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Kyle Hollingsworth Band brings new music and beer to Avon

Caramie Schnell
cschnell@vaildaily.com
String Cheese Incident keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth brings his namesake project, The Kyle Hollingsworth Band, to Avon tonight.
Dylan Langille | Special to the Daily |

If you go ...

Who: Kyle Hollingsworth with special guest Brother Trucker.

Where: Agave, Avon.

When: Friday. Doors open at 9:30 p.m.

Cost: $18.

More information: Visit http://www.AgaveAvon.com.

AVON — Kyle Hollingsworth has been making music for 30 years, and brewing beer for 20, and it took about a decade before he figured out how to combine two of his favorite things in life: music and beer. He considers them both an art form and for years now, Hollingsworth has been combining his passions.

He’s collaborated with Boulder Beer, Cigar City Brewing and others to release nationally distributed beers; he hosts his own beer festival and often gives presentations about the intersection of beer and music at festivals like Bonnaroo, Summer Camp, Electric Forest, High Sierra and more. Hollingsworth played and presented at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and rumor has it there’s a craft beer cruise in the works. In that same music-meets-beer vein, the Kyle Hollingsworth Band’s annual BrewSki Tour returns to the mountains for a show at Agave in Avon tonight.

This year, Hollingsworth joined forces with Telluride Brewing Co. to create an exclusive collaboration: SpruceSki Pale Ale, a hoppy pale ale with hints of spruce and orange. Sound good? It’s only available at each BrewSki Tour show. After Avon, the tour heads to Telluride and Durango before heading out of state, to the Carolinas and finishes up in Atlanta, at SweetWater 420 Fest, alongside Snoop Dogg, Primus, Thievery Corporation and others.



But let’s get back to the beer.

“(Telluride Brewing Co.) head brewer Chris Fish and I worked up the recipe together,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s based on their Bridal Veil Pale Ale, but with some spruce tips, orange peel and dry hop citra hops.”

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This is somewhere around beer collaboration No. 25, Hollingsworth said.

“From Stone to SweetWater, I have been following my two passions of brewing and music,” he said. “Both, for me, are about taking chances and exploring the different elements that make up each art form.”

‘I FIND TIME FOR EVERYTHING’

During the course of three decades, Hollingsworth has established himself as a versatile musician. He’s a member of acclaimed jam masters The String Cheese Incident, which allows him to write and perform in a mosaic of styles, from rock to classical, ragtime to bebop. Those who’ve seen SCI know the band can move from funk to bluegrass on a chord change. “In the jam world, where there are no set ways of doing things, we’re not afraid to move in and out of genres,” he said, “and because of that I’ve learned to be creative, not only on stage but in the studio. I can get on board with something pretty quickly. You have to.”

You may have also heard Hollingsworth in another side project he’s involved with: Incidental Animals. Come May, the Incidental Animals are headed out to Northern California for a run of shows that includes two nights at Terrapin Crossroads and one set with Phil Lesh.

“Lots of other projects keep me inspired and on the road,” Hollingsworth said. “Incidental Animals is a great collaboration; it’s so fun to play with those guys. (I) love the sound we all create. My plate is pretty full, but music is one of my passions, so I find time for everything.”

Attendees at tonight’s show will have a chance to hear new music as they taste the new beer. Hollingsworth has a new single coming out soon.

“(We’ve) got some new tunes, one is called ‘Stuff,’ and yes, we will be playing it this whole tour. (I’m) psyched to be getting new material out there,” he said.

Along with the new material, Hollingsworth said to expect some “fun covers and pretty much a straight-up dance party.”


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