Michigan Songwriter Does 100 Shows At 100 Breweries In 100 Days

Inspired by a classic sing-along, his love of beer and a playful and adventurous spirit, a Michigan singer/songwriter is building his career one brewery at a time.

His goal is ambitious…After all 100 shows in 100 breweries in a hundred days is no mean feat.  But multi-instrumentalist Jack Adams, who performs as “St. Joe Jack,” is all about it and in the midst of a mega-journey that’s already clocked more than 6,000 miles.

When American Craft Beer caught up with Jack Adams he had just wrapped up a gig at Alexandria Brewing in Kentucky and was making his way to his 73^rd stop Dreaming Creek Brewery where he’d be playing later that night.

And having just completed his 72^nd brewery date he seemed incredibly upbeat and none the worse for wear…

ACB: So 100 shows at 100 breweries in 100 days…What inspired this tour, why breweries, and OMG what were you thinking?

That’s right… What I’m doing now is a hybrid of a brewery tour and a music tour. I’m playing 100 gigs in 100 days at 100 different breweries. For me, when I started playing music my first few audiences were at open mic nights at The Livery in Benton Harbor. Though I wasn’t old enough to drink, most of the venues that hired me to play music were breweries in the SW Michigan area.

I had attended college at Grand Valley State University for 2 years, I struggled finding my direction in school because I was playing music so much. I decided to take a year off to figure out what my passion is really about.

I knew I was going to be playing gigs no matter what, the label of “going on tour” didn’t come until I had the thought of singing the song “99 bottles of beer on the wall”  with the crowd at 100 different breweries. The thought came as a light-hearted joke, as I started to share it with my family and friends it seemed like it was such a unique idea I had to start booking before somebody else took it.

I could’ve just gone “on tour” and call it good, the problem being that I was playing bars and hotels 4-5 nights a week I rarely played venues. And being in and out of bands, playing big venues as a solo without a solid following is a daunting task. I think playing 100 breweries in 100 days is my debut as an artist, something to help grow my fan base. I played at so many breweries already and admired the community around it, it seemed like the best fit for a one-man-band!

ACB: You’re a one man travelling unit right? Guitar, rhythm tracks the whole thing? Tell us about your brewery shows and your music.

The solo show is growing more every year. Right now, I have two different “one-man-bands” I’m playing with.

One includes a looper pedal which I used to record and play back beats I make with my mouth like to lay down a drum track and play the songs over the beat with my guitar. I have only three effect pedals on my guitar, phaser, auto wah, and a delay, I like to use these to make the transitions from song to song sound like how a DJ mixes songs together.

The other OMB (one-man-band) variation is me sitting down with a hit-hat and a kick drum playing guitar. It’s a completely different sound with live drums and having that much more control over the dynamics. I like playing louder rock, punk, whatever with this line up.

So at the breweries you can see me playing with both of these variations of an OMB. I don’t have my kick drum with me on the road, so I just have the high-hat cymbals with me. For the bigger shows I go between the two though out the night. At the smaller venues I like to play an acoustic set with just my guitar and a high-hat.

However I’m playing the music…and the music I play is feel-good music. Something for everybody.

ACB: And you booked the “Take Down Tour” yourself? What was that like? Were breweries open to this?

I’ve done my own booking since I started playing music but nothing as consistent and intense as 100 days in a row. I think it’s a craft, an acquired skill. I started out with a Michigan Brewers Guild magazine that had phone numbers of at least 250-300 breweries. I flipped through the pages and called every brewery in the magazine, introduced myself, pitched my idea, and asked if I could talk with a manager to schedule a date if they were interested.

For every “yes” there was at least twenty “no thank you’s” for varied reasons. There were times I was discouraged without a doubt, I had to make the most of my booking time because I was working on a farm during the week and gigging on the weekends. I got better as I went along but there is no way I could’ve pulled this off without some persistence.

About halfway through my booking period I discovered a brewery-collector’s fad named TagaBrew. It’s a dog-tag that breweries carry with their own names and unique charms that brewery goers can collect. I thought it’d wouldn’t hurt to reach out and print a “St. Joe Jack” tag to help promote. The owners are really awesome people, they let me use their name anywhere I call.  It’s nice to have a foot in the door if I’m calling a brewery that carries TagaBrew. In return I’m spreading their word into breweries that may not have heard of them yet…

ACB: Your most memorable moments, shows, breweries and beers?

Best Beers

Habanero Stout – Cognito Brewing

Blue Berry Cream Ale (?) – Hillsdale Brewing Co

Any IPA from Black Rocks, Brickside or Cognition in the UP

Blackberry Sour- Arclight Brewing

Big Dill (Dill flavored) – Three Blondes Brewing

Cherry Mochi Sour (and the CBD water!) – Ascension Brewing

Shroomster (Mushroom Flavored) – Craft Heads Brewery

Best shows:

The Livery 9/27: First show of the tour, it was at my home bar, had some friends coming out to be my band for the second set. It was a big moment for me because I loved catching music at the Livery and this was my first feature show at my favorite place in town. I had turned 21 two days before, hogs gone wild. Great turn out, friends, family and even complete strangers who saw the advertising came out. An accomplishment like that was the best way to kick things off.

Brickside Brewery 9/27: The furthest north I travelled. It was the first truly acoustic set I played on the tour because the place was so small. Because it was autumn there were a ton of people up north to watch the leaves change. That place was packed and yet it was so easy to play. One of the more laid-back nights with the crowd. A family from Grand Rapids stopped in, their father said he played so I gave him my guitar and man he could play! Then his 14-year-old daughter sang bob Dylan for a couple songs on my break. One of those nights where you get to know everybody in the bar.

Cognito 10/26: The weekend before Halloween. The evening line up was me, Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish, and a screening of Rocky Horror Picture show. What a night that was! A weird one none the less. It was the first time I’d seen Rocky Horror and the Carolina Catfish. Wound up being the sound guy for the night. I think this was the best sets I played, wish I had some videos!

11/9 Guardian Brewing: I was on fire that night. It was a Saturday night and I was in the mood to rock. My friend and piano player Ian Nibbelink made it out to play the second set. I think that was another of the best shows there’s been playing with him.

11/13 Ramshackle Brewing: Oh man they had some great beer. Everybody that worked there was a character to remember, they were all so kind and easy to get along with. I felt like I was walking into a room full of long lost friends. One of the “bare bone” sets. For being such a small place it filled up that night. Coined the phrased “I got jonesed in Jonesville”.

11/16 Khunhen Brewery: Some breweries don’t have a license for musicians to play covers. This was an all original set to a packed bar on a Saturday night. A ton of my family came out to support. It was a fulfilling night to play only original music. Uncle Kracker’s guitar player was in the crowd and said he liked what he was hearing.

11/22 Brewery Faison: First time I had ever played in downtown Detroit. All original set. Family and friends came out. Great coffee stout

ACB: Your brewery tour, which kicked off  in Benton Harbor on Sept 27, wraps up back in Michigan on Jan 4.  It’s such a terrific idea for both breweries and musicians…Any thought of another brewery tour maybe in the East or out West?

Of course! East, West, East to West. Next time I’d love to make it out to New Orleans, Raleigh, Ashville. I opened up the big Pandora’s Box… If not breweries I was thinking about playing the bourbon trail or maybe a tour of ski hills.

Jack Adams is “St Joe Jack” and you find out more about him HERE.