BOISE, Idaho — “Boise is badass,” declared Jake Logue Salutregui who, when he’s onstage at the downtown Balcony Club, goes by the drag name Denimm Cain. “We have an underground culture that is underappreciated. We have great food, healthy and athletic people, educated people, people who are dreamers. It’s a shame the nation doesn’t know what Boise has to share with the rest of the world.”

That sounds about right — especially the “underappreciated” part. Boise, Idaho, is in the midst of a boom, which also means its cultural scene is having a kind of renaissance, even if some of us don’t know it yet. When I told people I wanted to spend a few days in Boise, their reactions were succinctly encapsulated by a worldly, well-traveled friend who currently lives in Dakar, Senegal: “Boise? What the hell is in Boise?”