Celebrate 15 years of good beer and pizza, family-friendly dance parties, and a legacy of live music at the Dolores River Brewery anniversary party Feb. 19.
Popular Denver rock band “Strange Americans” will perform a concert starting about 7 p.m. Cover is $10.
The band is seeing growing success, and is a mainstay on the Front Range music scene. They’ve cut two albums, are coming out with a third, and recently played to a crowd of 6,000 at the famous Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison.
“One of the greatest moments of my life,” said keyboardist Murry Mercier, of the big stage experience. “It was a surreal and a great night that gave us good exposure.”
The band is usually on the brewpub tour, he said, like the one at the Dolores Brewery. The five-piece band has been touring more and more, stretching out to Utah and Southwest Colorado, then onto Chicago and the East Coast.
“We all still have day jobs, but the band is big priority,” Mercier said.
The Strange Americans have a large, driving sound that does not overwhelm, overlaid by insightful lyrics and solid vocals by lead singer Matt Hoffman.
“My song writing takes on social issues in a subtle way, not beating people over the head with it,” he says.
The band of bearded rockers takes some musical cues from rock classics The Band, and Neil Young and Crazy Horse. There’s a hint of Bruce Springsteen in their Americana sound too, along with Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Ryan Adams.
Murry said the band’s songs also have an independence streak, with lyrics questioning the traditional life path of “college, a good job, then saving for retirement.”
“There are alternatives, like playing music in a rock band,” he says. “I think our success is tied to that commitment and our positive attitude. We work with people well, and are really loving what we do.”
Their new album is set to be released in 2017, and while recording in the studio they were on fire, literally!
“We were ready to record, and something went wrong with some lighting, sparking a fire in the building,” Hoffman said. “We had to hustle to get some vintage instruments and a grand piano out before the fire department came and tore the place up, so that was exciting.”
They plan to ignite the Dolores audience as well into a celebratory dance party that has become tradition of the local brew pub.
“Expect a high-energy rock show,” he said. “We will be playing a lot of our new album, and breaking out a couple of crowd-favorite covers.”
In addition to the diverse beer menu, there will be three guest beers from Portland on tap, including a barrel-aged imperial stout from the Gigantic Brewing Co., and a carina peach sour from Ecliptic Brewing.
“We had 15 years, and hopefully we will have 15 more,” said brewmaster and Dolores River Brewery owner Mark Youngquist. “Come out and see this band, they are really hitting their stride.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
