Brewery unveils new ‘mini-amphitheater'

<p>The genesis of Petaluma's newest music venue was a big pile of excavated dirt.</p><p>Tony Magee, the founder and owner of Lagunitas Brewing Co., had to figure out how to dispose of the adobe soil that had been piled up in a corner of his north Petaluma brewery during a recent expansion project.</p><p>Then he had an epiphany: He would create an outdoor amphitheater.</p><p>“The dirt needed to go somewhere,” he said. “All of a sudden it became apparent to me. It was exactly the right amount of material to create an amphitheater. In my mind, a stage appeared. There were no architectural plans at first; it was very impromptu.”</p><p>On Monday night, Magee, who is also an accomplished country-blues singer-guitarist, took the stage as the opening act for Texas-based singer-songwriter James McMurtry in the debut of the new “LaguMini Amphitheaterette.”</p><p>An estimated 300 people filled the venue, which consists of a small stage, 100 chairs arranged in four rows in front of the stage, and a sloping grass hill, which had been a pile of excavated dirt until recently.</p><p>“I think of this as a gift to the county,” said Magee, who founded the brewery in 1993 and began presenting local musicians in the Lagunitas “beer sanctuary” and “taproom” two years ago. He envisions the new amphitheater as a place to “offer great talent — a rest stop for touring musicians on their night off.”</p><p>In the case of McMurtry, who Magee described as “one of my heroes,” the alt-Americana musician was between concerts in Reno and Portland and agreed to perform solo in Petaluma while his band traveled to Oregon for a show the next night. </p><p>“It was good to have him,” Magee said. “He hung out for a while afterward and really seemed to enjoy himself.”</p><p>Magee says the amphitheater shows will be free, but ticketed, through an arrangement that Lagunitas has with radio station KRSH-FM. “We envision that we will have shows (in the amphitheater) every four or five weeks,” he said. “I can hire cool musicians who are my heroes to play here.”</p><p>The next show is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29 with the group Gomez and opening act Trent Yaconelli. </p><p>“We had John Hiatt here last year, and we'll be talking to musicians like him, James McMurtry and Dave Alvin about playing here,” Magee said.</p><p>“They will be free shows, but they will be ticketed,” he said, because of the 300-person seating capacity.</p><p>As for his own musicianship, Magee said that Monday was the first time he has played at Lagunitas, although he has performed on a small stage at the Kate Wolf Music Festival in Mendocino County, Petaluma's Aqus Café Foundry Wharf and other venues. “I'm not going to be opening every show,” he said. “But I love the music (of the 1920s and '30s). Very few people have heard those songs.”</p><p>Meanwhile, Lagunitas will continue to present local musicians in its smaller stages Wednesdays through Sundays.</p><p>And the brewery's popularity continues to grow. Lagunitas' recent expansion quadrupled its beer-making capacity. “We haven't grown into it yet,” said Magee, “but all of a sudden, we are appearing above the horizon.” He said that Lagunitas beer has been distributed in New York, Chicago and other cities for 10 years. “Five trucks a week leave Petaluma for Chicago, New York, Portland, Seattle and other cities.”</p><p>Lagunitas is a supporter of local nonprofit organizations, and donates its beer to many community events and fund-raisers.</p><p>Lagunitas Brewing Co. is located at 1280 N. McDowell Blvd. Call 769-4495 or visit www.lagunitas.com.</p><p>(Contact Chris Samson at chris.samson@arguscourier.com)</p><object id="flashObj" width="486" height="412" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=1171028050001&playerID=30062553001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGMt5U~,qb_SkHeXnERaNFEFlltSIS27hK8-HgW2&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1171028050001&playerID=30062553001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGMt5U~,qb_SkHeXnERaNFEFlltSIS27hK8-HgW2&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>