Lawson’s Finest Liquids, a brewery, taproom and retail store in Waitsfield, Vermont, created a virtual music series to provide financial assistance to local musicians who are unemployed due to COVID-19. The virtual music series is modeled after Lawson’s Finest popular Monday Night Music Series that is held in their Waitsfield taproom. With the taproom closed due to the pandemic, Lawson’s Finest chose to hire musicians to entertain fans virtually over a number of weeks. The first virtual music offering is by The Grift who have been friends and collaborators with Lawson’s Finest for almost ten years, sharing a passion for music, beer, and community. Like so many other musicians and artists, The Grift has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As full-time gigging musicians, their main source of income dried up almost overnight when venues closed and large gatherings were prohibited. “Our collaboration with The Grift created a fun and light hearted music video, but also shows our appreciation for the frontline workers during quarantine,” said Karen Lawson, co-owner of Lawson’s Finest Liquids. The “Stay Home, Drink Beer” free music download and video can be found at thegrift.com. Donations are accepted through a secure PayPal link and a portion of the proceeds will go to The Vermont Rapid Response Artist Relief which provides grants to artists who have lost income due to the loss of a job or cancellation of a specific scheduled gig because of COVID-19.
“When Karen and Sean Lawson reached out asking how Lawson’s Finest could help musicians in this crazy time, we were so grateful,” said Clint Bierman, co-founder of The Grift. “And this new project taps into a surge of creativity and collaboration that many of us have been feeling recently… and it’s a nice way for musicians to recover a little lost income as well.”
Chad Hollister will be featured as the second artist in the Lawson’s Finest virtual music series on Facebook Live Wednesday, May 20, at 7 p.m.
