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Brooklyn band in town for San Juan Brewfest

Now in its 17th year, the San Juan Brewfest remains Durango’s premier beer-tasting and the second-largest fundraiser for United Way of Southwest Colorado.

On Saturday, Buckley Park will host more than 50 breweries and three distilleries, with beers representing the best of the current craft-beer revolution and the best since the last craft-beer revolution. There’s really been no break in the revolution and the interest in craft beer, and beer geek-dom has been growing since the ’90s.

But drinkers beware, this event sells out. As of printing, there may only be a few hundred tickets left. Word has it that ticket sales will start at 10 a.m., and gates will open at 1. Line your thirsty self up early to ensure a prompt quench.

This event has also continued to provide a stellar soundtrack of local and national acts. This year’s bands include local, old-time blues and bluegrass band Papa Otis and Hillbilly Foxtrot, the rock and alternative country outfit Farmington Hill and Brooklyn-based rock band Dreamers, featuring Nick Wold on guitar and vocals, Chris Bagamery on drums and Marc Nelson on bass.

Dreamers is a new band, formed a short year ago in New York City. Their sound treads on rock ’n’ roll ground, a mix of the sugary rock and power-pop of Big Star and Cheap Trick and the art rock via punk of Gang of Four – they’ve found a balance of aggression and polished tunes.

“We definitely want to, with our music, carry on that tradition of rock ‘n’ roll, rock ‘n’ roll that has been going and sometimes gets lost or under-represented,” Wold said in a recent phone interview. “That’s where we’re coming from.”

The band was recently signed to Fairfax Recordings, the label that has acquired the studio space home to the infamous Sound City studio in Van Nuys, California. As they record their next record, they’re slowly leaking singles through social media as small gifts to their fans. “Wolves” is their latest, with more to follow.

Meanwhile, the band has remained on the road. For some bands, geography can be defining. Honky-tonk bands should be in Bakersfield. Bluegrass should be in rural Appalachia. Brooklyn has, as of late, defined the new era of rock bands, but for Dreamers, it’s not necessarily central to their sound.

“New York, L.A., wherever we are, it feels the same, actually,” Wold said. “New York is a great place for us to be because there are so many artists around us. We have access to friends who want to make videos and photographers who want to take photos – being around that energy lifted us. But for the last two years, we’ve been transient nomads, and it feels like wherever we are is where we need to be.”

liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.

Bryant’s best

Friday: Rock and fusion with Sky Pilot, 7 p.m. No cover. Moe’s, 937 Main Ave., 259-9018.

Saturday: Dreamers, Farmington Hill, Papa Otis at San Juan Brewfest. 1 p.m. $30. Buckley Park, 12th Street and Main Ave., 375-5068.



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