By Parker Smith

Choosing sides is never easy; music lovers in Provo often find themselves torn between a love of folk music and indie rock, and picking a favorite can seem impossible.

To help bridge the gap between these two diverse styles of music, Velour Live Music Gallery is hosting its annual Cowboys and Indies concert event this weekend.

This will be the fourth year the event has taken place and will include local folk bands like The Devil Whale and Moses playing with local indie rock bands like Imagine Dragons and Shark Speed.

Joe Christensen, guitarist for Shark Speed, played in the concert last year and said he’s excited to be invited to play again.

“You get kind of a mixed genre show which I’ve always enjoyed,” he said. “It would be hard for somebody to go and not like something about each band.”

Corey Fox, manager of Velour, said he started the Cowboys and Indies concerts as a way to highlight the diversity of the music scene in Provo.

“There were two really strong scenes of music,” Fox said. “One was kind of the indie synth-pop bands, and there were a lot of roots rock alt-country bands.  They were really good friends and they’d come to each other’s shows but they’d never play together because the genres were so different from each other.”

Fox said the idea for an eclectic concert came to him and the name Cowboys and Indies fit perfectly.

“It’s become definitely one of the biggest events at Velour every year,” he said. “It always features all-star lineups.”

According to Fox, Cowboys and Indies isn’t just another battle of the bands.

“It was never meant to be any kind of competition of who people like the most,” he said. “It’s bringing a unity of the different genres of music that didn’t have a chance to play together.”

Drew Capener, who sings and plays guitar in the band Moses, said he looks forward to playing in the event for the first time.

“A lot of different fans come out so there are always a lot of people,” he said. “It’s always a really great show.”

The band Moses has been playing together for about a year and falls into the folk category of this year’s show, but other bands are harder to define.

Timothy George, who plays in The Second Estate, said he doesn’t think his group’s darker sound quite fits into either genre, but he is still glad to be a part of the show.

“I’m honored to share the stage with these local artists,” he said.

The event will be two nights long and feature eight local bands.