A BC musician is touring craft breweries across the province with a goal we can all get behind: Explore new parts of our beautiful backyard, make new friends, and try new craft beers along the way.
Steven Marriott is a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter with a passion for bringing people together through music. He says he planned his current tour to introduce music fans to new breweries while simultaneously introducing fans of craft beer to new music. That’s why almost all of the stops on his current tour are at craft breweries, many of which rarely host live music.
“It seems like a win-win,” Marriott said. “I’ve played a lot of breweries in the lower mainland and have always found the patrons to be supportive and just overall wonderful people. The majority of brewery goers are there to have a good time, catch up with friends or family, listen to live music, and drink great local beer.”
The More You Drink, the Better I Sound
Marriott’s new song “The More You Drink The Better I Sound,” also helped inspire the tour’s brewery-focus.
The song was initially written as a fun soundcheck tune to shout-out venues and their staff. He says he never anticipated recording it, but it quickly became a crowd favourite so he opted to include it in his debut album, Caught in Parallax.
“What better place to promote what I can only describe as a polite drinking song than by performing it at craft breweries?” he said.
You can really feel a community vibe in the track. There’s a line in the song that goes “Well I think a call and answer, would suit this part just fine.” Marriott says he asked friends and fans to record themselves shouting “JUST FINE” in response, which he used in the final mix of the song.
Listen to the track on your favourite music streaming platform:
The album: Caught in Parallax
As for the album itself, the title Caught in Parallax refers to a line from one of Marriott’s other new songs, “So Far to Go.” He says it references the state of motion parallax, which is when objects at varying distances seem to move at different speeds when you’re looking out a window from a car or train. The term “parallax” on its own also describes how the same object can look different from different angles.
“In the song, the distant object refers to a moment in life that can seem like a far-off abstract concept, yet throughout your life, these moments can take on completely different meanings,” he said.
Sounds like just the kind of thing you’d discuss with friends over a BC craft beer!
Local taste in music and beer
When asked about his musical inspiration, Marriott said some of the most prominent ones recently have been other local musicians he’s had the pleasure of meeting, listening to, and jamming with.
“I highly recommend checking out Larry Edward, Michael Averill, Scott Crompton, Ben Crosby, Anna Katarina, and so so so many more,” he said.
If you’re looking for more local music recommendations, check out Marriott’s Spotify playlist, “Steve n’ Friends,” which features some of his favourites. He will also be posting individual track recommendations on his Instagram page over the next few weeks. Keep an eye out.
As for his beer inspiration, Marriott couldn’t help but gush about a local favourite too.
“I love the Scrumpers Triple Berry Sour at Smugglers’ Trail Caskworks in Langley. Phenomenal beer,” he said. “They even do a Dark Sour over the winter season by adding cherries to the mix, but honestly, everything they brew is delicious. Not to mention the fact that their food is phenomenal, the staff are amazing, and the venue itself is just beautiful. They’ve been so incredibly supportive of me and my music over the past year, and it may sound like I’m biased, but I’ve honestly met so many new fans and friends from playing at Smuggler’s Trail (or Smuggies as some of the regulars call it) that are regulars because of everything I just listed above.”
Be sure to catch Steve on the road at one of your favourite BC craft breweries!
