Rock On: A Beer Collaboration To Help Musicians Put Out of Work by…
Music and beer are connected at a cellular level. A touchstone and source of inspiration, music casts an oversized shadow across brewing. Look no further than the thousands of beers with music-inspired names – Bitches Brew, Purple Haze, Back In Black., Sgt. Pepper Farmhouse Ale. A casual glance on Beer Advocate turns up dozens of releases honoring the Stones’ Sticky Fingers and The Band’s Rick Danko. Turn over a can and you may find the brewer’s favorite lyric alongside the Best By date.
It’s that intimate connection that makes the music industry’s struggles during the pandemic so crushing. For over a year, concert cancellations have left musicians and their crews without a way to make a living. Even as we turn the corner, it will be some time before the concert industry returns to normal.
Like any good friend, we’re here to offer a hand by launching Rock On, a creative beer collaboration to benefit Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides financial assistance to musicians and music industry workers struggling to make ends meet.
The Rock On Project
Music is often as integral to a brewery’s DNA as its house yeast. Walk into any brewery and you’ll hear music. It’s there in the background during recipe creation. It serves as the soundtrack to brew days. It establishes a vibe intended to heighten the brewery experience. Likewise, beer has a starring role in music – it sets the tone during pre-show hangs and keeps the rhythm going in steamy clubs, sun-drenched sheds, and sweltering stadiums.
That relationship is what inspired Crosby Hops, MxPx and Silver City Brewery to team up for Rock On. A truly unique collaborative project, Rock On is a call to breweries across the country to honor and support musicians by brewing Rock On Crafted Lager™, then celebrate its launch by hosting a day of music, and donating the profits to Sweet Relief.
The Vision: Cover a Beer, Make It Your Own
Dylan penned a stone-cold classic with “All Along the Watchtower.” Hendrix took those same chords and lyrics, turned them on their head, and made a song that is undeniably his. That’s the vision behind Rock On. Take Rock On Crafted Lager and riff on it to create a rendition that is an expression of your brewery.
We’ll provide everything you need to get you started.
Silver City is laying down the backbeat with the recipe for a light, crisp, and crushable lager; Crosby Hops is providing the chords with a chorus of hops – Amarillo®, Centennial, Chinook, Idaho 7®, and Sterling – that you can feature and arrange like instruments in a mix. You provide the inspiration for your next brewery hit.
For Silver City Brewery and us, that inspiration is MxPx, the renowned pop-punk rockers who, like Silver City, hail from Bremerton, Washington. Favorites of the Crosby team, MxPx has previously collaborated with Silver City on Secret Weapon California Common and Best Life IPA. These experiences, and the hardships caused by COVID-19, are what inspired Silver City’s idea for Rock On.
Who will inspire your version of Rock On?
How It Works: Brew Rock On Crafted Lager
We’re inviting every brewery, regardless of size, to take the stage with their rendition of Rock On Crafted Lager and support the music they love. Here’s how to join the lineup of breweries that will be headlining this exciting collaboration:
1. Download the Rock On Crafted Lager recipe
2. Purchase your hops by July 1 using the code ROCK-ON in the additional details section of your order at checkout.
3. Join us for brew day on July 13 (International Day of Rock ʼn’ Roll). Stay true to the original or improvise and make it your own.
4. Create your own unique label art, using the Rock On Crafted Lager logo and brand assets [link to: can art/assets] to bring attention to the collaboration and the cause.
5. No labels? No problem. Supporting Rock On through draft pours is cool, too.
6. Collaborate with local musicians to help promote the cause. Silver City Brewery is partnering with MxPx – who will you support?
7. Celebrate Rock On Crafted Lager’s release with an event dedicated to the music you love.
8. Amplify Rock On to your fans with #rockonbeer.
How It Works: The Celebration
Celebrate the launch of your Rock On Crafted Lager with a day dedicated to the music and artists that inspire you. There is no one way to Rock On, but let’s do it loud and proud. Not every brewery has the ability to celebrate in the same way, but some options include:
-Bring in local bands to play live sets at your brewery throughout the day.
-Partner with a renowned act to stream a live show.
-Spin the songs that moved you to take part in your taproom.
-Host all-day viewings of concert films – from The Song Remains the Same and The Last Waltz to Rattle and Hum and Nirvana’s Live At the Paramount.
-Add songs to the Rock On Spotify Playlist and turn it up to 11.
Celebrating the music we love is an amazing way to bring attention to the plight of musicians impacted by COVID-19. Equally important is to support them however we can. That’s why we’re asking participating breweries to donate profits from these events and Rock On Crafted Lager sales directly to Sweet Relief.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund
Even if you haven’t heard of Sweet Relief, you’ve likely heard something directly related to it.
While on a career-making tour with Neil Young in 1993, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams experienced debilitating symptoms that would be diagnosed as multiple sclerosis. Confronted by a serious illness and unable to tour, Victoria faced mounting medical and living expenses.
A group of friends assembled an all-star album of Victoria’s songs, Sweet Relief, which featured a hit in the form of Pearl Jam’s version of Victoria’s song “Crazy Mary” and the memorable chorus “Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around.”
Aware that there were many musicians in situations like hers, Victoria donated some of the proceeds from the album to found Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Since then Sweet Relief’s mission has been to provide financial assistance to musicians and music industry workers struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems.
A certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity, Sweet Relief serves the musical community by helping musicians with medical and vital living expenses, including:
-Insurance premiums
-Prescriptions
-Medical treatment and operative procedures
-Housing costs
-Food costs
-Utilities
-Other basic necessities
Musicians have always been vulnerable to these hardships. Most touring musicians aren’t stadium headliners. They’re gigging clubs night after night, traveling from city to city by van on a shoestring budget. There is no sick pay or disability benefits. COVID-19 has exponentially increased the number of those in financial straits. Without the ability to play shows, every musician and their crew finds themselves unable to earn a paycheck.
Sweet Relief has responded to the events of the past year by extending its assistance to include musicians and crew impacted by the pandemic.
A Project of Passions
Rock On is fun and creative and tied to two incredible passions we share with Silver City Brewery and MxPx: music and beer. And we know many in the brewing community are right there with us. But it’s a third passion that we hope inspires you to step up and rock this collaboration – giving back.
Giving back is core to our organization. It means a lot to us to do good for those in need, especially those whose work we admire. Music has given so much to all of us, and we’re excited to give back to the people that have bettered our lives with their talent and efforts. Our hope is that you’ll take up the call and create something great that will benefit those in need.
In their own distinct ways, music and beer are the culmination of creativity and expression. Let’s see what you can conjure to create your ideal, concert-worthy lager.