Oskar Blues’ Caniversary celebrates its innovation with local, national musicians
Seventeen years ago, Colorado’s own Oskar Blues made the bold decision to package its flagship brew Dale’s Pale Ale into crushable and portable cans. The first craft brewery to step away from glass and switch to aluminum, it led the charge in the craft beer canning revolution. The Caniversary — a yearly celebration of this innovative packaging choice — has become another intricate piece of the brewery’s legacy. Selling out in previous years, the event continues to be a jamboree of food, music and plenty of ice cold brews. On Saturday, The Oak Room — a rustically chic 4,275-square-foot venue attached to Longmont’s Oskar Blues Brewery — will host the annual bash that promises a stellar musical line-up and more.
“We thought it was important to bring a lineup to Oskar Blues that shows the company’s deep musical history,” said Danny Shafer, local musician, Caniversary organizer and concert booker. “Starting as a blues music and Southern-style food restaurant and venue, this lineup is a link to Oskar Blues’ roots that we are very proud of.”
Roosevelt Collier, a master of the steel guitar, will make the trek from Florida to engage crowds with his cutting-edge funk and blues. Also on the bill is New Orleans legend Papa Mali, who will be joined by renowned bassist Bobby Vega.
“Bobby Vega has played with everyone from Sly and the Family Stone to Etta James,” Shafer said. “Bass Player Magazine called him one of the most important bass players of all time in 2017. The lineup this year is a mix of so many talents.”
Starting off the music will be Longmont’s Crick Wooder — a four-member tribute band that calls itself an “Owsley-grade Grateful Dead experience.”
“Crick Wooder is one the newer bands in Colorado that has a special relationship with the audience,” Shafer said. “It’s rare to see a newer band show and receive so much, to and from a growing audience.”
With skilled musical chops and top-notch vocals, the talented quartet delivers freewheeling psychedelic jams while adding their own certain essence to the varied repertoire of Garcia and the boys.
“We are going to perform acoustic for this show,” said Shawn Cunnane, vocalist and lead guitarist for Crick Wooder. “It can actually lend itself to some interesting interpretations of songs you might not normally expect to hear tackled acoustically.”
From “Deep Elem Blues” to “Bertha,” there’s no telling just what tunes will surface Saturday, but whatever picks echo though The Oak Room will be played with unrelenting passion to nearly 300 ticketholders.
“We like to keep our sets fresh and are lucky to pull from such an extensive catalog,” Cunnane said. “We try to approach the Dead songbook in our own way and most importantly, we let it breathe. We always have one or two surprises up our sleeves.”
Cunnane’s fascination with the Grateful Dead stems back to when he heard the albums “American Beauty” and “Skull and Roses” at age of 13.
“My obsession was pretty instantaneous,” Cunnane said. “It seemed massively important in some kind of unexplainable way. The poets and musicians, the imagery, characters and stories — they take you someplace.”
On July 4, ahead of Dead & Company’s Folsom Field shows, Crick Wooder drew a standing-room only crowd eager to hear thoughtful renditions of old classics outside of Longs Peak Pub in Longmont.
“The best thing about playing this music is the community,” Cunnane said. “The music is all of ours. It is our church. I think Crick Wooder filled a void in Longmont and has brought together so many new friends. We are a little family. It is actually a really incredible bond we all share. We understand each other.”
Cunnane and crew have already played many times at Oskar Blues’ Colorado locations, but feel “honored” to be a part of Saturday’s anniversary celebration.
“I was fortunate to be part of the community in Southern California as well,” Cunnane said. “These pockets are just a microcosm of what the Grateful Dead does for us on a larger scale. We are honored to be able to carry on the songbook and passion. It brings us so much joy and we try to share that with everyone around us.”
From friends’ backyard weddings to the Beer Garden Stage of Littleton’s Breckenridge Brewery, Crick Wooder continues to satiate die-hard Deadheads with its high-energy shows and manages to appeal to a new crop of fans who may not be as familiar with the Dead’s lineage.
“The Front Range is a fantastic place to play music — an endless amount of venues and music lovers,” Cunnane said. “I’ve performed close to 150 times in the past year and a half from Denver to Fort Collins.”
From a modest locale in Lyons to taprooms in Boulder, Brevard, North Carolina and Austin, Texas, Oskar Blues was the little brewery that could — and did. Attracting loyal beer enthusiasts with an array of fresh offerings and providing a platform to musicians of all styles, the brand continues to grow, while still maintaining its heart and soul with each expansion.
“I grew up playing music at Oskar Blues and grew to love the people who worked there as family,” Shafer said. “Oskar Blues always wants to bring the little extra into the mix to make it special for everyone in the room. Oskar Blues has grown so much over the last years and still always keeps an eye on the details that set it apart from other venues and restaurants.”
In between enjoying the evening’s music, folks can get an up-close look at the barrel room where rare and specialty beers are aged. Never short on inspiration, in 2019 Oskar Blues released Rosé for Daze — a rosé-style ale brewed with prickly pear and hibiscus. Also released this year was Can-O-Bliss Hazy IPA that delivers notes of stone fruit, melon and peach.
“The most rewarding aspect of being part of this community to me is to see the music scene in Colorado to continue to grow and recreate itself,” Shafer said. “Colorado has always had a one-of-a-kind place in music — independent, original and genre-bending. Colorado audiences seem to relate to music that has something new to say, while still based in tradition.”
Shafer said he looks forward to seeking out more talent to fill the barroom and continuing the tradition of Open Stage — Boulder’s longest running open mic night — every Tuesday at Oskar Blues’ Pearl Street taproom.
“To be a working part of music in Colorado is humbling and always exiting,” Shafer said. “The next best thing could be showing up at any minute. We have to be ready to adapt and keep our ears and eyes open.”
If you go
What: Oskar Blues’ 17th annual Caniversary
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Oak Room at Oskar Blues Brewery, 1928 Lefthand Circle, Longmont
Cost: $25