Rock out with locally made beer at Everett waterfront festival

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 12, 2016

It’s fitting that longtime Everett Brewing icon Scuttlebutt Brewing has picked a simple anchor as the central image of its new logo.

For 20 years, Scuttlebutt, started by Phil Bannan Sr. and his wife, Cynthia, has been “anchored” on the Everett waterfront and its beer has been a regular on county store shelves. Saturday, Scuttlebutt and Everett Music Initiative team up for the second Rock the Boat music and beer festival in celebration of the brewery’s 20th anniversary.

“The partnership with Scuttlebutt is great,” said EMI’s Ryan Crowther. “To celebrate 20 years isn’t easy and it’s really tough being an anchor brand in the Everett area. I don’t think people realize how hard it is to create a small business that lasts that long.”

Scuttlebutt head brewer Matt Stromberg will be showing off the brewery’s range at Saturday’s event. The beer garden will be pouring 10 Scuttlebutt beers, including its anniversary beer, Russian Imperial Stout, Ming the Merciless, Mateo Loco, a double red ale, Transistor IPA, Jalapeno Tripel 7 and Grodziskie, a smoked Polish wheat beer.

Beer isn’t the only draw. Headlined by Seattle rock trio The Cave Singers, six bands will take the stage at Boxcar Park in the Port of Everett’s Central District. There will also be a number of food trucks.

“The partnership between the beer and live music is a good one,” Stromberg said.

Coaxed in large part by the first-ever appearance of grunge icons Mudhoney in Everett, last year’s inaugural Rock the Boat festival drew more than 1,400 people.

Crowther admits that this year’s lineup doesn’t have the big draw of Mudhoney, but he believes it’s a deeper lineup

“When you start with Mudhoney you’re setting the bar high,” Crowther said. “We don’t have the nostalgia of a name like Mudhoney, so it is a bit of a leap of faith. We can’t pretend that Everett knows these bands intimately, but there are a lot of people excited about this lineup.”

Born from the ashes of Seattle indie band Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Cave Singers have been touring ceaselessly since releasing their debut record, “Invitation Songs,” in 2007. Their most recent record, “Banshee,” was self-released this year.

“The Cave Singers have the sound and aesthetic of a band we’re really going for,” Crowther said. “Kind of a Neil Young & Crazy Horse vibe.”

Crowther said that another must-see is Portland indie darlings Radiation City, who sold out Seattle’s Neumo’s in April.

“They have a real pop sensibility,” Crowther said of the female vocalist-led quintet.

The bands Maszer, Sloucher and Greet the Sea round out the musical lineup, with some special guests expected.

This year, Rock the Boat’s footprint will be a little smaller and be arranged differently, said Crowther. The stage will face west this year and the beer garden will have direct access to the area in the front of the stage.

Another difference this year will be the backdrop to go along with the sunset over Jetty Island. The iconic Weyerhaeuser building, a 6,000-square-foot structure with quite a past in Everett, was recently moved to Boxcar Park.

If you go

Everett Music Initiative and Scuttlebutt Brewing are collaborating on Rock the Boat 2, a music and beer festival, from 2 to 10 p.m. Aug. 13 at Boxcar Park on the Everett waterfront. Six bands will play the stage and 10 Scuttlebutt beers will be pouring in the beer garden. There will also be lawn games and food trucks. Under-21 admitted. Purchase tickets at brownpapertickets.com.