, Harry Lee & the Back Alley Blues Band, Spinning Wheel, My Sister Jane, Gigi Love and many other powerhouses that either got their start or were established acts at the venue.
Of course, Brophy did not accomplish everything that has become his legacy on his own.
And so I have a proposition – if not the power to organize or manifest it – to set Brophy’s legacy in stone: an annual award to recognize him and those like him, such as Brad Wheeler, John Farmer, Harry Lee and Michael Ricks, Corey Fox and countless others who significantly continue to carry the mantle of Utah’s live music scene to this day.
We might call it the Brophy Trophy.
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