DENNIS & BRAD'S
GREAT BREWERY TOUR
PLAYING NEAR YOU
WINTER 2024
As has become our tradition, we play a more relaxed schedule in the winter, as we heal from a whole year of heavy touring ;-) Expect a crazy exciting schedule for the Spring!
......CHECK BACK SOON FOR ADDITIONAL DATES!
DEC 15 - 16 LOTS SOUTHERN OUTPOST - NEWPORT, KY
JAN 4 - BISHOP'S QUARTER - LOVELAND, OH
JAN 12 - LITTLE MIAMI BREWING CO - MILFORD, OH
JAN 20 - MOTHER STEWART'S BREWING - SPRINGFIELD, OH
JAN 25 - BISHOP'S QUARTER - LOVELAND, OH
FEB 2 - BOLD CITY BREWERY - JACKSONVILLE, FL
FEB 3 - DAFT COW BREWERY - ALACHUA, FL
FEB 4 - SWAMP HEAD BREWERY - GAINESVILLE, FL
FEB 8 - SWAN BREWING - LAKELAND, FL
FEB 9 - COMMERCE BREWING - LARGO, FL
FEB 10 - BIG TOP BREWERS COLLECTIVE - LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL
FEB 16 - HOP LIFE BREWING - PORT ST. LUCIE, FL
FEB 17 - STORMHOUSE BREWING - NORTH PALM BEACH, FL
FEB 18 - COASTAL KARMA BREWING - LAKE PARK, FL
FEB 23 - BUGNUTTY BREWING CO - COCOA, FL
MAR 1 - TWO BANDITS BREWING - HICKSVILLE, OH
MAR 7 - CARTRIDGE BREWING - MAINEVILLE, OH
... CHECK BACK SOON FOR ADDITIONAL DATES!
All duo shows unless otherwise indicated:
# Dennis solo; * Brad solo; + trio/full band w/drums
SALE! New & Clearance Tour Shirts
WHAT’S NEW?
May 5, 2022
After being canceled twice by Covid, our first West Coast tour was a complete blast! The 5-week trek had us playing around 20 shows in 9 states, and it was all fantastic. Demand was so high, and then reception so good, that we're now exploring a 2nd west coast tour later this year... possibly in September! In the last 3 months Django has swam in the Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific for the first time; we played mountain tops, wine country, pot country, a rooftop in Reno, a flatbed in Utah, big stages and cozy corners.
We met thousands of great people, reconnected with old friends, and enjoyed hundreds of tasty beers of all styles. We cruised in the RV through the Donner Pass and white-knuckled a few other narrow mountain passes, and battled gale-force winds in the high desert, and had a near-miss tornado in the plains.
Southern Brewing Co., Athens, GA - Fall Tour 2021
(photo courtesy of Scott Berenhaus)
WHAT’S NEW?
UPDATES FROM DENNIS & BRAD
November 18, 2023
We'll be rolling into Memphis shortly, kicking off our last major roadtrip of the year. We play Memphis tonight, then head down to Louisiana for a run of shows over the next week in Baton Rouge, Hammond, and New Orleans (and we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in New Orleans again, which is always incredible!).
After that, as has become our tradition, we'll spend December and January sticking close to home, healing after a crazy year of heavy touring and playing a few select shows in the OH/IN/KY region. Then we kick off the 2024 tour with our annual Florida in February month-long run of beach brewery shows.
BREWERS: we are currently booking all of 2024, so if you're interested in booking a date on our schedule contact us ASAP. The earlier you book, the more flexible we can be in getting you an ideal date. In addition to our usual stops all over the U.S., in 2024 we also plan to extend the tour into Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Nova Scotia) and possibly Central America (Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica)... or if anyone has suggestions on breweries you think we should play, feel free to drop us a line on the form at the bottom of the website!
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October 25, 2023
Wow, the New York/New England tour was spectacular this year! We kicked things off in Buffalo and played several fantastic breweries across upstate and the Finger Lakes (Liquid State Brewing in Romulus was a lot of fun... we were joined onstage by Elvis...), just as the leaves were really starting to pop. We returned to play another fun night at Hero's Brewing in Rochester, and while there were blown away by House of Guitars, the world's largest music store. Of course we also dug into New Yawka food, most notably some fantastic meatball heroes. Our return to the cozy Foothills Hops Farm Brewery had us playing to big family party, as well as a whole crew who returned wearing the shirts from our last visit ;-)
New England was amazing, and spectacular. We couldn't have timed the trip any better... the fall foliage was psychedelic in colors, yet the weather mild and wonderful. We visited some old friends by returning to Mill River Brewing in St. Albans and Kingdom Brewery way up in Newport, and made new friends at the wonderful GoodWater Brewery in Burlington, and Stowe Cider in (wait for it...) Stowe. The final weekend of the tour was like a dream, playing Stowe on Friday, the magical Boothbay Craft Brewery, Taphouse, and RV in Boothbay, Maine (way up on the coast) on Saturday, and then what seemed like a fall festival at the Brew Barn on the gorgeous Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts on Sunday. Of course, along the way we also got our fill of fresh lobster in Maine, amazing chowders, and fantastic steaks and smoked turkey, brisket, and ribs. All this crammed into just 3 weeks.... is there any mystery why we'd need a little break once we got home? We can't wait to get back to New England... in 2024 we'll be doing it in August, so we can take more advantage of the beaches.
This winter, as has become our tradition, we will be relaxing our schedule. We will be playing Memphis, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans the week of Thanksgiving, but other than that we're playing a few shows closer to home and taking some time to relax, and work on a few other projects (Brad's band, Freak Mythology, will be releasing their 2nd album and launching it at an album-release party at Madison Theater in Cincinnati on Nov 10. Tickets are available now thru Ticketmaster!).
We'll be kicking off 2024 with out annual Florida in February tour, spending the whole month down there, and then we'll be spending the year playing some familiar routes, and switching some things up and and playing some parts of the country we haven't been to in a while... and you may want to make sure your passports are in order, there may be some international shows happening later in the year.... just sayin'.... Montreal... Nova Scotia....
NOTE: As previously mentioned, the Summer/Fall shirt is the final edition of our wildly popular "microbus" t-shirt designs. As such, we made a ton of 'em, and you guys gobbled 'em up! We only have a small number left, in S and M... all other sizes are sold out... so this is your last chance, you can order them here while they last!
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September 27, 2023
What a September it was! We started out with a 4-day run of shows Labor Day weekend in Virginia, and that was a load of fun. 2 Witches Brewery in Danville was the secret surprise of the run... huge beer garden with a great stage and lighting, the crowd was awesome, and of course the beers were fantastic. We discovered a hidden gem of a small brewery in the tiny town of Burgaw, NC, that being the aptly named Burgaw Brewing. It was ungodly hot that night, but the beer garden was rockin', the beer was flowin', and the food was damned good as well! Another stand-out of the tour was 1718 Brewery on Ocracoke Island, which is about 20 miles off the coast of North Carolina. We had to put the bus and all the gear on a 3 hour ferry trip to the island, and we got there just in time to deal with some extraordinary surf, a shark, and of course the brewery itself was amazing, and we're already discussing dates for June! We enjoyed almost a week of leisure time on the beaches of the Outer Banks, where we also spread the first batch of dear Django's ashes at one of his favorite surf spots. Georgia was fun as well, with a return to the new South Main Brewing just outside Athens, and then our first stop at NoFo in Cumming, GA... both a load of fun!
We're home for about a week, and will play two shows in the Cincinnati area this weekend.... a return to West Side Brewing on Friday, and our first visit to Woodburn Brewing Co on Saturday. West Side is one of our favorite breweries, especially if you like darker beers and interesting experimentals (but not too goofy), and we're excited to try Woodburn out for the first time.
October will be a real treat that we've been looking forward to all year, as we spend the peak of the Fall foliage season in gorgeous upstate New York (the Fingerlakes, mostly) and then all over New England... playing numerous shows in Vermont and Maine, as well as New Hampshire and Massachusettes. Music, beer, lobsters, chowder, fresh maple syrup on the pancakes..... let's get rolling!
On the business side... if you have been wanting one of our wildly popular microbus design t-shirts, now is the time! We are definitely retiring the design after this tour (we already have next year's design), and we sold more than half of this last batch on the East Coast, so once they are gone in New England, they are gone for good. Let us know if you'd like to order one, and we'll ship 'em off right away. We also have a few remainders in a couple of sizes from the past two color schemes (orange, army green), so let us know what size you need and if have any they're yours! As we have mentioned before, since people no longer buy CDs, etc. t-shirts have become crucial to a touring band's survival. Selling just one t-shirt is equal to the revenue of nearly 10,000 song streams (read: streams don't pay), so we greatly appreciate all the t-shirt sales (plus they're super cool shirts!)!
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August 20, 2023
After some much needed rest we're gearing up to hit the road again soon... kicking off the East Coast tour(s) Labor Day weekend in Virginia. Normally our Virginia shows are mostly in the coastal area, but this time we're excited to starting in Roanoke, and playing through the mountains and Shenandoah Valley. Then we're playing all over North Carolina... and finally getting some beach time with a pair of shows in Wilmington, then the Outer Banks (including a show on Ocracoke Island, which we're really excited about!). We'll wrap up the first leg with a pair of shows in Georgia... it's always great to get back to Athens, then one more show up in beautiful northern Georgia. We get to see Peter Gabriel on Sept 25... then we're back on the road for a month of shows in New York and New England during the spectacular fall foliage of October... with a good handful of shows this time in Vermont and Maine (as well as NH, MA, etc.).
You might have noticed above that our new t-shirts are in. This is the final installment of our incredibly popular microbus series.... so get 'em while you can! While many of the previous editions have sold out, we do have some remaining stock of the Spring '23 shirts (you may recall they sold out, then we restocked), and possibly a few of the 2nd West Coast '22 edition.... so keep an eye out on the Facebook page for special discounts on those!
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July 1, 2023
The Great Brewery Tour 5th Anniversary/600th Breweries Played Party! This August marks the tour's Fifth Anniversary, as well as our having played our 600th brewery... so that seems like a pretty good reason for a party! Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 5th.... as we'll be throwing a shindig at the new Cincinnati location of Hi-Wire Brewing, which we initially fell in love with during our travels to Asheville, NC. It'll be a special gig for all sorts of reasons, and we have special things planned.... and we're excited to announce that this will another of our super-rare shows playing as a full band (trio) with drums added into the mix! Stay tuned for more details, coming soon.....
In other news, after returning from playing New York and New England the entire month of October, we will be taking a couple of weeks off, then spending the week of Thanksgiving playing Louisiana (including 2 shows in New Orleans), and possibly a few other Gulf Coast locations. Onward!
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The actual view to the right of our bus while stranded for 4 days in the Utah desert
June 20, 2023
Well our 3rd West Coast tour was a DOOZY!!! Seven weeks, heading west on the old Route 66, hitting numerous shows in Missouri, Arizona, and all over California... then a stellar Memorial Day Weekend playing two shows in Lake Tahoe, then Salt Lake City... and then the real adventure began, when our tour bus stopped shifting gears on our way to Colorado, and left us stranded in the most remote part of the Utah desert for 4 days! Luckily we had just gone shopping in SLC, so we had plenty of food and water... but we did run out of beer after the first night!
It took 4 days to get a tow, as we were 75 miles from the nearest town (I told you it was remote!), but we finally got out of the desert to get the rig worked on, but unforunately we had to cancel our 3 Colorado shows and 3 Iowa shows. In the tour's 6 year and 600 show history we had only ever cancelled one other show (in Georgia), so we were pretty bummed to have no choice this time around. Luckily we did bounce back in time to play the tour's final 3 shows in Wisconsin, and had a great time doing so, with our pal Ryan Shephard (previously of Freak Mythology) coming up from Chicago to sit in with us for the two Madison area shows.
After being on the road non-stop since the end of January, we have decided to stick close to home (Cincinnati) for July and August, playing some shows in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky region, and will then head out for a big East Coast tour playing VA, NC, SC, and GA in September, and an epic month of shows in New York and New England during the Fall foliage magic in October. Keep an eye out for tour dates as they roll out.... See ya soon!
April 28, 2023
The Spring Tour is well underway... we just wrapped up the East Coast first leg, and will be kicking off the West Coast 2nd leg May 5. We're very excited about this trip, as we'll be taking the old Route 66 route out west, hopping on and kicking it off with a couple of shows in Missouri, then a few shows in Arizona, 2 weeks in California (including Memorial Day Weekend in Lake Tahoe), then Salt Lake City, a series of shows in Colorado, a long weekend of shows in Iowa, then wrapping it up with 3 shows in Wisconsin (including East Troy/Alpine Valley, and 2 shows in the Madison area)!
Exciting news about this trip is that we've added a social media and multimedia guru to the crew, so expect tons of photos and videos, and more shows to be recorded and shared across our social media platforms (including a brand new TikTok channel, which we'll be launching soon). Now would be a good time to follow us on the various platforms, as you won't want to miss this stuff from our travels and the brewery stops themselves! You can find all of our platforms collected in one place right here.
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Mar 6, 2023
Well the Florida in February leg of the tour was fun, as always it's great to get out of the cold for a few weeks and enjoy the surf and sun. Some of our favorite stops were a return visit to the the fantastic Swamp Head Brewery in Gainesville, we shared a bill with the great Stanley Jordan at Rock Brothers Brewing in Tampa, and after a booking SNAFU at a brewery down in Pompano Beach we played a last minute show at the incredible Bugnutty Brewing Co in Cocoa Beach, which perhaps turned out to be our favorite night, with the brewery folks being incredibly cool to work with, and the beers just over the top great... we'll be back to Bugnutty next year for sure!
In March Brad is hanging back to finish up the new Freak Mythology album, and Dennis will be joined by a legend of the St. Louis scene (and a fine luthier), Chuck Burchfield. We'll be heading back to warmer climates for March in South Carolina and Georgia, and then Brad will come back aboard for April sprints through North Carolina and Virginia (highlighted by a long weekend run of playing 420 in Kill Devil Hills, then Bicycle Day in Hampton, and then Earth Day in Williamsburg!). Then we'll be home for a week or so before heading off on our third West Coast tour, featuring a long Memorial Day weekend of shows up at Lake Tahoe, and then a return to Colorado, wrapping up with a sprint of shows through the upper Widwest, and a return to one of our favorite gigs playing the Paoli Mill Stage just outside of Madison, WI! And all that only takes us to the middle of June!
We have some really huge news about later in the year, the details of which we can't share yet, but we'll give you a hint.... the Camping Caravan returns, and this time you'll need your passport, sunscreen, and favorite shades.... more details to come ASAP! See more below
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Jan 3, 2023
Happy New Year! We're so excited for 2023, as the tour heads into its sixth year! More than 500 breweries in 45 states under our belt (so far...), and we look forward to playing a couple of hundred more this year! We have so much planned already... we had so much fun last year that we'll be doing another West Coast tour in the Spring, our traditional summer tour of breweries in Atlantic beach towns, a big swing through the upper Midwest in June, a return to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, this year we're going to do New York and New England during the October foliage season... and rumor has it we may be going international this year, with a Central American tour in November/December! There's LOTS of exciting news to come... Get on that mailing list (at the bottom of this page) and follow us on social media (links at the top and bottom of this page). STAY TUNED...
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Nov 22, 2022
Hey! Our t-shirts have been super hot this year! We do a new shirt for each leg of the tour (Summer, Fall, West Coast, etc.), and if you check out our store page you'll see they're all sold out.... but we DO have some of West Coast, Pt 2 shirts available, and currently on sale! These shirts were so hot they sold out halfway through our recent (Sept/Oct) west coast tour, so we had to scramble to get get more made and shipped to us on the road, and so now we have a few left in each size (M, L. XL, XXL). As always, we only use the best quality 100% cotton shirts, and the printing is HQ silk screening (not computer printed, etc.). Normally $20, on sale now for just $15, plus shipping ($3 per shirt). With every order we also throw in a few free stickers. You can order them while they last via our page, or what's even easier is just Venmo (no fees... just put what size you want, and your shipping address in the notes section, and we'll get 'em right out to ya). To Venmo, just send payment and info to http://venmo.com/dennisohagan (if they ask for 4 digits, they are 2413)! THANKS.... and when you get it, send us a pic of yourself wearing it, as we plan to do a collage of fans wearing the various shirt designs!
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Oct 26, 2022
After a few days of hibernation, we have more or less recovered from the West Coast Tour, Part 2... and what a tour it was! 8 weeks, 6700 miles (we've put 30,000+ miles on the tour bus since acquiring it in January!), passed thru 15 states, played in 10, multiple shows in 6 (spent an entire month in California). Played more than 20 new breweries (we've now played about 500, in 45 states). We experienced gas prices ranging from just over $3 to more than $7 in California. We played at altitudes ranging from more than 7000 feet, to sea level, on the beach. We woke up to the first snow of the season on the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, and a few weeks later 100+ temps in the desert, along with a monsoon in the middle of the Arizona desert. Django swam again in several spots in the Pacific, and added Lake Tahoe and the Colorado River to his list. But the best was that we discovered so many great new breweries and beers, and made many, many new friends (and got to reunite with some old ones)! We had more fun than legally allowed, and so much so that we'll be back next May! Many thanks to the many people and breweries that made it such a great tour... you all rock!
The Return of the Camping Caravan!
HINT: YOU'LL NEED YOUR PASSPORT!
If you joined us on a previous Camping Caravan, you already know everybody says it's the best trip ever... breweries, live music, new friends, and staying up late into the night sharing food and drink and goodies and just having a blast. Covid made it impossible to do for a few years, but we're thrilled to say we'll be doing it again later this year, and it will be EPIC! While we can't yet announce the details, we can tell you you'll need your passport, some sunscreen, and your favorite shades! The photo to the right is another hint. Stay tuned, and sign up for updates here, we'll be announcing additional details ASAP....
ABOUT DENNIS O'HAGAN
ABOUT BRAD WEHLITZ
“There aren't many who can match the enticingly dark, edgy and wonderfully engaging musical storytelling of Dennis O'Hagan.”
~ NPR
“Truly stunning... current and original, yet so evocative of years gone by - a true pleasure to have heard." ~ Donald Strachen, Donald Strachen On the Radio
Dennis O'Hagan is an Irish/American songwriter and guitarist who has been active in the music scene for 30 years. Playing in various indie/alternative bands over the years, and currently credited with continuing the tradition of Folk Punk as a solo artist, he has shared the stage with artists as diverse as the Violent Femmes, the Church, Blue Oyster Cult, Bruce Hornsby, Afghan Whigs, as well as many others. His most recent band, the Voodoo Loons, hailed from both the US and Ireland, have released two critically acclaimed albums, and are in rotation on SiriusXM as well as other global streaming outlets.
In 2018 Dennis embarked on his Great Brewery Tour, which has continued on through 2021 with him playing solo/acoustic shows and sharing tales of his travels at craft breweries throughout the U.S... so far more than 400 in ~40 states. He publishes a well read blog of his thoughts on the brewery and the beers he samples long the way, providing national exposure to regional breweries during a time of exploding craft beer tourism. The tour has been so successful that it is rolling on into it’s fifth year, and at this point seems to have developed into a perpetual tour.
In 2020 Dennis began work with a reknowned production company to develop a reality show based on the tour, combining his brewery stops with tour shenanigans, and expanding the music from a solo set to a small acoustic band (think Violent Femmes, but rootsier and with a wider selection of instrumentation.
Dennis O’Hagan’s Great Brewery tour scales to allow him to play craft breweries of any size, ranging from small cozy nano-breweries to giant venues such as Sierra Nevada’s huge compound in Asheville, NC. "Craft brewers are artists, and as such they and their patrons tend to be tuned in and have a deep appreciation not only for the art of making great beer, but also of music... so with me being a musician/songwriter and having a great appreciation of the brewer's art, there is this perfect mutual admiration that makes this whole experience very satisfying and FUN for everyone involved.”
Brad Wehlitz is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for award-winning indie/funk band Freak Mythology, although he has recently been dedicating more time to touring as a solo artist, and in an 2-3 piece combo with his father, Dennis O'Hagan, who he now partners with on O'Hagan's Great Brewery Tour.
In Freak Mythology Brad serves as the primary songwriter, singer, and guitarist, and has earned critical and fan acclaim for the band's self-titled debut album, which they supported with a successful national tour that brought attention to their masterful and energetic live performances and exceptional musicianship. In addition to headlining their own shows in premier clubs throughout the Midwest, they have been invited to play many regional festivals, including the Jersey Shore Music Festival, OHMSTEAD Music Fest, Rhythm Brew Music & Arts Festival, among others.
Brad and the band earned respect and recognition quickly in their home market of Cincinnati, where they've been nominated for two Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for "Best Rock Act" (2018, 2019), took first place in the 2018 Madison Theatre Band Challenge (one of the largest "Battle of the Bands" competitions in the Midwest), and first place in Cincinnati's 2017 Next Big Band Competition. The debut album earned national and international airplay, with popular UK blog PRNAV naming it 2017's Album of the Year, and racking up 50,000+ streams and thousands of physical copies sold. The band is currently recording their second album.
Brad plays solo/acoustic shows on the Great Brewery Tour, and (like O'Hagan) is also a multi-instrumentalist in their Great Brewery Band, where they each trade off on guitars, acoustic bass, lapsteel, mandolin, bouzouki, harp, hooters, and various other instruments. Brad became a partner in the Great Brewery Tour in 2021, and will be touring more extensively solo and with the new band in 2022.
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