Allen Stone joins Lagunitas Brewmaster Jeremy Marshall for the most Lagunitas episode of Consequence and Lagunitas’ Six-Pack Stories. Watch above or via YouTube.
Before Allen Stone stepped onstage to perform a sold out Live at Lagunitas show, he grabbed a beer with the ever affable brewmaster Jeremy Marshall. Luckily, we caught the dang thing on camera. On the latest edition of Lagunitas’ Six-Pack Stories, the pair swap stories, sip on some cold ones, and find the parallel between making music and brewing beer.
Discussing his process, Marshall explains that he starts by considering history, recalling an old English porter or a forgotten smoked-malt German lager, before asking what the world needs right now. Many times, this results in putting a new take on an old style. “There are no rules, if it tastes good,” he says.
“That’s very closely connected to the artistic process,” Stone answers, comparing Marshall’s recipe to utilizing different studio tools, bridging what has come before with what can happen now. “One and the same,” Stone says.
The brewing lesson continues as Marshall reveals that while a standard fridge chills a beer to about 39°F (or 4°C, but don’t test Stone with that Euro standard), many beers’ flavors really open up around 50°F (10°C). That’s why he’s reaching for a warmer Lagunitas Hazy IPA when he clocks out early on a Friday. Stone, meanwhile, would go for a Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, recalling visiting Lagunitas in 2014 and receiving “a big old cargo load” of the brew. “Me and my band drank Little Sumpin’ ales for months straight,” he says. “2014 was a really good year, and I have very fond memories of that tour and that experience.”
Stone also reflects on how his life has changed in the 12 years since his last stop at the LaguMiniAmphitheaterette (getting married, having kids, getting an English bulldog named Howie), and how it’s impacted his music. “All those things, all those experiences, those relationships, that love, if it hasn’t changed my music, then what is happening to me?” he says. “I think my writing has changed quite a bit since becoming a father… My perspective on human beings and relationships has grown and expanded and matured.” Marshall hears those changes, saying, “I’m sensing more love and more optimism.”
Elsewhere, Stone picks Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” as his jukebox jam (though he has a soft spot for Marshall’s pick of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”), and recalls introducing his keyboardist named Steve to Stevie Wonder: “Stevie Wonder shakes his hand and he goes, ‘You’re handsome!’” Marshall also makes him choose between a casket filled with scorpions and a bathtub full of rattlesnakes, so the episode really covers all the bases.
Watch Allen Stone and Brewmaster Jeremy on this episode of Lagunitas’ Six-Pack Stories above or via YouTube, and get tickets to Stone’s upcoming concerts here. Revisit all our episodes by checking our Six-Pack Stories landing page or YouTube playlist.