Thanksgiving is all about food, family and friends – in no particular order. The night before Thanksgiving, well, that’s all about fun.
At True Brew Barista, these things will all be rolled into one when it hosts Friendsgiving on Wednesday night.
The night will be full of great local music from a lot of fan favorites, and the atmosphere will be festive and friendly.
The whole idea began a few years ago, and it’s really taken off since then, said co-owner Stephanie Zinser.
“Dusty Gray had done a Thanksgiving show for us a few years in a row, and it was to be his last show before moving to Nashville,” she said. “He had Pat (Gochez, of Pat and the Hats) and some others play with him.”
After Gray moved, Zinser asked Gochez – a regular performer at True Brew – if he’d be interested in doing something similar.
“We asked Pat, and he wanted to do the same thing as Dusty and call it Friendsgiving,” Zinser said. “It’s all just people who have worked together for years and are friends.”
The end result is something that works out for everyone involved – the musicians all get to play with their friends, and the audience gets to reap the rewards of the music.
This year’s group of friends consists of Mike Dunbar, Tristan Omand, Kate West, Liz Bills, Pat and the Hats, Dusty Gray (yes, he’s back) and maybe one or two more – you’ll have to show up to see who actually ends up playing, and with whom.
Like many “. . . and friends” kinds of shows, this one will include bands mixing up the personnel and playing with each other, as well as playing each other’s songs, giving fans a real treat.
“The Hats will do some of their regular songs, then they’ll have some other people play with them, then they’ll do some other people’s songs,” Zinser said. “It’s a really fun night.”
The show will run two to three hours, though it could go a little bit longer depending how everything goes. Since the night before Thanksgiving is usually one of the busiest bar nights of the year anyway, the special show will almost definitely make the place packed all night. For this, you’ll want to get there early – in the past people have had to wait outside for close to an hour.
There will likely be a higher cover due to the large group of performers, probably about $10, Zinser said, but it’s a small price to pay for a night of friendly fun.
