Category: Writing
Copy Writing
Craft Beer In Spain
Beerlandia: Drink in Hand Games
Drink in Hand Games
1859 Magazine, August 2016
International Beers
Gift Guide to International Beers, 1859 Magazine Dec 2016
Autumn Surfing
1859 Magazine November 2016
Black Butte Whiskey
Black Butte Whiskey Release
1859 Magazine, September 2016
Suffering Stairclimbers Storm Seattle
Suffering In Seattle
Nugget Newspaper, March 2010
How To Be A Better Oregon Beer Drinker
Folk Music in Sisters
From The High Desert Life (now defunct).
The first concert I ever attended was Lollapalooza número uno when I was 17. (Way to go big, right?). There I sat, Mr. Nervous Knees with a diminutive girlfriend taking in the enormity of it all. We actually got annoyed as frenzied, topless and probably high people stepped on our blanket. Needless to say, we were new. Yet, as I write this I reminisce about seeing some great bands from the late 80s like Living Color, Siouxie and The Banshees, Nine Inch Nails… remember them? That was also the day that Ice-T debuted his metal band, Body Count, which sounded like scream rap with effects laden guitars getting hammered on by dudes I wanted nothing to do with. It was both awesome and just too-friggin-much all at once. By the time the headliner, the organizer, my fav and everyone else’s, Jane’s Addiction came on I was beyond done. I remember they played “Jane Says” as my girl and I filed past the puke and litter in the parking lot to go home. Decades later I realized why I was so disappointed.
In 2002 my wife and I moved to Oregon, casting off the bear to embrace the beaver all the while smuggling board shorts and flip flops across state lines. That fall we experienced our first Sisters Folk Festival. Actually we scored tickets to the sponsor’s dinner and ate a catered meal at Camp Caldera near Suttle Lake while waiting for the music to start. I had never been to a folk festival. I didn’t even know what folk music was exactly. Since I was freshly transplanted from the judgmental state, I snickered to myself. I was practically betting that some ZZ Top looking, NASCAR watching, dirty-overall-wearing hillbillies would come with a washtub bass and whiskey jug to sing songs of lament. Then a man walked onto the stage with a guitar that forever changed my perspective.
Tom Prasado Rao played a full set of songs with no raging effects, no screaming… and no one stepped on our blanket. But with the mere use of his hands he was able to play bass, percussion, melody and lead while singing poetic stories that were constructed not from lyrics, but rather images. Perhaps it was the fall from the heights of judgment with this singer-songwriter catching my fall, but my reaction to it was visceral. This one man with just one acoustic guitar captivated me (and everyone else in the room for that matter) so much more than the sideshow circus freaks and the mega bands. I realized that years ago, while my favorite band played, I was in the parking lot going home, yet this man and his guitar inspired me to not only become a musician, but to become more active in my community. It begged the question, “why”?
The fact of the matter is he engaged and connected with his listeners. His music was more than sound, but images and experiences that filled our heads and hearts. A relationship formed into a micro community in that moment. The challenge and beauty of folk music is it is hard to define. He showed me what folk music is. Folk music is music for the people and by the people. Folk music creates community, not chaos. Folk music is a musician, his heart, his instrument and us. It is the experience, the emotions and the romance that we share within the music and the story. For a moment we are all connected as just people. But, the thing I love the most is folk music can be found in one instrument as well as 20. I have found folk music in Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Sting and Soundgarden. While these bands aren’t heading to the Sisters Folk Festival anytime soon, there are equally impressive folks who are, like Beth Wood, Jonathan Byrd, Darlingside and The Subdudes. Don’t know who they are? You need to!
The Sisters Folk Festival is a weekend long, town wide, music and art community celebration in Sisters, Oregon the weekend after Labor Day in September every year. There are many free venues, because after all, folk music is for the people. But I highly recommend the Community Celebration on Sunday morning at the main stage at Village Green Park. Get there early, there will be a long line.
Bend Beer Fest Is Bitter And Sweet
Guest blog post from The High Desert Life (now defunct).
For me the Bend Beer Festival is bitter – sweet, and that’s not a reference to the hops or malt. It is both frustrating and awesome at the same time. Let me explain. I’ve had this conversation with many people who share the same sentiment. See, I am a self-proclaimed beer enthusiast. I brew beer. I study beer. I contemplate its history, economics, its artisanal and culinary influences, hence its impact on our lives. The idea of spending an evening with thousands of people casually enjoying various states of a buzz is never going to be my go to plan. So forgive my skepticism, but I don’t see many people actually enjoying the beer. I’ve looked.
It’s like a special handshake of a not-so-secret society. First one holds his glass up to the light, then the swirl, sniff, swirl again, second sniff, then the taste. Or, at least every subsequent taste is preceded by a quick sniff, because the people who understand that aroma contributes a significant element to the flavor won’t miss out on a single opportunity to truly enjoy what they have. These are the folks who feel two tokens for a taste at the X-Tap booth is money well spent. Like me, these people may also take notes in their pamphlet while they nod approvingly. On occasion you may find these same people dumping out perfectly good beer, because they don’t want to waste their time on a bad sample. These people comfortably use words like Diacetyl, phenols and esters when discussing beer. And then there is the rest of the crowd!
Okay. Now that I have gotten my overindulgent beer snobbery out of the way, allow me to get over myself and look at the Bend Beer Fest for what it really is, pure awesomeness. Even the 2.3 kids can come watch their parents drink beer and act “silly” until 7:00 at night. Bend has a scene, like everywhere else, and scenes can become tiresome in their homogeneity. But, at least the scene in Bend is comprised of healthy, beautiful people who are fairly well grounded, outdoorsy, who have families with 2.3 kids, a dog named after one’s favorite beer, a couple extra bikes (because, you never know), who often end up at one of the myriad breweries at some point during the week. If a “scene” is inevitable and if I have to stick my flag in the sand somewhere, then Bend-ites are my people and the Bend Brew Fest is my place. Sorry, please leave your dog Porter at home.
Despite my incessant whining about beer snobbery, the Bend Brew Fest is like a beer commercial where suddenly there are half naked people covered in body art, great food, amazing and creative beer all surrounded by incredible mountains and a river filled with stand up paddlers, kayakers and floaters. Are you kidding me? And, for the snobs like me who want to sit around waving our pinky fingers in the air, ruminating on beer culture, we can go sit our asses down at the X-Tap tent sipping premium beer paired with cheese and listening to brewers discuss their inspiration for their latest blah-de-blah. But, frankly, it has become a place of diverse experiences that pair so well that hardly anyone notices. (I even savored a Brettanomyces Saison while listening to a remix of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. Yep, scratched that one off my life’s To Do list.)
The point is this: There’s something for everyone. Beer experts, snobs and enthusiasts will find something to hold their interest. Families will have fun. There is even a wine booth for the outright anarchists. For those people who merely enjoy a good craft brew, life is good at the Beer Fest. For those who don’t really care and normally drink crappy beer, then I say, “Welcome to the team.” Whatever freak flag you fly, at the very least, there is a place to wave it at the Bend Brew Fest. One thing is certain, you will find me proudly waving mine at all the rest of the beer festivals throughout the year.