Beer and live music go hand in hand according to Twin Creeks Brewing Company co-owner Andy Bishop. Luckily for fans of cold brew and live tunes, a new venue is opening up in town.
On Friday, July 21, Twin Creeks Brewing Company will christen their newly-constructed Creekbank Music Pavilion. The venue is located directly behind the brewery at 111 S. Pollard Street in Vinton. The fenced area features a stage, fire pits, and plenty of space for seating.
Friday’s events will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a rope cutting by the Vinton Chamber of Commerce. The Jared Stout Trio will take the stage at 6:30 p.m.
The new music venue has been a few years in the making, Andy Bishop says. It has been constructed in the space that the brewery once used for a parking lot. Like most businesses, Twin Creeks utilized that area for outdoor seating during the pandemic, Andy Bishop says. They brought in live music on occasion and people loved the experience.
“It was packed out,” Andy Bishop says.
Andy Bishop and fellow owners Jason Bishop and Barry Robertson began making plans to install something more permanent. They did a lot of the work themselves, but hired local contractors for several of the tasks, according to Andy Bishop.
Supporting other local business-owners has been a key aspect of the way Twin Creeks Brewing Company does business. Their locally-driven values can be traced back to their very beginning.
Andy and Jason Bishop grew up in Botetourt. They still live there, in fact. But, when it came time to open a brewery, they chose to begin in Vinton. The decision was simple. Andy Bishop says that, in actuality, Vinton chose them.
When former Vinton town manager Barry Thompson heard that the Bishop brothers wanted to start a brewery, he pursued the business. “I think he literally got up from the [dinner] table and called us that night,” Andy Bishop says. “On a cold January night, he was walking us around downtown and showing us properties.”
That sort of tenacity paid off.
Twin Creeks Brewing Company opened in downtown Vinton in 2016. Since then, they have also opened the Twin Creeks Brewpub in Roanoke County’s Explore Park. And along the way, they have focused on supporting other businesses.
“My main goal is to pull businesses together instead of competing,” Twin Creeks’ music and social media manager Chris Wheeler says. His initiatives include partnering with local restaurants to offer food at the brewery.
The brewery currently holds live music, bingo, and trivia nights on a regular basis. They will soon begin hosting a singer-songwriter series for new musicians who want to get their feet wet, according to Wheeler. He also would like to host large-screen movie nights and small vendor markets in their new pavilion.
Wheeler is quick to point out, however, that the new venue will not interfere with the Mingle at the Market music series that’s held at the nearby Vinton Farmers Market. “We might try to do something beforehand, like a pre-Mingle,” he says.
Even on quiet nights, people flock to the brewery. On a recent weeknight, folks started rolling in as the workday finished. The atmosphere is inviting and the live events are compelling. But, the brewery’s success boils down to the quality of its beer.
This month, two of Twin Creeks’ beers have won gold medals at the US Beer Open, according to bartender Adam Markham. To win one award is outstanding. To win two is incredible, he says.
The two winning beers will be on tap on Friday night, along with a selection of other brews. The brewery will also offer a special release called the Hazy Creekbank, in honor of the opening of their new pavilion.
Andy Bishop hopes that everyone will come out and have a great time. They’ve lined up food from Pok-E-Joe’s and The Jared Stout Trio will play.
“The Jared Stout Band trio is excited to break in the new outdoor stage at Twin Creeks Brewing company… we can’t wait to see what fun Friday brings,” says musician Jared Stout.
“Listen to some tunes, drink some beer, have some barbeque, have fun,” Andy Bishop says.
