Brewery-touring band plans Libby performance

A traveling rock duo is serving their craft-brewed compositions to a local brewery this week.

At 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Cabinet Mountain Brewing Company, the indie-folk rock duo and married couple, Cie and Karisa Hoover of You Knew Me When, are playing for the first time in Libby.

This won’t be the band’s first performance in Montana, but they’ve never played in Libby before. Cie said they’ve always ended up being drawn back to Montana to perform.

Cie said that his favorite part of Montana is the people, environment and outdoor setting. “People who appreciate nature go a long way with the things we value,” Cie said.

The Hoovers have played at 130 different breweries across the country over the past few years on tour in support of their 2015 album “We Found Roads” and their 2016 EP “The Only You EP.”

“Independent music and craft beer kind of go hand in hand,” Cie said.

You Knew Me When blends the vocals and instrumental talent of the two 33-year-olds. Karisa plays piano, ukulele and glockenspiel, a small xylophone type instrument with higher pitch, while Cie plays the guitar. Karisa is a former public school music teacher and Cie is a former global events production manager for Gibson Guitar. In June 2012, they both quit their full-time jobs and left Nashville to go on a year-long tour.

Their year-long tour extended into a four-year tour. Since 2012, they have been serving up their craft brewed compositions coast to coast throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Cie and Karisa met during freshmen year at Nashville University. Cie said he had been in bands since high school and Karisa was studying musical education when they went on vacation and ended up writing a song together.

“We were kind of like, ‘Why haven’t we been doing this the entire time?’” Cie said.

“We have garnered a tremendous appreciation over the past three plus years on the road for the ever progressing craft brewery movement,” said Cie in a prepared statement. “Not only because of the beer, but because of their appreciation of the arts and live music. We’ve found there to be a special kind of comradery and respect at breweries when it comes to independent music. There is always a great sense of community and appreciation in the air for music and beer lovers alike.”

Sarah Sorensen, co-owner of Cabinet Mountain Brewing Company, said that the band reached out to them a few months back to perform at the brewery. Sorensen said they managed to squeeze the band into the summer schedule.

“We’re able to get a lot of top notch musicians that come through here,” Sorensen said. “We’re lucky we’re able to host live music twice a week.”

For more information about the event, visit www.cabinetmountainbrewing.com

For more information on You Knew Me When, visit www.youknewmewhen.com.

Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.