Craft for Causes rolls out first nationwide craft beer, live music, charity tour (with Tedeschi Trucks)

CBB Craft credo No. 3: Embrace philanthropy. In conjunction with the start of American Craft Beer Week (this week!), Craft For Causes, the non-profit doing the work of Swamp Thing (CBB‘s god) by bringing craft beer industry together with live music to support charitable causes, announced its first full-scale, national initiative. While Tedeschi Trucks Band rolls its Wheels of Soul Tour into 20 cities across America this summer, Craft for Causes will be uniting 41 of the nation’s craft beer makers along the tour route to create special brews with proceeds benefiting Mr. Holland’s Opus, a charity that works to promote and preserve music education nationwide.

Your CBB crew just saw Tedeschi Trucks recently and (from what we can remember) they rocked out most convincingly, pairing well with all of the delightful local IPAs available at the Akron Civic Theater.

Details of the tour

In the month preceding each date on the Wheels of Soul Tour, select local brewers in every market will feature a limited-edition beer in their tap rooms specifically themed for TTB’s annual summer run. As part of their participation, each brewery will assist in fund-raising and contribute to the charitable efforts of the tour, with the goal of providing musical instruments for underprivileged youth in every host city.

Craft For Causes founder John Nichols is thrilled to spotlight this potential lasting philanthropic alliance between the band, brewers and their community. “We’re excited to announce this during American Craft Beer Week,” said Nichols. “I wanted to create something where everybody wins, and we will leave behind, literally, a trail of musical instruments for children in these cities.”

Modeled after the PGA’s similar event/host charity partnerships, Nichols hatched the idea during last year’s Wheels of Soul tour, inspired by tour-themed concoctions from Marble Brewery in Albuquerque, N.M. This year’s unique collaboration aims to raise $100,000 for Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a charity Tedeschi Trucks Band has supported in different ways over the years. The national non-profit organization donates high-quality musical instruments to deserving, under-funded music programs in schools across the country.

Head here for a complete list of participating breweries, date and times for brewery tap parties.